Builders to Be Charged for City Road Projects

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to charge developers of new residential and commercial property a fee to pay for street improvements that officials say were necessitated by increased development.

Following a brief public hearing Tuesday, the supervisors voted to create the Lost Hills Road-Las Virgenes Road Bridge and Major Thoroughfare Construction Fee District. It will raise $9.82 million for seven road projects, including the completion and reopening of Agoura Road between Liberty Canyon and the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.

John Krattli of the county counsel’s office said terms of an operating agreement between the county and the city of Calabasas must still be finalized. But the fee district is “up and running,” he said, and fees will start being assessed immediately.

Joel Bellman, a spokesman for Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, said the purpose of the fee district is clear.

“If you want the privilege of building and expanding the community, then you have to share in the burden on the infrastructure,” he said.

Some residents have voiced opposition to the creation of such special assessment districts, saying they violate the spirit of Proposition 13, which set a cap on property taxes.

Under the plan, developers of single-family homes would be assessed $4,650 per unit, developers of townhouses $3,720 per unit and developers of commercial buildings $4,742 per 1,000 square feet.

Other projects to be funded by the district include modern roundabouts on Lost Hills Road at the Ventura Freeway interchange and Cold Springs Street intersection; improvements at the intersection of Las Virgenes and Agoura roads; widening of the Agoura Road bridge at Las Virgenes Creek; and widening and median improvements on Las Virgenes Road, including those at the westbound Ventura Freeway offramp.