02/10/1986 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Councilor Schue noted she will bring this item up at Wednesday's meeting under IIItems from the Mayor and Council." III. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Fee Adjustment for Building Permits (memo, background information distributed) City Manager Michea1 Gleason introduced the agenda item. Bill Guenz1er of the Public Works Department presented the staff report. He said a report titled IIProposa1 for Building Permit Fees and Plan Checking Fees" was discussed with the Building Code Board of Appeals and the Joint Committee for Economic Diver- sification and at a public meeting in the council chamber in December. He said the report includes information about building permit and plan examination fees. It was mailed to about 500 individuals and organizations in the City. It was sent to everyone who has received a building permit in the last year and a half. Mr. Guenzler said it costs the City about $1 million a year to operate the Building Division. He said about 30 percent of the cost of the Building Division is usually recovered in fees. Discussions about increasing fees were begun with Springfield and Lane County representatives in October 1985. e Using visuals, Mr. Guenz1er discussed fees charged by other cities. He said many Oregon cities increased fees in 1981 and 1982, but Eugene has kept its fees as low as possible. He said the staff recommended that fees for struc- tural permits be increased 50 percent, fees for plumbing permits be increased 50 percent, fees for electrical permits be increased 50 percent, the process- ing charge for mechanical permits be increased $15, and the fee for special investigations be increased to $30 an hour. He said the changes will result in an increase of 40 percent in the fees for one- and two-family permits. He said building activity increased 60 percent from 1984 to 1985 and the recom- mended increases would provide an additional $163,000 annually if the current activity continues. e Councilor Holmer said Lane County and Portland attempt to recover about 80 percent of the costs of operating their Building Divisions. He wondered why Eugene does not recover that much. Mr. Guenzler said the Eugene costs include expenses for zoning enforcement, sign code enforcement, and nuisance abatement which are not included in the Lane County and Portland costs. Also, the cost of local permits cannot exceed the cost of State permits unless documentation concerning excessive costs is presented at a public hearing. Public Works Director Christine Andersen reviewed the comments received at the public meeting about the increases. The comments concerned the effective date of the increases, fee increases in Springfield and Lane County, the relation- ship of the proposed City fees to State fees, and the need to reduce the systems development charge if permit fees are increased. Ms. Andersen said the staff recommended the fee increases become effective April 1, 1986, and the new fees will be similar to those charged by Springfield and Lane County. Discussing State fees, she said the Eugene plumbing permit fee is the only one that is considerably lower than the State fee and the MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 10, 1986 Page 2