Joint Special Council/BFPD
03/17/26 06:00 PM
City Manager Department
Rochelle Clayton
Public Hearing
Doc ID: 6337
AGENDA ITEM
AGENDA MATTER:
CONTINUE THE PUBLIC HEARING FROM MARCH 3, 2026 TO: 1. ADOPTION OF JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 08- 2026 APPROVING BOTH A DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEE NEXUS STUDY AND THE FEES RECOMMENDED IN THAT STUDY, 2. ADOPTION OF JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 09- 2026 APPROVING DISCOUNTED RATES FOR ELIGIBLE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, AND 3. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 1048- 2026 AMENDING CHAPTER
12.40 OF THE BARSTOW MUNICIPAL CODE, CONCERNING DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The proposed development impact fees will help the City fund new facilities and infrastructure to absorb the impacts of new development. Along with the new rates, staff propose a discount on development impact fees that apply to residential developments that include at least five dwelling units. Finally, the proposed amendments to Chapter 12.40 of the Barstow Municipal Code update its language to permit the Council to adopt new development impact fees via resolution without causing potential conflicts or confusion.
DISCUSSION:
Both the City and the Barstow Fire Protection District have authority to impose development impact fees (“DIFs”) to help them absorb the impacts of new development. DIFs may not reimburse the City for all such impacts (e.g., environmental mitigation), but they may cover costs to construct new or expanded physical facilities and infrastructure. For example, a new housing or commercial development requires the City to expand its public safety departments, its capacity to process wastewater, etc., so the City may raise revenue from DIFs to fund those expansions. Under the Mitigation Fee Act (Gov. Code, § 66000 et seq.), DIFs must be supported by a nexus study that shows how these fees are connected to new development both qualitatively and quantitatively - how new development creates the need for certain additional public infrastructure, and to what extent.
New Rates
The City retained the consultant Revenue & Cost Specialists to prepare such a nexus study, with a focus on impacts stemming from the Barstow International Gateway project. The result, after months of work, is the report dated February 9, 2026, attached to the proposed resolution below (the “Nexus Study”). As detailed in that study, the DIFs it proposes meet all of the requirements of the Mitigation Fee Act:
They serve the valid purpose of expanding the City’s facilities and infrastructure, so it can maintain the same levels of service as new development imposes additional demands on that service. They will only be used to fund those expanded facilities and infrastructure. There is a reasonable relationship between expanding the City’s facilities and infrastructure and the types of development projects that will be subject to these DIFs. There is a reasonable relationship between the need for the amount of expanded City facilities infrastructure and the types of development projects that will be subject to these DIFs.
Joint Special Council/BFPD
03/17/26 06:00 PM
City Manager Department
Rochelle Clayton
Public Hearing
Doc ID: 6337
AGENDA ITEM
Procedurally, an agency must adopt both the Nexus Study and the DIFs it recommends at a noticed public hearing. (Gov. Code, §§ 66016.5(a)(7), 66018, 66019.) Staff provided notice of this hearing by (1) posting notice of the City’s intent to adopt the Nexus Study and its proposed DIFs, (2) mailing that notice to interested persons, and (3) making the Nexus Study available for public review. Staff further published notice of the City’s action in the Daily Press on January 11 and February 1, 2026.
Further, both the nexus study and the proposed rate resolution distinguish between rates that apply within the City’s limits, and those that apply outside its limits but within Barstow FPD’s jurisdiction. As the governing body for both of these agencies, the Council is authorized to adopt DIFs for each of them.
However, the full schedule of rates will only apply within the City’s limits. For projects that occur outside the City’s limits, but within Barstow FPD, only the rates to support fire infrastructure will apply.
If the Council approves the proposed Nexus Study and DIFs, the latter will go into effect in 60 days. The charts below compare the City’s current DIF schedule with the proposed new rates. Each chart distinguishes “City Facilities” from “Fire Facilities” to show that portion of the DIFs that support the City of Barstow versus those that support Barstow FPD. As noted above, projects within the City’s limits pay both the City Facilities Fee and the Fire Facilities Fee.
Importantly, the rates recommended below and in the accompanying resolution are lower than the maximum rates that the Nexus Study concludes the City may impose. Staff recommend that the Council adopt these lower rates to encourage development, while at the same time maintaining its discretion to increase those rates up to the maximums presented in the Nexus Study as needed or appropriate.
Current Development Impact Fees
Land Use Type City Facilities Fee Fire Facilities Fee Total Fee Single-Family Residential $4,526.45 per DU $785 per DU $5,311.45 per DU Multi-Family Residential $10,041 per DU $606 per DU $10,647 per DU Mobile Home Dwelling Units N/A $494 per DU $494 per DU
Commercial Lodging Rooms $2,029 per room $446 per room $2,475 per room Retail, Commercial, Service Uses $3.543 per SF $0.053 per SF $3.60 per SF Industrial Uses $2.475 per SF $0.027 per SF $2.50 per SF Institutional Uses N/A N/A N/A
“DU” refers to one dwelling unit.
“SF” refers to one square foot.
