Walker

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1989, the City established the “Beach Parking Impact Fee” to mitigate the anticipated increase in beach parking that would result from large scale residential developments proposed for its inland areas. The City declared it would use the fee to finance the acquisition and construction of parking facilities at or near the City’s beaches. The City thereafter imposed the Beach Parking Impact Fee as a condition of approval for new residential developments outside the City’s coastal zone. Originally, the City set the Beach Parking Impact Fee at $1,500 per dwelling unit, but it later reduced the fee to $750 per dwelling unit, subject to annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. Between 1989 and 2009, the City collected nearly $6 million in impact fees and more than $3 million in interest. In 1994, the City used approximately $337,000 of the fees to purchase a vacant lot next to a parking lot the City already owned and operated in its North Beach area, but that lot remains vacant. It has been 25 years since the City established and began collecting the Beach Parking Impact Fee, but the City has not used the fee to construct any new parking…