Large Stanislaus County district proposes higher fees as growth puts pressure on services
A fire protection district in eastern Stanislaus County proposes to impose impact fees on new development to pay for facilities, as large development projects in Riverbank increase demand for emergency services.
Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District would collect 81 cents per square foot on new construction within its boundaries. The district provides emergency services for Riverbank, Waterford, Empire, Hickman and La Grange, as well as Modesto’s airport neighborhood and Beard Industrial Tract.
The one-time fees on development will create a source of funding for building a new fire station in the Crossroads West development in Riverbank but also can be used for expanding existing stations. Legally, the funds can pay for land, structures, firefighting apparatus and equipment.
The impact fee would amount to $1,620 on a newly built 2,000-square-foot home.
Officials justify these kind of fees because construction of homes and commercial buildings increases the need for fire protection. The Stanislaus Consolidated fees require approval from the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, which has set a hearing for Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. Approval also is required from the city councils of Riverbank and Waterford.
The district’s current development fees, last updated in 2007 and later revised, run from 24 cents per square foot for buildings with sprinklers in Riverbank to 49 cents per square foot in Waterford.
Stanislaus Consolidated has a 58-member staff under a service agreement with the Modesto Fire Department. The district, with six fire stations, averages 6,850 calls per year, about 60% of which are medical emergencies and rescues.
Officials believe those calls will increase as residential developments, especially in Riverbank, add thousands of homes, boost the population, expand commercial areas and put more cars on the roads.
Plans for residential development could add 4,700 dwellings to Riverbank, including 1,964 in Crossroads West and 2,432 in the River Walk development, while a projected 821,500 square feet of commercial and industrial development includes Costco, other commercial areas, a biofuels plant and a storage facility.
The district’s September 2024 fee study anticipates 2,800 dwellings in Waterford’s Lake Pointe development area, adopted in 2007.
An estimated 15.3 million square feet of residential could be built in the next eight years within the fire district, along with 1.67 million square feet of commercial and industrial buildings, potentially generating almost $14 million in fire impact fees. Government property, reconstructed buildings of the same size, accessory dwellings less than 750 square feet and structures with no fire service impact will be exempt from the fees.
According to a Stanislaus Consolidated facility plan, a new fire station is planned in the Crossroads West development and will need a ladder truck, engine and water tender, two vehicles and equipment.
The station itself would cost an estimated $11.57 million, plus $7.3 million for apparatus, hoses, equipment and vehicles. The district’s fee study assumes the station project will be financed because fire facilities are needed before developments are fully built. That assumption adds $15.6 million in financing costs over 30 years.
The fire district currently has $858,557 in unspent development fees. The projected fee revenue doesn’t match with the cost of facilities, but a state law requires the district to determine the portion of the facility cost that’s attributed to new development.
Previous legal dispute over fees
Stanislaus Consolidated had a legal squabble with Riverbank in 2019 over proposed development fees. District officials claimed the city approved Crossroads West without showing that adequate fire response times could be maintained. City officials countered that a proposed impact fee of $1.24 per square foot in Crossroads West was too high, in light of state requirements for fire suppression in new homes.
Riverbank City Manager Marisela Garcia said the current City Council has not weighed in on the proposed fee of 81 cents per square foot, but it goes to the council Dec. 10. She said staff will recommend approval unless council members have significant issues.
“There has been some time since the last fee increases,” Garcia said. “The city tries to make sure we are recouping enough fees in order to provide the services and meet the needs of the community.”
Supervisor Buck Condit, who represents the Riverbank and Oakdale area, said he will look at the fee study more in depth before the county hearing in December.
“New development always puts pressure on providing service and this is one way to help alleviate the cost of that burden,” said Condit, a former Stanislaus Consolidated Fire captain. “The impact fee does not cover the full cost of providing the services. Usually, fire districts have to make up that loss in other ways.”
