Vacaville staff released an updated development impact fee study late last week that reflects a significant reduction in the proposed increase in its parks impact fee.
The city revisited the park fee after BIA and its members raised questions, in part, about whether or not the nexus study factored acreage already dedicated to the city but not yet constructed. For a 2,500 sq. ft. single family home, the proposed park fee will be $10,561 per unit instead of $14,630 per unit, a reduction of $4,069. For a multi-family unit, the city dropped the proposed park fee from $9,962 per unit to $7,191, a reduction of $2,771.
The proposed new park fee is still nearly double the existing rate, an increase the city attributes to the addition of new projects and inflation. Overall, however, when factoring the proposed adjustments in the parks fee, the city's other eight impact fees and the elimination of the $10,000-per-unit Community Benefit Fee, the total fee burden for a typical single-family subdivision of 2,500 sq. ft. homes will drop approximately $2,100 per unit or 4 percent. The actual numbers will vary by project, as the new fee structure for single-family homes is based on square footage.
A typical multi-family project, however, does not pay the Community Benefit Fee and as a result, these projects would see an increase of $1,781 per unit or 5.6 percent under the revised program. To minimize the impacts on existing projects, BIA has asked staff to allow developers with projects already in the pipeline -- including those who have submitted SB 330 preliminary applications -- the option to remain under the current fee program or migrate to the new structure.
Click HERE for table that illustrates the April fee estimates and the revised June fee estimates as compared with existing fee levels.
The Vacaville City Council is set to consider the fee proposal on June 14, 2022. For questions or comments, contact BIA's Lisa Vorderbrueggen.