Government Code Section 65583(a) requires “An analysis of potential and actual governmental constraints upon the maintenance, improvement, or development of housing for all income levels…including…fees and other exactions required of developers, and local processing and permit procedures…”.
Housing development is typically subject to two types of fees or exactions:
- Permit processing fees for planning and zoning.
- Impact fees or exactions, imposed to defray all or a portion of the public costs related to the development project.
These fees and exactions can impact the cost and feasibility of developing the housing as well as its affordability. They can also involve issues of private property rights. High planning and site development fees can impact property owners’ ability to make improvements or repairs, especially for lower-income households. Development projects are subject to fees and exactions from a growing number of public entities, ranging from special districts to regional agencies. In order to create a viable development proposal, it is important to estimate the cumulative amount of fees to which the housing development will be subject. (Information about the city or county’s fees and exactions is among the most critical.) For both processing fees and impact fees, state law specifies procedural and nexus requirements:
- Government Code Section 66020 requires that planning and permit processing fees do not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the service or impact, unless approved by the voters; agencies collecting fees must provide project applicants with a statement of amounts and purposes of all fees at the time of fee imposition or project approval.
- Government Code Section 66000 et. seq. (Mitigation Fee Act) sets forth procedural requirements for adopting and collecting capital facilities fees and exactions, and requires they be supported by a report establishing the relationship between the amount of any capital facilities fee and the use for which it is collected.