Board Retains Fee Cap for Appeals

Bowing to complaints from residents, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to maintain a $1,200 cap on fees charged for appealing decisions by either the Ventura County Planning Commission or its director.

The board voted unanimously to retain the fee cap after hearing testimony from half a dozen county residents who complained that removing the ceiling would preclude people of limited financial means from participating in the appeals process.

Board members agreed that lifting the cap on appeal fees would discourage public participation on future planning issues. The county requires an $800 deposit to file an appeal, with a maximum $1,200 billing limit.

The board’s staff had recommended that the billing limit be eliminated to recoup some out-of-pocket county expenses.

Todd Collart of the county’s Resource Management Agency said that costs for writing staff reports and analysis associated with appeals occasionally exceed the $1,200 limit and that the county must pick up the remaining costs. On average, he said, those additional costs amount to about $6,500 a year.

But board members said they did not think the county’s cost was significant enough to warrant lifting the fee cap.