HUNTINGTON BEACH : Erskine Questions Plan-Checking Fee

Two weeks after the City Council imposed a substantial new plan-checking fee for all building renovations and new construction, Councilman John Erskine is calling for his colleagues to reconsider their decision.

Erskine said that letters of protest he received from the Chamber of Commerce and a major developer prompted him to second-guess the council’s approval of the new charge, although he is not yet reversing his support of the fee.

It was one of dozens of new fees and cost hikes that the council, including Erskine, approved Aug. 6 to make charges for the processing services equal to what it costs officials to do the work.

The fee being challenged, similar to charges levied by some other Orange County cities, is expected to bring the city an extra $500,000 in revenue this year. It adds onto planning and permit costs a processing charge equal to 0.3% of the assessed value of the work being done.

For a 400-square-foot room addition, the new fee will be about $75. Other construction-related fees total $335.

But Erskine said he is concerned over what the charge adds to larger projects, such as The Waterfront, a seaside residential and hotel resort.

The first hotel of the project opened last month, but most of the other facilities are still in the planning stages.

Erskine, referring to a letter he received from Steven Bone, developer of The Waterfront, said that Bone expressed concern about the added cost that the fee would generate, specifically “. . . a couple of hundred thousand dollars onto the next Waterfront hotel.”

The Chamber of Commerce letter did not specifically denounce the new planning charge, but only asked that the council “be equitable and fair to the entire business community.”

No date has yet been set for the council to reconsider the adopted processing fee.