Title
Adopt City Council Resolution Continuing the Temporary Waiver of the City of Fort Bragg General Plan Maintenance Fee
Summary
On October 13, 2020, the City Council approved a waiver of the City's General Plan Maintenance Fee through June 30, 2021, in order to complete a study, document and propose revisions to the General Plan Maintenance Fee. On June 14, 2021 City Council extended the waiver through December 31, 2021. Additional time is needed to complete the study to justify an appropriate level for the fee.
The purpose of the General Plan Maintenance fee is to cover the costs reasonably necessary to prepare and revise the plans and policies that the City is required to adopt. The City has historically and plans to continue to utilize these funds for the development and environmental review of amendments to the Coastal General Plan, the Coastal Land Use and Development Code, the Inland General Plan, and the Inland Land Use and Development Code.
New or revised fees associated with recovering the costs of preparing and revising these plans and policies are subject to judicial challenge within 120 days of the effective date of the fee. In order to discourage and avoid such a challenge, staff believes it is prudent to conduct a study which establishes the estimated reasonable costs necessary to prepare and revise the City's General Plans and Policies. As a result, the revised General Plan Maintenance Fee of 5% of the calculated building permit fee applied only to new construction was not included in the proposed Fee Updates considered by City Council at its September 28, 2020 regular meeting. Temporarily waiving the General Plan Maintenance Fee avoids over- or undercharging the fee while staff establishes the estimated reasonable costs.