SAN CLEMENTE : Hearings Scheduled on Fee Proposals

Proposed new communitywide fees to pay for street and storm drain repairs and street cleaning will be the subject of public hearings.

The City Council last week scheduled two hearings on the two proposed fees, which combined could cost the average homeowner up to $172 more each year, according to engineering reports.

The first public hearing will be June 2 on a proposed storm drain and street cleaning fee, which would raise more than $1 million annually for repairs and maintenance of the city’s storm drains and for street sweeping.

An average homeowner of a single family residence would pay monthly fees of $3.49, while commercial and industrial property owners would pay $34.90.

City Engineer William Cameron said the city has never had a stable source of funding for the operation, maintenance and replacement of its storm drains. As a result, the city has done “minimal” maintenance and repairs and only responded to emergencies, he said.

“It’s kind of been an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation,” he said.

Cameron estimates that all 3.3 miles of old corrugated metal pipes in the city need to be replaced over the next decade. In addition, the city suffered extensive damage to many of its storm drains during the winter storms.

A second public hearing will be held July 14 on a proposed street maintenance assessment district, which would raise either $2.1 million or $1.5 million annually for road projects, depending on how fast the council wants the work done. The fees will also be the subject of a June 30 public meeting.

Under the proposed $2.1-million fee program, the owner of a single family residence on a public street would be assessed $130 a year. Those on private streets, not maintained by the city, would be assessed $33 per year.

Cameron said the city needs to take “immediate” action to protect and improve its 120 miles of streets, which were also hit hard in the storms.

State law allows new fees to be approved by a council majority.

In related action, the council will hold a July 14 public hearing on a proposed change in the city’s street lighting and landscaping district, formed in 1981.

At the request of the Downtown Business Assn., the city is considering an average $139 annual fee on property owners, including the city, in the 100 and 200 blocks of Avenida del Mar to pay for steam cleaning of the sidewalks.

“We know the cleaner it is, the more sales tax,” said Wilma Bloom, the association president. “We all benefit.”

All other fees in the district would remain the same, for the third year in a row.