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ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW DRAFT Fees Analysis. Like cities throughout California, San Leandro collects development fees to recover the capital costs of providing community services and the administrative costs associated with processing applications. New housing typically requires payment of school impact fees, park in -lieu fees, sewer and water connection fees, building permit fees, and a variety of handling and service charges. These fees comprise a significant part of housing costs in the City. In addition, subdivisions and multi -family projects may incur the cost of preparing environmental impact reports, traffic studies, soils reports, and filing fees for tentative and final maps. Such fees are typically based on the hourly rates of City employees (including overhead) and the number of hours spent processing the application or performing the associated work. Table 5-5 identifies the basic fees that apply to new residential construction in the City. Table 5-6 identifies the hypothetical fees that would be collected for a new 2,000 square foot two-story house on an infill lot. These fees would be approximately $18,600. The distribution of the fees by each type are shown in Chart 5-1. Three of the fees —for parks, schools, and water —represent over two-thirds of the total. Of these, only the park impact fee is levied by the City. The school impact fee is collected by the Building Department but the funds are directed to the School District. The water connection fee is collected by East Bay Municipal Utility District. The City does not have jurisdiction over these fees and does not have the authority to waive or reduce them. City planning and building fees represent about 20 percent of the total fee. Sewer and road impact fees represent another 11 percent. While fees represent a substantial part of residential construction costs, San Leandro's fees are in line with those charged in other East Bay communities. In fact, the fees are substantially lower than those in cities in eastern Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, where significantly higher charges are made to cover the cost of infrastructure extension. Development along East 14`s Street and along a number of other thoroughfares is subject to an "overhead utilities conversion fee" to defray the cost of undergrounding electrical and communication wires. This is particularly significant because many of the City's housing sites are located along East 14d' Street. The fee is either $575 per dwelling unit, or the linear feet (L.F.) of frontage multiplied by a unit cost (approximately $150/L.F.). The City Council has the authority to grant fee waivers for projects which provide public benefit, or present extenuating circumstances. The City does not generally grant such waivers for affordable housing projects, primarily because such projects still generate impacts that must be mitigated. Moreover, the cost of such waivers might be indirectly passed along to market rate units (in the form of higher fees), making them less affordable. Conclusions. Fees represent a significant part of construction costs. Even a limited amount of financial relief could assist affordable housing developers. While reduction of street, school, park, and infrastructure impact fees may be infeasible, there may be some flexibility with the utility undergrounding fee and some of the planning and building permit fees. For instance, fees for variances and use permits might be waived for affordable housing projects. HOUSING ELEMENT 5-15 SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN q'73