RESOLUTION NO. 25-67
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE, CALIFORNIA AMENDING USER (“PLANNING”) FEES FOR PLANNING PERMITS AND APPROVALS PURSUANT TO TITLE 19 (“ZONING”) OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE MUNICIPAL CODE (“CMC”) WHEREAS, the City of Commerce (“City”) is a general law city, incorporated under the laws of the State of California; and WHEREAS, user fees are collected for services rendered by the City to recover the costs associated with specific services or program activities. This is critical for ensuring that the City can continuously provide essential services, program activities and to help mitigate the effects of economic downturns and variability in development activity; and WHEREAS, the City hired a consultant to conduct a user fee study to determine whether it is collecting fees that adequately offset the impacts of new development without overburdening development with unnecessary costs. Presentations on the findings were made by the consultant to the City Council on October 16, 2018 and June 2, 2020, respectively. The City Council directed staff to update the fees accordingly; and WHEREAS, on September 1, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 20-91 to update Building & Safety and Planning fees based on the user fees study prepared by a City consultant. The fees that were adopted were missing critical permit fees that were previously adopted and included in the user fee study; and WHEREAS, the Community Development Department provides a wide array of services to the public as it relates to land and real property development, including, but not limited to review and approval of planning submittals by developers and property owners; and WHEREAS, this amendment to the user permit fees for Planning is needed to correct an existing deficiency in the user fees and ensure that the City has a mechanism to collect user fees for all permits and approvals undertaken pursuant to Title 19 (“Zoning”) of the Commerce Municipal Code (“CMC”); and WHEREAS, pursuant to and in accordance with provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq., (herein referenced to as “CEQA”)), the State of California Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§ 15000, et seq., (herein referred to as the “CEQA Guidelines”)), the City is the “lead agency” for the preparation and consideration of environmental documents for “projects”, as the term is defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, California Government Code §§ 66014 and 66016 requires that a local agency post a public notice, including the time and place of the public hearing and general explanation of the matter to be considered, ten (10) days before the public hearing. Said notice was published in the Los Cerritos Community News on September 24, 2025.
WHEREAS, a duly noticed public hearing was held on October 14, 2025, wherein City Council considered written and oral information related to the revised Planning user fees, and the public had an opportunity to provide public comment as well; and WHEREAS, all other legal prerequisites for the adoption of this Resolutions were satisfied.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE DOES HEREBY RESOLVE, DECLARE AND DETERMINE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Commerce hereby finds and declares that the foregoing recitals are true and correct, and incorporates them herein as findings and as a substantive part of this Resolution.
Section 2. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq. “CEQA”) and the regulations promulgated thereunder (14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§ 15000, et seq., the “CEQA Guidelines”), the City reviewed the environmental impacts of the proposed Resolutions. No additional environmental review is required for this Resolution pursuant to CEQA Guidelines § 15060(c)(2), § 15378(b)(5) § 15301 § 15303 and § 15061(b)(3). The proposed Resolution is exempt from CEQA because it is to update Planning fees Citywide, which will not have a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and does not qualify as a “project” under CEQA because it will not make physical changes to the environment. The proposed Resolution is also exempt from CEQA under the common sense exemption that it will not affect the environment.
Section 3. The City Council hereby adopts and approves the fee schedule attached to this Resolution as Exhibit A and incorporated by reference herein.
Section 4. Authorize the Mayor to execute this Resolution for and on behalf of the City of Commerce.
Section 5. This Resolution shall take full force and effect immediately upon adoption by the City Council.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 14th day of October 2025.
