The Coronado City Council approved two fee increases during its April 15 meeting, outlined below.
Coronado increases transportation impact fee for new-build construction
The Coronado City Council on April 15 approved a 6 percent increase for its Regional Transportation Congestion Improvement Program (RTCIP) fee.
The fee is assessed on new-build construction projects and, starting July 1, will increase from $2,875.06 to $3,047.57 for each newly built home. There are some exemptions, most notably being for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
All cities must collect a transportation mitigation fee to be eligible for TransNet funding. TransNet is a program funded by a half-cent sales tax levied by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). TransNet funds traffic infrastructure improvements.
RTCIP funds collected in Coronado are used for projects within the city – specifically, on State Route 75. The fee is adjusted by a minimum of 2 percent each year, and the 6 percent increase was based on construction cost trends reported by SANDAG using the Engineering News-Report Construction Cost Index for Los Angeles.
“As with everything else,” said City Councilmember Carrie Downey, “inflation has affected what we do with the money we get on this program. As you can imagine, the upkeep and what we have to do on our highly-trafficked streets costs more than it did 20 years ago.”
May John Duncan agreed, but said he was sensitive about raising fees.
“It’s not what we want to do, but sometimes I think it’s what we have to do,” he said.
Coronado increases affordable housing in-lieu fee
City Council approved a new in-lieu affordable housing fee, bringing it to the highest in San Diego County at $59 per square foot.
The Coronado municipal code requires that subdivision projects involving two or more lots reserve 20% of its units for lower income residents – or pay a fee. The current fee is $7,000 per unit, a figure that has not been updated since it was set in 1993.
All developers in Coronado have chosen to pay the fee rather than reserve the housing. The funds collected go to a dedicated affordable housing fund, which currently has a $1.7 million balance.
“We’ve had one of the lowest fees in the county forever, and we haven’t changed it since 1993,” said Councilmember Kelly Purvis.
Councilmember Carrie Downey noted that, when Coronado is subject to the state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, it must show what it is doing as a city to support affordable housing.
“Even though $59 (per square foot) is higher than anybody else, I think with all the years we didn’t charge anything, it’s the right amount to get us back to where we should be,” she said.
Most of San Diego charges $25 per square foot for its affordable housing in-lieu fee, although a $50 per square foot fee is assessed within San Diego’s University Community Plan area.
