March 27, 2007

Fresno Chamber Urges Council to Postpone Consideration of Impact Fees

 

In August of 2006 the City Planning Department and the stakeholders began negotiating what street impact fees should look like in the coming year; fees that have not been actively updated in almost 20 years. With the current and expected growth in the City, it is vital we continue to support and maintain infrastructure needs in our City. This is especially important for the business community in order to continue to ensure the success of the businesses already located here, and to encourage more businesses to locate in our City.

 

The Fresno Chamber has been involved with this process since August 2006, and has been an active member in this process. On March 21, 2007 during the monthly Government Affairs Council, Keith Berthgold, Interim City Planner, and members from the development community including Mike Prandini from the BIA and members from Zenkin construction presented each side of the issue.

The Fresno Chamber recommends the City Council adopt the first year impact fees as proposed. However, because there is more time to discuss the following years in detail and come to a consensus that all parties can agree upon, it is important to continue this process with due diligence. For that reason, the Fresno Chamber issued the following letter to all City Council Members
 

Letter

 

March 23, 2007

Councilmember Blong Xiong
Fresno City Hall
2600 Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93721

Dear Councilmember Xiong,

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007 the Fresno City Council is going to be faced with making the decision to raise the Major Street Impact Fees; fees that have not been adequately raised in the past 15 years.

The Fresno Chamber has been involved with this process since it began last August, and has had the chance to listen to the concerns of both the city staff and the development community. After much deliberation the Fresno Chamber would like to offer the following recommendation:

The current recommendation made by the city is not supported by the majority of the development community, but we believe if the recommendation were to be postponed, the two parties may be able to reach a consensus by May 1, 2007.

If postponing the vote is not an option, our recommendation would be to adopt the first phase of fees, which the development community is in agreement with. Once the first year fees are adopted, city staff is then obligated to continue their current deliberation process with the developers to come up with phases two and three in the coming year. In turn, this adoption will not slow the process, rather it will force both parties to stay at the table and come to an agreement.

If this recommendation were to be adopted, the Fresno Chamber would also like to recommend that two other areas are carefully examined and further explained in the following reports:

- 2% administration fee: City staff must define what the fee will be paying for, and how it will be adjusted in the coming years.

- Public Facility Fees: It has come to our attention that other cities, comparable in size and costs, charge additional public facility fees to help cover the costs of the major street impact fees. We would like the City to do a full examination of these costs and define why or why not these fees should be included.

We would also like to commend the City Planning and Development Department for their efforts on this issue; this has been an uphill battle. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this recommendation, please feel free to contact me directly.

Regards,



Al Smith,
President and Chief Executive Officer
Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce
 

Contact Amy Huerta, the Chamber's Government Affairs Manager for more information at (559) 495-4818 or ahuerta@fresnochamber.com