Proposed Development Impact Fees
Joint Special Council/BFPD
03/17/26 06:00 PM
City Manager Department
Rochelle Clayton
Public Hearing
Doc ID: 6337
AGENDA ITEM
Land Use Type City Facilities Fee Fire Facilities Fee Total Fee Single-Family Residential $8.46 per SF $3.93 per SF $12.38 per SF Multi-Family Residential $11.59 per SF $2.30 per SF $13.89 per SF Mobile Home Dwelling Units $8.16 per SF $2.06 per SF $10.23 per SF Commercial Lodging Rooms $4,878 per room $2,205 per room $7,083 per room Retail, Commercial, Service Uses $20.51 per SF $2.30 per SF $22.81 per SF Industrial Uses $8.08 per SF $0.24 per SF $8.32 per SF
Institutional Uses $5.62 per SF $0.92 per SF $6.53 per SF Proposed Discount on Eligible Residential Projects
As a companion to the DIF rate adjustment discussed above, staff have also prepared a draft resolution providing a discount on the default DIF rate for eligible residential development projects, defined as projects with at least five dwelling units. Under the Mitigation Fee Act (Gov. Code, § 66000 et seq.) and other applicable law, the City and the District may impose any DIF rate up to the amounts approved at tonight’s noticed public hearing. To avoid “rate shock” that might hinder the construction of needed housing, however, this alternative phases in the increases to residential DIFs based on the level of new development that occurs over the coming years.
Specifically, the proposed resolution imposes the new DIF rates on a staggered schedule based on the level of new housing development:
Until the City approves projects providing 1,000 new dwelling units, eligible projects will continue to pay the City’s current DIF rates.
When the City has approved between 1,001 and 2,000 new dwelling units, eligible projects will pay 25% of the proposed new rates.
When the City has approved between 2,001 and 3,000 new dwelling units, eligible projects with pay 50% of the proposed new rates.
When the City has approved between 3,001 and 4,000 new dwelling units, eligible projects with pay 75% of the proposed new rates.
Once the City has approved more than 4,000 new dwelling units, the full proposed increase will apply.
Because there is no guarantee that new housing development will occur on any particular schedule, the proposed resolution also directs the Council to review these discounts at least once every three years to determine whether it should keep them at their current levels, eliminate them entirely, or otherwise adjust them based on market activity or other relevant metrics.
Joint Special Council/BFPD
03/17/26 06:00 PM
City Manager Department
Rochelle Clayton
Public Hearing
Doc ID: 6337
AGENDA ITEM
Amendment to Barstow Municipal Code, Ch. 12.40
DIFs are governed at the state level by the Mitigation Fee Act (Gov. Code, § 66000 et seq.), and at the local level by Chapter 12.40 of the Barstow Municipal Code. Both state law and the City’s code permit the Council to set DIF rates by resolution. (Gov. Code, §§ 66004, 66018; Barstow Muni. Code, §
12.40.040(d).)
However, Chapter 12.40 also includes language specific to the City’s current schedule of DIF rates - it is not limited to generally governing the City’s DIF program. For example, it requires rates to adjust annually according to a particular formula in place since 2008. (Barstow Muni. Code, § 12.40.040(f).) And it restricts the kinds of projects the City may support with DIF revenues by limiting the special funds in which that revenue may be held. (Id., §§ 12.40.050(a), 12.40.110.) As components of the City’s Code, these provisions can only be amended by ordinance - not by resolution.
The result is a potential for confusion or even conflict if the Council adopts new DIF rates via resolution, but it does not simultaneously amend Chapter 12.40 via ordinance to edit or eliminate language designed to apply to previous rates. The two most straightforward solutions to this issue are:
Ensure the Council only adjusts DIF rates via an ordinance that also amends Chapter 12.40 as needed, or
Amend Chapter 12.40 to remove language that is specific to any particular rate schedule.
On balance, staff recommend the second option because it eliminates the need to revisit the Code itself each time the Council adjusts DIF rates, and because both the Mitigation Fee Act and an amended Chapter 12.40 provide sufficient guidance and boundaries for those adjustments.
The proposed ordinance attached to this report therefore amends Chapter 12.40 to remove provisions more helpfully included in rate resolution, such as the kinds of DIFs to impose (e.g., police, fire, circulation), their rates, and whether / how they should automatically adjust annually. It retains more general provisions that will apply to any rate structure, such as the process to administratively appeal an allegedly invalid DIF.
Attachment 1 - Joint Resolution No. 08 - 2026 (includes Nexus Study) Attachment 2 - Joint Resolution No. 09 - 2026 (proposed discount) Attachment 3 - Ordinance No. 1048 - 2026 (amendment to Ch. 12.40) FISCAL IMPACT:
Adopting the proposed DIFs will increase the City’s revenues available to expand public facilities and infrastructure. Adopting the proposed discounts for residential DIFs will limit that increase, but in the service of promoting residential development. The proposed amendments to Ch. 12.40 do not have any fiscal impact in themselves — any such impact comes from separate actions (like the proposed resolutions) to impose or adjust the fees governed by Ch. 12.40.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Joint Special Council/BFPD
03/17/26 06:00 PM
City Manager Department
Rochelle Clayton
Public Hearing
Doc ID: 6337
AGENDA ITEM
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt
1. Adoption of Joint Resolution No. 08 - 2026,
2. Adoption of Joint Resolution No. 09 - 2026, and
3. First Reading of Ordinance No. 1048 - 2026.