City May Levy Fees to Raise Building Funds

The City Council has given a cool reception to a tentative proposal that would levy fees on new businesses to help Calabasas meet state mandated affordable housing requirements.

Some council members say they fear that such fees would discourage new businesses from locating in the city. “It may even be regarded as anti-business, which we are trying to avoid,” Mayor Bob Hill said.

The idea originally was suggested in the city’s General Plan and reiterated in a city-commissioned study reviewed Wednesday by the City Council.

The study, by Cotton/Beland/Associates, Inc., was designed to help the city develop an affordable housing program. The council is expected to vote on the matter this summer, city officials said.

The study suggests that the city consider requiring residential and commercial developers to set aside units for affordable housing or pay a fee based on a formula. For residential developers, it would amount to $2,726 for each unit that they construct. Some have suggested setting the money aside for construction of affordable housing, or putting it into a program for first-time home buyers.

The council was more receptive to the idea of levying fees on residential developers than on commercial ones. Many cities already do that, with some success, said Councilwoman Lesley Devine. The business fee idea, she said, is relatively new and needs further study.

The city estimates that it will need to create 59 new units of affordable housing by 1999 to comply with the state mandates, said Barbara Pilegard, a community development specialist for the city. An inventory taken in May 1993 indicated that the city has about 300 existing affordable housing units, she said.

The Calabasas Chamber of Commerce has urged the council not to levy fees, which it views as anti-business.

But Dave Brown, a member of the Planning Commission, said he thinks new businesses should also have to pay the fees.

“Why should the city and residential developers be burdened when [many] new businesses don’t pay their employees enough to afford to live in Calabasas?” he asked.