Lower Fees Rejected for Land-Use Appeals
Afraid of giving a financial break to developers, the Thousand Oaks City Council shot down a proposal to cut the fees charged to appeal land-use decisions.
The proposal to lower the fees was introduced by Councilwoman Linda Parks in an effort to make sure that the appeals process wasn’t cost prohibitive for the average resident.
Depending on the type of decision made, appeals can cost anywhere from $9 to thousands of dollars. Parks asked her colleagues Tuesday to consider dropping the costs or automatically refunding the fees if an appeal was successful.
But lowering those fees, Councilman Andy Fox pointed out, would also make it cheaper for builders to appeal decisions they didn’t like--thus lowering the city’s supply of development fees.
In fact, Community Development Director Phil Gatch said more than 90% of the appeals do come from developers.
“We’re going to be putting money in the developers’ pockets. I’m not in favor of that,” Fox said.
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