Supes approve 10-fold increase in parkland fees

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     SAN DIEGO — San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a plan last week that will raise fees charged to developers in unincorporated areas by 10 times what they are currently. The supervisors approved the Park Land Dedication Ordinance fees increase 4-1, with district two representative Dianne Jacob in opposition.
     “I think this increase is just too much, too fast,” Jacob said.
     Her concerns echo those raised by several community planning groups in the second district, including Campo/Lake Morena and Alpine.
     "Dealing with the PLDO funds, this group has sent the county what we think, that there is basically a consensus that no one wants to pass this cost onto residents,” said APG Parks, Recreation and Conservation chairman Brad Bailey. “The 15-thousand or so residents that are here already are going to get a pass, but those last few thousand more homes in the community are going to carry the burden of this increase.”
     PLDO fees are charged to developers in unincorporated areas to mitigate some of the environmental impacts, by providing money to be used for local parks. The county collects the one-time fees and either uses the money directly for county parks — with the advice of the local planning board — or teams up with a local parks district or school.
     The money can be used for acquiring land or building improvements such as playgrounds, ball fields and swimming pools, according to Matt Bohan, the county parks department development director.
     Planning group members were concerned that this is a tax on residents, however, according to Matt Bohan, the PLDO fee is charged only on new developments and developers, not on remodel projects or current residents. However, local planners are still worries that this increase could greatly increase the cost of housing, as developers may simply pass the cost of the fee on to homebuyers.
     According to county staff, the current PLDO fee in Alpine is $800 per dwelling unit. The new fees, which will be phased in over the course of three years, will be nearly $4,500.
     In the Campo/lake Morena area PLDO fees are currently $400, and will rise to $3,400.
     “The current fee amount was first established in 1986,” Bohan said. “That amount at this moment is, honestly, really low. It doesn't provide us the money we need to make improvements and develop parks throughout the county.”
     Staff officials say that the park fee's general goal is to provide at least three acres of park property for every 1,000 county residents.
     The increase in fees will bring much more money into unincorporated areas to develop park space, raising worries amongst residents about where the money will be spent.
     According to Bohan, the county is split up into more than 20 Local Park Planning Areas (LPPAs), and all of the money gathered from building permits in an area is reserved for that area.
     “All of the money collected in an LPPA, must remain in that LPPA, to be used for parks,” Bohan said.
     The Alpine Park Planning Area PLDO coffers currently hold $361,000, to be used to acquire land or develop parks. The Mountain Empire LPPA, which spans from Potrero to the county line, south to the Mexican border, and north just to just past Interstate 8, currently has about $236,000 to be used for park development.
     Another concern discussed by Alpine planners, and raised by Jacob before the supervisors’ vote, has to do with the maintenance of parks once they are acquired and built. Park Land Dedication Ordinance Funds cannot legally be used to pay for park maintenance.
     “The big problem is not the capital funds to get the parks,” Jacob said. “It’s the maintenance needed afterward. Currently county has no policy to deal with this and the communities are left to come up with the means to maintain their new parks.”
     Jacob said that the unincorporated areas should be treated as a city in this manner, provided with some sort of general fund to maintain parkland. As it stands, communities in the unincorporated areas are left to fend for themselves, either creating a park maintenance entity, or entering into joint-use agreements with other groups such as schools or community centers.
     Jacob plans to continue discussing this shortfall with the county parks department and supervisors.

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