HUNTINGTON BEACH : Builders Must Help Pay for New Streets

The City Council has unanimously voted to impose a new fee on builders to help pay for new streets and road improvements.

Each developer will pay an amount based on the predicted increase in traffic caused by the new construction.

The council’s vote for the traffic fee Monday night came after a staff study predicted the development of about 970 acres in various parts of the city within the next 10 years. Those new developments will need new streets or extensions of existing ones, the study said.

The study found the city will be about $25 million short of the $103 million needed for new streets and improvements over the next 10 years. The staff recommended that the City Council impose a traffic impact fee that would generate $12.5 million from developers. The city would raise the remaining $12.5 million from other sources.

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach have also adopted developer fees to help pay for streets, the Huntington Beach city staff noted. The report added: “A national survey by an Institute of Traffic Engineers committee found that over 21% of all local governments in the United States had traffic impact fees.”