Costa Mesa City Council will revisit city’s appeal fees

Following an uptick this year in the amount of appeal hearings, the Costa Mesa City Council is scheduled to consider revising its appeals policy, a conversation that could lead to higher, nonrefundable fees in the future.

Last month, Councilwoman Katrina Foley requested the reexamination, following two appeal hearings whose applicants were successful in getting what they wanted but unsuccessful in getting their money back for the trouble.

Costa Mesa charges flat fees of $690 to contest a zoning administrator’s decision and $1,220 to challenge a Planning Commission decision. Any person whose “health, safety or welfare” may be affected by the decision can file, according to the city’s municipal code.

The costs are intended recover the expended city resources while items are prepared for review.

City staff noted that the fees do not cover “the actual staff time required to prepare the appeal.”

If a commissioner or council member personally requests an appeal, he or she is not charged.

Appeal fees can be refunded or waived by the council on a case-by-case basis.

Hearings to dispute City Hall decisions have become increasingly common in recent years, according to a city survey. The council has heard 15 appeals since 2010, seven of them occurring this year alone.

Of the 15, two applicants got their money back.

The Planning Commission heard seven appeals since 2010, four of them from this year.

According to a city survey of 24 Orange County cities, appealing in Costa Mesa is comparatively inexpensive.

Appealing to the Newport Beach City Council costs $4,289. Appealing to Huntington Beach’s costs $3,383.

In Irvine, it’s $245 for an initial deposit, then $128 an hour. In Laguna Beach, it’s $650, though only applicants or property owners within 300 feet of the contested project’s site can file.

Nearly 90% of the 24 surveyed cities say they have not issued full or partial refunds in the past two years or more.