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Tuesday, Feb. 07, 2012

Oakdale takes step toward cutting developer fees

By Kevin Valine
kvaline@modbee.com
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OAKDALE -- It could be cheaper to build a home here after the City Council on Monday signaled its intent to cut developer fees.

"We need to stimulate construction and jobs in Oakdale," said Councilman Tom Dunlop, who was joined by three other council members in voting to have staff come back to them with lower fees for Sunset Meadows, an 18-unit subdivision of 1,300- to 1,500-square-foot-homes planned for an area just off East F Street.

The fees are $24,722 per house, and the city will reduce them to $13,500 per house.

  • OAKDALE COUNCIL WATCH

      The Oakdale City Council on Monday:

      • Gave interim City Manager Greg Wellman a positive review after six months on the job and authorized him to hire Stan Feathers as a part-time, interim operations manager. Wellman said Feathers will be paid $74 an hour without benefits. The council also authorized Wellman to have someone review Public Works operations. Wellman said that could cost $7,500 to $10,000, and he expects to have someone in place to conduct the review in two weeks.

      • Named Oakdale Fire Division Chief Rick Fields as interim fire chief. Fire Chief Mike Botto is retiring Friday after more than 33 years with the department. Fields and Botto retired more than a year ago but have continued to work for the city on a part-time basis.

      • Accepted the resignations of Police Chief Marty West and Community Development Services Director Danelle Stylos. Their last day will be March 2. West is retiring after more than 35 years in law enforcement. Stylos is moving to Sacramento for family reasons after nearly five years with the city.

      • Adopted a contract for a merged headquarters among the Oakdale Fire Department and the Oakdale Fire Protection and Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection districts. The contract calls for one administrative team to lead the three agencies, which will remain separate. Consolidated Fire Chief Steve Mayotte will oversee the three agencies. Botto said he expects the merged headquarters to be in place by June.

      — Kevin Valine

    The council's intent is to consider reducing fees on a case-by-case basis for 24 months for all development, from residential to commercial. Councilman Jason Howard voted against the proposal.

    Four years ago, the Sunset Meadows homes would have sold for $300,000, but now will be priced at $150,000 to $160,000, said Pat Corrigan, one of the owners of Domicile Capital LLC, the project developer.

    "We've been waiting for the city to come around and come up with a number that we could work with," Corrigan said after the meeting, adding that Domicile Capital could not afford to build without the fee reduction.

    Corrigan said he expects to break ground in March and the homes should go on sale in June or July.

    Council members stressed that the fee reductions were temporary. Dunlop said Oakdale could afford reducing fees in the short term. For instance, he said, Sunset Meadows' $24,722 fee includes $4,672 for parks and recreation. Yet, he said, the parks and recreation account has a healthy balance, and the city does not have a shortage of parks.

    Howard said he supports reducing fees, but could not support doing it on a case-by-case basis. He said that could create the perception that the city favored some developers over others.

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