Anaheim : Fees to Build Freeway Approved by Council

To pay for the construction of new freeways, city officials have agreed to levy fees on developers of future homes and businesses.

With the fee approval Tuesday, Anaheim becomes a member of a proposed agency that would oversee design and construction of a planned eight-lane freeway in the Foothill/Eastern transportation corridor.

The area that council members agreed would benefit the most--and should therefore pay the most if it is annexed to the city--is land east of Anaheim that is unincorporated.

A second zone, this one within the city, is bounded by the Riverside Freeway on the south, Tustin Avenue and its extension into Jefferson Street on the west, the Placentia city limits on the north and a line from Placentia south to the intersection of the Riverside and Costa Mesa freeways on the east.

Beginning 60 days from Tuesday, developers of land in the first zone will pay $1,295 per new single-family home and $755 for each multiple-family residential unit. Developers of non-residential units will pay $1.80 per square foot.

In the second zone, the fee will be $920 for new single-family units, $535 for multiple-family residential units and $1.05 per square foot for non-residential units.

The fees will not apply to existing properties.

Daniel W. Holden, representing a family that owns 17 acres in the affected area , called the fees “an unfair tax” and said that he is “amazed that there isn’t more organized opposition.”

Saying that new freeways are needed, Mayor Don Roth called the Costa Mesa and Riverside freeways “the world’s largest parking lot.”