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File #:18-308,Version:1 <br />On April 23rd, the City Council Rules Committee reached consensus on a recommendation to the City <br />Council to reduce the appeal deposit fee for applicants by half, to $2,500. The Rules Committee was <br />in agreement that a separate fixed fee should be established for non-applicants, but was not able to <br />reach consensus on an appropriate amount. Based on the Committee’s comments and historical <br />trends, staff recommends establishing a fixed appeal fee for non-applicants of $500, which is <br />consistent with what was charged by the City approximately ten years ago. This amount should <br />discourage frivolous appeals, but any deviation from a deposit-based method would require the City <br />to assume nearly the full cost of processing the appeal, regardless of merit. <br />Staff considered a suggestion made by Councilmember Thomas to charge a different appeal fee for <br />residents and non-residents, but upon further review is unable to recommend this method due to <br />legal concerns and the complexity of determining residency for those appeals filed by business <br />entities. <br />The outcome of this proposal would result in the following appeal fees being established in the <br />Master Fee Schedule (including the 6% non-refundable technology fee and $534 City Clerk’s filing <br />fee for those items heard by the City Council): <br />Non-Applicant Appeal (Fixed Fee) <br />To the Board of Zoning Adjustments or Planning Commission: $500 <br />To the City Council: $1,034 ($500 + $534 City Clerk Appeals Fee) <br />Applicant Appeal (Deposit) <br />To the Board of Zoning Adjustments or Planning Commission: $2,500 <br />To the City Council: $3,034 ($2,500 + $534 City Clerk Appeals Fee) <br />Previous Actions <br />The current fee schedule was approved on May 1, 2017 under Resolution 2017-060. The new fee <br />schedule for fiscal year 2018-19 was approved on May 7, 2018 under Resolution 2018-034. <br />Legal Analysis <br />California Government Code enables cities to defray the cost of processing applications so long as <br />the fees are reasonable and proportionate to the costs incurred. <br />Fiscal Impacts <br />Modifying or reducing the deposit for appeals filed by applicants will not have a fiscal impact. <br />Establishing a reduced $500 fixed fee for non-applicants will require the General Fund to absorb the <br />remainder of any staffing and processing costs incurred. A 2016 fee study conducted by ClearSource <br />Financial Consulting estimated the Planning division’s average cost of services to process an appeal <br />was $12,408. This estimate did not include costs incurred by other departments, legal counsel, or <br />City of San Leandro Printed on 8/15/2018Page 2 of 3 <br />powered by Legistar™245