From: Ted Godshalk
To: Public Comment
Subject: Public Comment for January 20, 2026 from Mr. Ted Godshalk.
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 10:32:42 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
Public Comment for January 20, 2026 from Mr. Ted Godshalk:
Good evening, Councilors.
I have submitted written EScribe comments for agenda items 9.7 (West Coast Arborists) and
10.3 ( Neighborhood Services Fees).
Participation from home, or any remote location, for any reason, should be allowed and encouraged to the fullest extent. Let’s start the new year with a broader model for the public to use and get questions answered. Escribe actually speeds up the City Council meetings, which you will certainly remember, have been e x t r e m e l y lengthy lately.
Please have my comments and questions addressed during the meeting.
I will be participating from home.
Ted Godshalk
From: [email protected] on behalf of eSCRIBE.Admin To: [email protected]; Shelley Chapel; Tonya Hussain Subject: Public Comment Received
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 10:00:19 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
User Ted Godshalk has enter the following comment(s):
Please ask Public Works to direct the West Coast Arborists to provide immediate tree trimming on the National City Golf Course. This contact extension is an opportunity. A 60-80 year old, 100 foot tall pine tree was broken at the base and toppled during the latest windy Storms this month. This tree, and many others, have not been thinned out (regular maintenance) in many years and trees are lost every year. Remember, the golf course is a city owned property and you must be BETTER STEWARDS of it.
for First Amendment to the Agreement with West Coast Arborists, Inc. for Specialized Urban Forestry Maintenance Services. in Regular City Council Meeting 1/20/2026 6:00:00 PM Please log into eSCRIBE to review the submitted comment(s).
From: [email protected] on behalf of eSCRIBE.Admin To: [email protected]; Shelley Chapel; Tonya Hussain Subject: Public Comment Received
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 9:45:52 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
User Ted Godshalk has enter the following comment(s):
Please ask for clarification regarding Staff's recommendation to remove fees for Camping in a Vehicle on public streets. Is there another violation that can cited? If there is no other way to prohibit the use of our streets for overnight camping, how will you deal with the impacts? Please discuss this and get more input from the community. See Click Fix has numerous examples of problems related to this issue.
for Amendments to the Neighborhood Services and Building Department Fees in the 2025 City of National City Master Fee Schedule in Regular City Council Meeting 1/20/2026 6:00:00 PM
Please log into eSCRIBE to review the submitted comment(s).
From: Stephan Gaspar
To: Ron Morrison; Luz Molina; Marcus Bush; Jose Rodriguez; Ditas Yamane; Public Comment; Shelley Chapel Subject: Proposed DIF Increase Feedback - Updated Letter Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026 11:56:21 AM
Attachments: 260119 DIF Letter to Council.pdf
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
Dear Mayor Morrison and Councilmembers,
Please find attached a formal letter detailing KIRE Builders, Inc's. position, concerns, and recommendations regarding the Development Impact Fee Update. This letter includes new information from the version we sent on 11/04/2025 for the last meeting. We respectfully ask you to review the contents of this letter prior to the meeting this evening.
Thank you for your consideration on this important item.
Sincerely,
Stephan Gaspar
--
Stephan Gaspar
Development Manager
[email protected]
KIRE BUILDERS, INC.
14271 DANIELSON STREET, POWAY, CA 92064
OFFICE: (619) 289-8210 | WEBSITE: KIREBUILDERSINC.COM
January 19, 2026
Mayor Ron Morrison
Vice Mayor Ditas Yamane
Councilmember Jose Rodriguez
Councilmember Luz Molina
Councilmember Marcus Bush
City of National City
1243 National City Blvd
National City, CA 91950
Re: Development Impact Fee Update – Request for Further Review and Dialogue AMENDED FROM 11/04/2025 LETTER
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council Members,
As National City’s most active multifamily housing provider, we appreciate the ongoing opportunity to engage with City leadership regarding the proposed 2025 Development Impact Fee (DIF) Schedule.
We would like to begin by expressing our sincere appreciation for the efforts of City staff and the consultants at DTA to address several of the procedural concerns raised in our previous correspondence.
Specifically, we value the clarity provided regarding:
• Applicable Fee Date (Vesting): We appreciate staff’s confirmation that the City’s practice is to assess fees at the time of permit application rather than permit issuance. This provides critical financial certainty necessary for securing project financing. • Treatment of Projects Currently in Planning: We are grateful for the clarification that projects currently under review or submitted before the effective date of April 20, 2026, will be assessed at the originally adopted fee levels. This protection for "pipeline" projects is essential for maintaining market stability.
To further ensure that the new fee structure supports the City’s long-term housing goals without creating undue barriers to development, we offer the following updated recommendations:
1. Implementation of a Phased-In Approach
We strongly urge the Council to adopt Option #2 from the Staff Report with a recommended time period of three years. The proposed increase from approximately $1,190 to $7,337 per multi-family unit represents a 617% hike, which constitutes a severe "market shock". A gradual phase-in over three years would allow the market to adjust and prevent a sudden drop in housing production. This practice was acknowledged as common by the consultant (Exhibit A).
KIRE BUILDERS, INC.
14271 DANIELSON STREET, POWAY, CA 92064
OFFICE: (619) 289-8210 | WEBSITE: KIREBUILDERSINC.COM
2. Exclusion or Reduction of Fees for Affordable Housing In alignment with the City’s Housing Element goals, we recommend the City explicitly exclude or significantly reduce DIFs for units deed-restricted for low-income households at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). High impact fees often serve as a constraint on the feasibility of affordable housing models.
