Lower Impact Fees Up for Debate at Monday's Council Meeting

Three years after deciding to increase fees that developers pay to offset their impact on things like traffic and public safety, the city of Petaluma wants to lower them in an effort to lure businesses back to town.

On Monday, the City Council will discuss reducing the city’s so-called development impact fees that today are the highest in the North Bay and that have been criticized for keeping prospective applicants from coming to Petaluma.

For example, a developer now must pay nearly $60,000 to the city for each single-family home it builds in Petaluma, compared to $38,000 in Santa Rosa and $34,000 in San Rafael.

In April, the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to council members urging them to pick up the issue, including reducing linkage fees that are used to build affordable housing to workers. The chamber also suggested tying fees to the number of low-wage jobs actually created by new development and to stop charging developers for future “connector” projects including the Caulfield Lane and Copeland Street extensions until funding has been identified.

Other fees being reconsidered include for traffic, wastewater and water capacity and could result in a reduction of 10-15 percent for residential projects and 15-20 for non-residential and bring the city more in line with what other North Bay municipalities are charging.

The meeting starts at 7pm.