Cost of Legally Improving Homes in San Mateo County May Rise

Written by Vanessa Castañeda

A proposal to increase legal home improvement costs in San Mateo County was tabled Tuesday morning in Redwood City, leaving the future cost of doing legal home improvements for unincorporated Coastsiders uncertain.  

Don Horsley, who represents the interests of District 3 to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, pulled the item from the agenda. It was vaguely suggested that the county would be doing community outreach to engage the public in a conversation about the proposed permit fee increases, which would have been imposed upon all residents of unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.

The change in fee structures would have raised the cost of working with the county's Planning and Building Department by five percent and added 14 new fees.  

Jim Eggemeyer, community development director for the county of San Mateo, began the conversation about this issue more than a year ago as a way to make the department financially self reliant. The fees that it collects for conducting mandatory interactions for the public go toward paying for the salaries of its employees.

Residents of an unincorporated portion of the county near Redwood City vehemently protested the fee increases and organized into a group called Citizens United for Planning and Building Reform. They suggested that eliminating this department and outsourcing the services would be a more cost-effective use of the money. The issue was brought up by residents and discussed on the Half Moon Bay Review's TalkAbout as well.

The dates of the community meetings were not announced.