Proposed Planning Appeal Fee Hikes Could Price Residents Out

PLANNING WATCH - The Dept of City Planning initiated Council File 09-0969-S4 which proposes to increase filing fees for non-applicants. It appears that City Planning doesn’t like neighbors in the surrounding community being able to question their approval of projects for which the required findings are not supported by substantial evidence. The proposal is to increase filing fees that are now $229 to an amount between $687 and $4,579.

NO JUSTIFICATION FOR EXORBITANT FEES. The fact that other jurisdictions charge high appeal fees is not a justification for doing the same. We are not in a competition to see who can impose the highest fees. Appeals are an essential public service that the City should provide to aggrieved taxpayers. Imposing exorbitant fees sets a dangerous precedent: the next proposal could be to charge adjacent homeowners for fixing a pothole or repairing a broken streetlight.

NON-APPLICANT APPEALS HELP LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD. Non-applicant appeals provide an important check on development applications that are not by-right and are often supported by paid attorneys, architects, and consultants. Without the ability to appeal, community members are placed at a significant disadvantage when challenging projects that may affect their neighborhoods.

COURT FILING FEES DEMONSTRATE HOW EXCESSIVE FEES CAN DISCOURAGE LEGITIMATE APPEALS. Court filing fees provide a useful benchmark. The Superior Court filing fee for a civil complaint seeking more than $35,000 is $435, with lower fees for claims involving smaller amounts. The filing fee for a petition for writ of mandate in the California Court of Appeal is $775. If the City imposes an appeal fee approaching or exceeding these amounts, it raises a serious concern that the purpose is not to recover administrative costs, but to discourage legitimate appeals.

EXORBITANT FILING FEES DENY ACCESS TO JUSTICE. If appeals to the City, an Area Planning Commission, or the City Council become cost-prohibitive for non-applicants, meaningful public participation will be limited to those who can afford to pay.  Excessive filing fees undermine fair access to the City's land-use appeal process and ultimately access to justice.

Urge your Councilmember to oppose increasing non-applicant filing fees for appeals.

(Raymond Klein has been involved with land use issues for over 20 years on the Boards of the Brentwood Community Council and Brentwood Homeowners Association and is an occasional CityWatch contributor. Views expressed are his own.)