Lowell Joint School District to Impose Development Fees
Developers fees, to be levied on builders in the Lowell Joint School District to subsidize the cost of maintaining schools, won board approval this week.
Supt. Randall T. Randolph said the fees will help the district pay for $3.2 million in of repairs identified in the district’s Five-Year Deferred Maintenance Plan.
Effective Feb. 1, developers will pay the district $1 per square foot for new residential construction, and 17 cents per square foot for new commercial buildings, Randolph said. Developers in the district will actually pay more because the Fullerton Union High School District also recently levied fees. Together, the fees amount to $1.50 per square foot for residential and 25 cents a square foot for commercial buildings, the maximum allowable under a new state law.
An 80-home tract is planned on the former site of Lowell School, which the district sold for development, but Randolph said he not seen any plans, and cannot project the fee.
“I don’t really think the district is going to realize a significant amount of money with this” measure, he said. “This is a pretty built-up area.”
No developers commented on the proposal at a public hearing this week.
In Los Angeles County, Lowell Joint School District serves La Habra Heights, and Whittier roughly east of Santa Gertrudes Avenue.
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