Developers Tagged to Help Pay for Road Costs

At one time, North County developers paid no fees for the construction of local roads, traffic signals and freeway interchanges near their projects. Although they were often required to build surface streets within their subdivisions, developers were generally not viewed as responsible for mitigating more general traffic impacts.

That’s all changed. Today, with traffic congestion on freeways, county highways and surface streets reaching an uncomfortable level in many parts of the area, and traditional funding sources for road construction drying up, developers are increasingly being asked to bear part of the regional transportation burden.

Indeed, a spokesman for one large North County builder estimated that developers spend an average of $10,000 per single-family home on fees for roads, stoplights and traffic impact fees. That amount is invariably passed on to the home buyer.

According to a study by Public Affairs Consultants of San Diego, Del Mar and the County of San Diego are the only jurisdictions in North County that do not charge a traffic impact or thoroughfare fee. The newly incorporated City of Solana Beach has adopted the county’s land-use ordinances until leaders draft a general plan; Encinitas is expected to do the same. The charges for other North County cities:

Carlsbad

Carlsbad recently adopted two new fees--a traffic impact fee and a fee for construction of freeway bridges and thoroughfares. The fees are based on the number of average daily trips a given project is expected to generate. The bridge and thoroughfare fee is collected for all areas of the city except the northwest corner. The charge is $53 per trip per residential dwelling unit; for commercial and industrial uses, it’s $22 per daily trip. The number of trips is calculated on a case-by-case basis by traffic engineers.

The traffic impact fee varies in certain areas of the city. In La Costa, it is $67 per daily trip for each residential unit. For all other land uses, it’s $27 per daily trip. In the rest of city it’s $60 per daily trip for residential construction, $15 per trip for industrial and $10 per trip for commercial.

Oceanside

Oceanside charges $180 thoroughfare fee per daily trip for all types of development east of El Camino Real. Some commercial and industrial projects are granted a reduction of up to 75% of the total fee depending on their impact on local roads. There is no fee in the already developed section of Oceanside west of El Camino Real.

In addition, the city collects a traffic signalization fee that varies depending on a project’s effect on congestion and its location. The charge ranges from zero to 100% of the signal’s cost.

Vista

Vista charges a flat fee for traffic impacts and thoroughfare construction. For residential projects, it is $500 per dwelling unit for single-family homes, $400 per unit for multifamily homes and $350 per unit for mobile homes. The fee is $3,400 per acre for commercial projects and industrial developments.

In addition, the city charges a $9.20 traffic-signal fee for each daily trip generated by all types of land uses.

Escondido

Escondido also uses a flat fee approach. It is $790 per unit for single-family homes, $632 per multifamily unit and $395 for mobile homes. For commercial projects, it ranges from $800 to $3,000 per acre depending on location; for industrial, it’s $60 to $200 per acre depending on location.

Poway

Poway collects a traffic mitigation fee of $66 per average daily trip for each residential unit built, and the City Council may add additional fees. The traffic impacts of other developments are gauged on a case-by-case basis and builders are assessed accordingly.