Ivan Altamirano, Mayor
ATTEST:
Lena Shumway, City Clerk
EXHIBIT A
Planning Applications
Existing Fees (per Resolution No. 20-91)
Willdan User Fee Study presented to City Council June 2, 2020 Proposed Fees Per User Fee Study with CPI-U* increases
1 General Plan Amendment
$6,363.70
$6,363.70
$7,975.75
2 Zone Change
$6,363.70
$6,363.70
$7,975.75
3 Zoning Ordinance Amendment
$6,080.08
$6,080.08
$7,620.28
4 Zoning Clearance Fee
$446.87
$446.87
$560.07
5 Parcel Map
$4,302.17
$4,302.17
$5,391.99
6 Tract Map
$4,302.17
$4,302.17
$5,391.99
7 Lot Line Adjustment – Commercial
$3,223.06
$3,223.06
$4,039.52
8 Lot Line Adjustment – Residential
$2,878.27
$2,878.27
$3,607.39
9 Plot Plan/Site Plan Review – Non-Residential
$4,335.63
$4,335.63
$5,433.93
10 Plot Plan/Site Plan Review – Residential Major
$4,479.73
$4,479.73
$5,614.53
11 Plot Plan/Site Plan Review – Commercial Minor
None
$819.15
$1,026.66
12 Plot Plan/Site Plan Review – Residential Minor
$819.15
$657.86
$824.51
13 Conditional Use Permit
$4,841.57
$4,841.57
$6,068.03
14 Conditional Use Permit – Minor (Residential)
None
$4,841.57
$6,068.03
15 Conditional Use Permit Modification
$2,844.91
$2,844.91
$3,565.58
16 Variance – Non-Residential
$4,807.48
$4,807.48
$6,025.31
17 Variance – Residential
$2,850.51
$2,850.51
$3,572.60
18 Additional Variances
None
$2,769.04
$3,470.49
19 Modification of Standards – Non-Residential
None
$2,171.35
$2,721.40
20 Modification of Standards – Residential
None
$892.80
$1,118.96
21 Landscape Plan Review/Plan Check
None
$424.79
$532.40 if reviewed by staff
If reviewed by consultant, at cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 22 Home Occupation Permit
None
$996.03
$1,248.34
23 Sign Permit Fee – Temporary Sign
None
$61.12
$76.60
24 Sign Permit Fee – Sign Permit
None
$239.51
$300.18
25 Temporary Use Permit
$597.48
$597.48
$748.83
26 Special Use Permit
None
$851.01
$1,066.59
27 Time Extensions
None
$192.87
$241.73
28 Appeals of Planning Commission Decision – Non-Residential None
100% of original fee
100% of original fee
29 Appeals of Planning Commission Decision – Residential None
100% of original fee
100% of original fee
30 Street or Alley Vacation
None
$2,345.48
$2,939.64
31 Relocation of Structure
None
$1,806.16
$2,263.70
32 Environmental Impact Report Review
At cost as determined by consultant
$7,426.82
$9,308.18 if reviewed by staff
If reviewed by consultant, at cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 33 Categorical Exemption
None
$424.79
$532.40 if reviewed by staff
If reviewed by consultant, at cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 34 Negative Declaration
At cost as determined by consultant
$5,884.77
$7,375.50 if reviewed by staff
If reviewed by consultant, at cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 35 Mitigated Negative Declaration
At cost as determined by consultant
$5,884.77
$7,375.50 if reviewed by staff
If reviewed by consultant, at cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 36 Zoning Verification Letter
None
$315.12
$394.95 per parcel
37 Zoning Maps - Small
None
$15.28
$19.15
38 Zoning Maps - Large
None
$30.56
$38.30
39 Document Handling Fee
None
$2,658.93
$3,332.49
40 *Technology Cost is added to the application fee
2% of total fees to be collected
None
2% of total fees to be collected
41 Preliminary Design Review/ Design Review
None
$1,592.96
$1,996.49
42 Public Hearing Publication Fee
None
$449.17
$562.95
43 Specific Plan Amendment
None
$6,363.70
$7,975.75
44 Development Agreement
None
$6,363.70
$25,000 deposit
45 County Recorders Fee
None
$0
As determined by County agency
46 Fish and Game Fee
None
$0
As determined by State agency
47 Planning Staff Review/ Inspection
None
None
$84 per hour
48 Parking Study
None
None
At cost as determined by consultant, plus 25% of consultant’s cost 49 Lot Merger / Lot Tie
None
None
$4,039.52
50 Density Bonus Deposit
None
None
$10,000 deposit
51 Major Development**
None
None
$25,000 deposit
Fees shown in red bold are new fees that were not included in the user fee study nor previously adopted by City Council. * CPI-U = Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers; Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ** Major Developments = projects described under CMC Section 19.39.650 including: 1) any new building or structure in excess of twenty-five thousand square feet in area; 2) enlargement of any existing building or structure which adds more than twenty-five thousand square feet of building or structure area; 3) construction of any multiple-family housing development project containing five or more dwelling units; and 4) any telecommunications antenna described in Chapter 19.27 this Title 19.