Supervisors OK park fee hike

A long-stalled fee increase to help pay for parks and recreation facilities needed to serve new development in El Dorado Hills won final approval last week.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved capital improvement plans along with increases in park and recreation impact fees for the El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park community services districts.

For the El Dorado Hills district, the July 10 action concluded six months of negotiations that saw the district reduce its proposed fee increase in response to building industry and county Planning Commission concerns. Commission members argued that the initial proposal for a 118 percent increase would interfere with the county's efforts to provide affordable housing.

Under the schedule approved by the Board of Supervisors, the fee for a new single-family home in most of El Dorado Hills will be $9,807, a 38.6 percent increase. In Cameron Park, it will be $8,021, an approximately 92.5 percent increase.

El Dorado Hills resident Rob Vomund urged the board to approve the fee increase for his community but said he was not happy with it.

"I feel the fee increase is too low," Vomund said.

Construction of park and recreation facilities has not kept pace with population growth in El Dorado Hills because the district has not collected enough money from developers, he said.

Vomund noted that a number of residents lobbied for the higher fees during a May meeting of the community services district board. They complained that the neighborhood parks they were promised years ago have not been built.

He criticized home builders for using the promise of the parks to sell houses, then opposing the fees needed for the parks.

Bill Vandegrift, vice president of the El Dorado Hills Community Services District board, said he supported the lower fee increase.

"There's only so much money to go around," he said. "We all have to live within the parameters of our income."

Bob Johnston, a longtime Cameron Park resident, said he has seen few improvements at parks in that community and questioned why the Cameron Park district needed more money.

"Building is down 33 percent," he told the supervisors. "What we're doing here is going to create a downward spiral."

The supervisors noted that their role is not to evaluate the amount of the fee, but rather whether the capital improvement plan is consistent with the general plan, the county's blueprint for growth.

Bob Smart, a member of the county Parks and Recreation Commission, said the effect of fees on affordable housing was a legitimate topic for discussion but praised the supervisors for leaving decisions about funding mechanisms to the community services district boards.

The county needs more such districts, Smart said, arguing that it is important "to have citizens at the grass-roots level decide how their lives should be managed."

The board approved the fees for both districts on a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Ron Briggs opposed the increases, citing concern about their effect on housing costs.

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• The Bee's Cathy Locke can be reached at (916) 608-7451 or clocke@sacbee.com.