SEAL BEACH : Transportation Fee Rule to Be Reviewed

A developer’s request for a reduction in a $25,824 transportation fee has prompted city officials to review when it imposes such charges.

Mitchell Land & Improvement Co. is developing three commercial buildings on a vacant lot at 1600 Pacific Coast Highway, the former site of Rum Runners restaurant, which was demolished in May, 1992.

The transportation fee was charged because the land was vacant. No fee would have been charged if the development had occurred within 90 days of the restaurant’s closing, city officials said.

The fee is intended to offset the city’s cost of coping with additional traffic generated by new developments. But development company President Dick Mitchell argued that, although the land has been vacant for three years, his office and retail buildings will generate less traffic than the former restaurant.

“What we’re looking for is fairness,” Mitchell said.

City Atty. Quinn Barrow said this is only the second time the charge has been billed to a developer in the city since the fee was approved two years ago. The first case involved a property owner who demolished a house to construct two houses on the same site.

The fee amount is based on building size at a rate of $2.69 a square foot. There is also an application fee of 40 cents a square foot.

Councilman George Brown said the city should consider creating a graduated fee schedule based on the length of time a property has been vacant.

“It seems unreasonable to me at this point that we charge them the full amount,” Brown said of the Mitchell company.

The council plans to re-examine the city’s transportation fee at its Oct. 9 meeting.