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A proposal to raise fees for some planning and development permits will be the topic of a public hearing during next week’s City Council meeting. 

The resolution asks the council to adopt the fee schedule for the Permit Service Center Fund for all development-related services provided by the department. 

“We’re proposing to change just a few fee categories,” said Current Planning Manager Mark Rhoades, whose department proposes increasing about 12 of 40 fee categories. 

Fees went up two years ago across the board, he noted. This time the planners made an eight-month study of how much staff time is spent in determining if permits should be issued. “We’re trying to adjust the fees to pay for the time actually spent,” said Dan Lambert, senior management analyst in the Planning Department. 

The additional annual revenue from the proposed fee increases is estimated to be $326,999, and the total fee revenue is projected to be $4,324,262, according to the report on “Changes in Development Fees for the Permit Service Center Fund.” 

Building permits would not increase, Lambert said. Those permits comprise two-thirds of the total revenue, he said, and the fees will not go up even though costs are increasing. 

The biggest changes proposed are in Current Planning’s permits, where only 40 percent of the cost is being recovered, he said, adding that these pose the most complex issues. 

While total fee revenue is $4.3 million, the expenditure budget including administrative and indirect costs is more than $5 million, according to the report. 

“Historically the City Council has subsidized zoning fees,” said Rhoades. To keep the process accessible to the public the city has provided about half the cost (from the General Fund). 

“We’re proposing an adjustment to get up to half and subsidize to the tune of 50 percent in most applications.” 

The proposal is expected to generate some opposition. Rachel Rupert, chief executive officer of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday that the Chamber was preparing a letter about the proposed fee increases. 

“You can’t tell just by looking at the fee structure what are the implications, and how far reaching they are,” said Rupert. 

“We wanted to see if the fee increases are legitimate and warranted and that we have explored them.” 

Chamber representatives are expected to be present at Tuesday’s hearing. 

At the present time Current Planning is recovering 40 percent of its cost. 

Rhoades said the fees charged by Berkeley, even with the proposed increases, are comparable to other local municipalities including Oakland, Emeryville and Fremont. 

One prominent category, Administrative Use Permits, which received 221 applications in the last fiscal year, is the most visible to the general public. 

Administrative Use Permits for altering buildings have three levels of review, said Rhoades, for commercial and industrial uses as well as residential. 

Rhoades said the city has determined in these permits that a public hearing is not needed, he said, but it needs review and posting in the neighborhood. 

Also the city gets the opportunity to add conditions of approval. 

Under the proposal, the permit for a major residential addition of 500 square feet or more would increase from $450 to $600. 

In the Design Review category, where permits are required for exterior changes to commercial and industrial buildings, increases include a change of $235 to $325 for signs and awnings, and from $380 to $400 for staff analysis of projects under $50,000. 

If the Design Review Committee studies an exterior change that will cost less than $50,000, the fee will increase from $570 to $750. However, if the change is greater than $50,000 the fee drops $55 to $900. There were 81 Design Review applications in the last fiscal year. 

In the category of Use Permits, which received 99 applications in the last year, Rhoades said there are seven types, and his staff is proposing to change only one of them. 

In a whopping increase the Use Permit that requires a public hearing would change from $675 to $2,000. In this case, the report indicates, the city is recovering only one-fourth of the cost of staff time. 

In explaining Use Permits, Rhoades said every zoning district has a threshold for public hearings for different kinds of uses. 

For instance, if the question is how many square feet of floor will be built, that is reflected in the zoning ordinance providing that certain projects need more review and public input, he said. 

Speaking in a general way about zoning, Rhoades said leaders of the city have recognized that Berkeley is a “very special city.” 

“It is fine-grained from a land use standpoint, and we want to be very careful about the type of use and development projects in the city, so we spend a lot of time looking at them.” 

Defending the increases, he said, “More things are subject to review and more staff resources are required to review them.” The significant level of public participation also plays a role in the process, he said. 

For several types of landmark permits sizeable increases also are suggested: Signs and Awnings up from $180 to $500, and Design Review alteration from $180 to $550. 

According to the report the department recovers less than 20 percent of the cost of processing these permits. 

Planners also are asking the city to rescind the $345,000 cap on all waivers and limit future waivers that are not funded, to seismic strengthening.