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City of San Leandro Civic Center <br />835 East 14th Street <br />San Leandro, California <br />Staff Report to Follow-Up Committee’s Previous Discussion of Planning Appeal Fees <br />SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br />Planning appeal fees are currently structured as direct cost, deposit-based fees that reimburse the <br />City for hourly administrative processing costs. Following comments from the City Council’s Rules <br />Committee at its April 23, 2018 meeting, staff recommends the Appeal fee for non-applicants be <br />modified to a $500 fixed fee. As per the Rules Committee’s consensus reached at its April 23rd <br />meeting, the appeal fee for applicants would be reduced by half to a $2,500 deposit. Staff <br />recommends that the Rules Committee forward this proposal for further City Council consideration. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Following public concerns expressed during the Parrott Street Apartments appeal on March 19, 2018 <br />(APL18-001), the City Council directed the Rules Committee to review the cost of filing an appeal. <br />The City Council’s Rules Committee met to discuss appeal fees for planning projects at its April 23, <br />2018 meeting. At the meeting, staff recommended reducing the current appeal fee deposit by half <br />from $5,000 to $2,500. The members agreed with staff’s recommended deposit for applicants but felt <br />that there should be a separate, reduced fixed fee for non-applicants. The Rules Committee directed <br />staff to return with a proposal for a reasonable fixed fee for non-applicants. <br />The current appeal fee requires a $5,300 deposit to file an appeal, including a non-refundable 6% <br />technology fee applied to all applications. Appeals heard by the City Council pay an additional non- <br />refundable $534 filing fee to the City Clerk. <br />Appeal fees are currently a direct cost where the appellant pays a deposit from which the City <br />deducts its hourly costs of processing the appeal for review and decision by the respective appeal <br />hearing body. Following the outcome of a hearing body’s decision, the appellant either receives a <br />refund of the remaining balance or a bill if an outstanding amount is still required. Appeal fees are <br />identified within the City’s Master Fee Schedule, which is reviewed and approved by the City Council <br />annually as part of the budget process. Although the Master Fee Schedule for FY 2018-19 was <br />considered and approved by the City Council on May 7, 2018, adjustments to the fee schedule may <br />be made at other times during the fiscal year. The recently approved FY 2018-19 Appeal fees reflect <br />the FY 2017-18 Appeal fees plus the applicable Consumer Price Index adjustment. <br />Analysis <br />Current City policy is to attempt cost recovery for discretionary planning applications (those requiring <br />a public hearing), including appeals. Establishing a reasonable and proportionate appeal fee is <br />challenging since the cost of processing appeals can vary widely. Appeals generally require a <br />significant amount of staff time to process and other costs such as legal counsel are not reimbursed. <br />File #:18-308,Version:1 <br />City of San Leandro Printed on 8/15/2018Page 1 of 3 <br />powered by Legistar™ <br />Rules Committee Staff Reports <br />244