Oxnard Considers Building Fee Hikes

In an effort to make builders shoulder more of the costs of a recent construction boom, the Oxnard City Council tonight will consider raising dozens of development and service fees.

The fees cover everything from project review to issuing a permit and range from as little as $1 to several thousand dollars.

Officials say the increases are mandated by a policy requiring departments to recover the full cost of their services to private developers.

“This is the cost of doing business,” said Councilman John Zaragosa. “It’s just covering the expenses.”

But developers’ representatives said many proposed fees are higher than in other areas of the county and could hit small projects unfairly.

“We’re concerned about that,” said Rondi Guthrie of the Building Industry Assn., a developers lobbying group.

The fees would include a new $10,000 deposit for large projects that require review by the city attorney. The city would keep some of the deposit if staff members spend more than a proscribed number of hours on the review, said planning manager Marilyn Miller.

Another change assailed by the building association is a fee of $4,904 for a change to the city’s Specific Plan, the general blueprint for city development.

“We just want to make sure the small project isn’t overly burdened,” Guthrie said.

In comparison, the builders group said, Ventura charges $1,875 for a Specific Plan amendment and Fillmore charges $500.

“Nobody likes increases,” Councilman Dean Maulhardt said. “But if the expenses are going up, we have to recover 100% of the cost.”

Maulhardt said developers have complained that Oxnard’s review process takes too long.

“We do not have the staffing for the economic boom,” he said.

Other charges include fees for a representative from the Oxnard Fire Department to ensure that a new project is in line with city codes.

“We’ve been waiting for this for almost two years,” said Fire Marshal Tom Walker.

Building association representatives also contended that Oxnard should bill only for time spent.

“Other cities are starting to do it on a real-time billing system,” Guthrie said. “Oxnard doesn’t do that. If you have a big project or a small project, it’s the same fee.”

Oxnard is seeing the most construction in more than a decade. Throughout the 1990s, there were never more than 500 building permits approved each year. But in 1999 and 2000, more than 1,000 were approved each year.

City parks will also raise some fees, charging $1 for weekday parking at College Park and $45 for water and electricity for large events. “We need to charge them for what they use,” said Supt. Michael Henderson.