Development Fee Approved for Libraries

The City Council on Monday approved a development fee that will raise about $245,000 a year for library services, and also voted unanimously to withdraw from a regional police helicopter venture.

The library levy, designated specifically for new books, reference materials, electronic data bases, CD-ROMs, periodicals and videocassettes, will be 25 cents a square foot for new residential developments and 3 cents a square foot for new commercial and industrial projects.

A spokesman for a company building about 2,000 new homes in the city spoke against the new fee. William D. Holman of PLC Land Co. told council members that the levy will have a significant negative effect on the developer.

The existing community enrichment library fee, which is also used for cultural activities, is is 15 cents a square foot for new developments, adding about $375 to the price of a new 2,500-square foot home, Holman said Tuesday.

“The new fee is going to put another 25 cents on top of that, so every new home will contribute about $1,000,” he said.

But a number of library supporters told the council that new-home buyers should pay their fair share for use of the city’s system.

The council deferred action on how to spend the money raised by the fee pending a recommendation by City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga at the Sept. 3 meeting.

In other action, the council unanimously agreed to withdraw from the police helicopter program that the city joined in 1993 with Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The idea was to form the area’s first regional helicopter unit, known as AirBorne Law Enforcement Services, or ABLE. But the benefits to Huntington Beach have not been as great as expected, officials said.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted to allow the Sheriff’s Department to withdraw from the program also. Costa Mesa and Newport Beach officials say they expect to continue it on their own.