Supervisors OK Developers’ Fees to Pay for New Fire Stations

Developers building in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and portions of the Malibu-Santa Monica Mountains area face a new fee to pay for construction of fire stations under a plan approved Thursday by the County Board of Supervisors.

By a 4-0 vote, the board adopted the fee for developers of residential, commercial and industrial projects in those areas. However, it will not take effect in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys until the three valley cities agree to impose the same levy and give the money to the county.

The fee will take effect almost immediately in unincorporated areas of the Fire Department’s Malibu-Santa Monica Mountains zone, a 162-square-mile area on the coastal and inland sides of the mountains stretching from just north of Pacific Palisades to the Los Angeles-Ventura county line.

It will not apply to Malibu--now in the process of becoming a city--or the cities of Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village.

County fire officials said the fee will not take effect in the 2,119-square-mile Antelope Valley area until the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale adopt the same plan. Similarly, the fee would only take effect in the 394-square-mile Santa Clarita Valley area with the approval of the city of Santa Clarita.

County fire officials estimated that the 17 new fire stations needed in the three areas by 1995 would cost $33 million. Eight stations would be built in the Antelope Valley, eight in the Santa Clarita Valley, and one in the city of Agoura Hills.

At the rate of 18.74 cents per square foot of construction, the fire station charge would add about $375 to the cost of a typical 2,000-square-foot new house. And although the fee would be paid by developers, they typically pass along such costs to buyers through higher prices.

The fire station fee is the first of its kind for the county. Without it, county fire officials warned, fire protection in the developing areas would suffer because the county would have too little money to build and equip the needed stations.

“Generally, our fire service needs weren’t being met in the developing areas,” said Deputy County Fire Chief Jim Hunt. “The intent of the fee is to allow us to build the facilities as the development is taking place.”

City officials in Lancaster and Palmdale said Thursday that they expect to concur with the county’s action in the coming months.

Lynn Harris, Santa Clarita’s community development director, could not be reached for comment.

The new fee was supported by spokesmen for the Building Industry Assn., a developers trade group that has challenged other fees but said it recognized the need for more fire stations.

County fire officials said the counties of Orange, Riverside, Ventura and Santa Barbara have imposed similar charges in recent years.