3. Scaled Fee Structure to Protect Family-Sized Units
To avoid disincentivizing the creation of larger, family-sized units, we recommend a scaled fee structure.
Uniform per square foot fees can unfairly penalize larger units, which typically have a proportionally smaller impact per square foot (in terms of residents or trips) than smaller studios. A sliding scale would ensure a more equitable distribution of the fee burden. The consultant acknowledged that the creation of larger sized family units may be discouraged under the current policy (Exhibit A).
4. Clarification of Fee Credits for Replacement Structures We request formal policy language clarifying that fee credits for demolished properties will be allocated at the same rate for when the new development fees are paid. The policy should reflect that new development is only responsible for the net increase in impact resulting from additional square footage beyond the replaced structure.
5. Application of Fees to Livable Area Only
Finally, we ask the City to codify that residential fees apply to living space only (rentable or sellable area), excluding non impact producing gross areas such as garages, utility rooms, and private balconies.
We appreciate the consultant’s acknowledgment that the initial omission of this definition was an oversight (Exhibit A).
We look forward to continuing our partnership with the City to ensure a DIF program that funds vital infrastructure while keeping National City a viable and attractive place for housing investment.
Respectfully,
Joshua Santa
President
KIRE Builders, Inc.
From: "Richard Ruiz" <[email protected]>
To: "Sean Pfeifer" <[email protected]>
Date: 10/29/2025 2:53:28 PM
Subject: Planned National City Call for Thursday
CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
Sean
Sorry to get back to you so late as I was out of the office. I will be away from the office until late Friday, so I will not be able to attend your call tomorrow. However, I will be there next week for the presentation and to answer any questions. Please write down any questions that the developers and builders have and forward them to us and we will answer them.
I have addressed the questions in the letter submitted to the City on October 21st, 2025, by Joshua Santa of KIRE Builders. 1 Lack of Clarity on Square Footage Metric:
Residential development is defined as living space and excludes non living spaces such as garages and patios. This is usually in the Executive summary and in the footnotes on the fee tables, it was an oversight that the definition of living space was left out. DTA will add this to the Fee Study Draft. A detailed description of the net square footage definition will also be added to the Fee Study.
2 Affordability and Market Shock:
The City’s current development impact fees were calculated 20 years ago, and there was no annual escalation clause to increase it every year. So, the “sticker shock” developers would have at the new rates are to be expected. Keep in mind that the fees calculated in 2005 were based on the demographics and land uses and costs of facilities that were in place 20 years ago.
The proposed development impact fees are structured to cover a portion of the new City facilities, land, vehicles and equipment in 2025 dollars. For example, the October 21st 2025, City Council meeting approved Item 8.3 authorizing the purchase of two 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe Police Pursuit vehicles in a not-to-exceed amount of $126,000. Fees generated 20 years ago at 2005 levels would not be able to pay the 2025 costs. This is especially true because the prior didn’t provide an annual escalator..
Each agency can adjust the maximum fees calculated in a Nexus Study to meet their specific goals. It is common to phase in the new fees over several years.
It’s important to note that the fees generated by this fee study represent the maximum DIFs that may be imposed by the City under the statutory requirements of Government Code Section 66000 et. seq. The City is free to adjust their fees at any level up to this maximum amount.
3 Disincentivizing Family Units:
DTA realizes that in complying with AB 602, the creation of larger sized family units may be discouraged. It is common for Cities to implement a sliding scale that reduces the fee per square foot as unit size increase. 4 Exclusion of DIF for Affordable Units:
On page 67 of the Fee Study under “C Exemptions, Reductions, and Waivers ” DTA discusses the reduction or waiving of fees for affordable housing. The City would implement this policy as it sees fit. 5 Fee Credits for Demolished Property:
Ordinarily, if a structure is demolished and replaced, the DIF would only be for any additional square footage. For example, if a 50,000 square foot commercial building is demolished and replaced by another 50,000 square foot commercial building.
There would be no fee due. If that same building was demolished and replaced by a 60,000 square foot building, the fee would be for an additional 10,000 square feet. The details on implementing this would be provided by the City.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us
11/4/2025
Regards
Richard Ruiz Jr.
Manager
P: 800-969-4DTA x213
18201 Von Karman Ave. Suite 220
Irvine, CA 92612
[email protected]
DTA is a registered Municipal Advisor. Unless explicitly stated, neither the firm nor any of the firm’s licensed Municipal Advisors are advising or recommending any action be taken by the recipient of this information with respect to any prospective, new, or existing municipal financial products or issuance of municipal securities (including with respect to the structure, timing, terms, and other similar matters concerning such financial products or issues).
Disclaimer
The inform ation contained in this comm unication from the sender is confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipien t and others authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in relation of the contents o f this information is strictly prohibited and m ay be unlawful.
This em ail has been scanned for viruses and m alware, and may have been automatically archived by Mime cast, a leader in em ail security and cyber resilience. Mimecast integrates em ail defenses with brand protection, security awareness training, web security, com pliance and other essential capabilities. Mim ecast helps protect large and sm all organizations from ma licious activity, human error and technology failure; and to lead the mo vem ent toward building a more resilient wo rld. To find out m ore, visit our website.
11/4/2025