Seal Beach's City Council on Nov. 11 adopted a revised parks-and-recreation impact fee program that changes how residential development is charged for park improvements.

Interim Community Development Director Temple introduced a public hearing to set new impact fees in line with state guidance. Jason Moody, principal at Economic & Planning Systems, presented the nexus study the city used to justify the fee program. Moody said the study identified $7.1 million in new facilities attributable to projected growth of 1,243 housing units, which produced a fee-per-housing-unit figure of about $58,863 and per-square-foot fees of $3.83 for single-family and $5.40 for multifamily residential development.

Moody explained the methodology: estimate the cost of new facilities attributable to growth, divide by projected growth (housing units), and convert to a per-square-foot fee using average unit sizes and people-per-household assumptions. He noted the study excludes land acquisition costs (less likely in a largely built-out city) and therefore yields lower per-unit fees than in some other cities that include land purchase in their calculations.

Council members asked whether the fees would create new open space (they do not, because acquisition was excluded), how fees are captured and reserved (fees would go into an impact-fee fund separate from the general fund), and whether the fees apply to redevelopment (the new fee applies to redevelopment as well). Staff said the fee would be collected when a qualifying project triggers a new development permit and that the multi-step calculations and appendices are included in the nexus study.

The council voted to adopt the fee package after closing the public hearing; the motion carried 5-0.

Why it matters: The new fee updates a dated Quimby-based approach that often excluded redevelopment and land- and facility-based costs. In practice, the change will affect developers of new residential and redevelopment projects and establishes a predictable revenue source for parks-related capital projects but does not create new parkland by itself.

What comes next: Staff will administer the new fee schedule, track collected funds in the impact-fee fund, and apply monies to eligible capital projects listed in the nexus-study appendices.