City of Sonoma studies imposing housing impact fees

Housing impact fees, a per-square-foot fee charged to builders of housing or commercial developments to help support the creation of affordable housing, was the topic of a study session held by Sonoma’s City Council Monday night. The council reviewed a report by the consulting firm Keyser Marston establishing a relationship between development and the need for affordable housing.

The so-called “Nexus Study” provides the legal basis for such fees by determining the housing need created by development.

The 150-page report provides details about fees charged in other communities for a variety of types of development, and other mitigations imposed on development, such as “inclusionary” rules mandating that affordable units be created alongside market-rate housing in developments of five units or larger.

When Redevelopment funding was terminated by the State of California in 2012, it effectively brought the city’s affordable housing program to a halt as well. The city is now looking at ways to reinvigorate the creation of affordable housing; all parties agree the lack of local affordable housing is a pressing problem.

While the Keyser Marston study indicates that per-square-foot fees could potentially be high — upwards of roughly $95-per-foot for hotel construction, for example — their recommended fees are far lower, more in the $6-$9 per-square-foot range. Their rationale rests on comparison with other communities, and an effort to impose fees that do not stifle development altogether.

The council took no formal action to approve any fee amount specifically; the evening was instead spent examining the options, understanding how and when fees would be applied, and taking comment from the public. Few members of the public were in attendance, despite the urgency with which housing issues have been associated of late.

The council will meet again to review additional recommendations and suggestions of the consultant and city staff before making any final decisions or adopting the new rules. All concede that funds from such fees will not come anywhere close to replacing the amount that redevelopment funding used to provide, but as Planning Director David Goodison noted, “It’s a start.”