The adoption of Ordinance No. 665 by the Board of Supervisors on May 6, 2008, established public facilities impact fees applicable to new development within the unincorporated area of Shasta County. Impact fees were established to finance the following types of public facilities improvements: public protection, public health, library, sheriff patrol and investigation, general government, animal control, fire protection, and traffic. The applicability and amount of these individual impact fees varies depending upon the type and location of proposed developments.
Pursuant to Ordinance No. 665, the following impact fees are required to be paid prior to the final inspection for building permit number BRES20-0050 to legalize an existing unpermitted one-family residence at 30555 Ted Elder Road, Fall River Mills, CA 96028:
Public Protection: $2,204.87
Fire Protection: 1,954.37
General Government: 1,560.56
Sheriff Patrol & Investigation: 1,056.90
Public Health: 1,003.31
Animal Control: 293.37
Library: 178.15
Total: $8,251.53
Pursuant to Section 11, Administrative Appeal, of Ordinance No. 665, any individual who disputes the classification of property, or the calculation or amount of an impact fee may appeal the determination of staff to the Board which shall render its decision with 60 days of submittal of the appeal. The attached appeal of the impact fees for building permit number BRES20-0050 by Cory Halter was submitted on January 20, 2023. As stated by Mr. Halter, the reasons for the appeal and staff’s responses are as follows:
Appellant’s Reason #1: Mr. Halter states that the permit in question has no additional impact on public protection, public health, libraries, sheriff patrol, general government, fire protection or any other department in Shasta County since the buildings on the subject property were built in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s and that the property was occupied full time since the early 2000’s. Mr. Halter states that he has used the property as a vacation property since purchasing it in 2016.
Staff’s Response #1: Pursuant to Ordinance No. 665, impact fees for residential development are based upon the type of dwelling, either a one-family dwelling unit or a multi-family dwelling unit. The intended or actual use of a dwelling as a primary residence or a vacation property does not affect the impact fee amounts. Dwellings utilized as vacation properties are not eligible for an automatic waiver or reduction of required impact fees; pursuant to Ordinance No. 665, the authority to waive or reduce required impact fees rests solely with the Board of Supervisors. In addition, Mr. Halter’s dwelling was not permitted when it was constructed and, thus, none of the applicable fees at the time of construction were paid.
Appellant’s Reason #2: Mr. Halter states that during meetings with Larry Lees (County Executive Officer), Supervisor Rickert, Dale Fletcher (Building Official), Richard Simon (Director of Resource Management), Carla Serio (Director of Environmental Health), Kim Hunter (Planning Division Manager), and Marc Pelote (Building Inspector) on April 17, 2018, and with Dale Fletcher and Paul Hellman on September 10, 2019, he was told that the project would not be subject to impact fees.
Staff’s Response #2: Staff is not aware of any written records indicating that any County official(s) informed Mr. Halter that the project would not be subject to impact fees. Furthermore, Mr. Hellman does not have any recollection of this being stated by either himself or Mr. Fletcher during their 2019 meeting with Mr. Halter. The Department of Resource Management routinely issues building permits for structures constructed without permits and it is standard procedure for impact fees to be collected in conjunction with such permits.
Appellant’s Reason #3: Mr. Halter stated that the permit conditions do not address impact fees and that the Fall River Joint Unified School District (“District”) waived school impact fees for the residence since it was in existence prior to the District’s collection of impact fees. Mr. Halter states that the sole purpose of the permit is to bring the residence up to code and that the project does not involve any construction or reconstruction.
Staff’s Response #3: Building permit conditions do not normally address impact fees; therefore, the fact that they are not addressed does not indicate that they have been waived. On the attached form entitled “Processing Your Permit Application,” signed by Mr. Halter on June 25, 2020, the following is stated under the heading “Development Impact Fees”: “Impact fees for residential construction are calculated per dwelling unit and are due prior to final inspection.” The fact that the District waived school impact fees for the residence does not likewise waive the applicable Shasta County impact fees. The District’s authority to waive or reduce school impact fees is entirely separate from the County’s authority to do so; pursuant to Ordinance No. 665, the authority to waive or reduce required impact fees rests solely with the Board of Supervisors. Ordinance No. 665 does not provide for an automatic waiver of impact fees for structures constructed without permits prior to the adoption of the ordinance when they are legalized by obtaining permits.