New Fee Plan Begins for Street Merchants

A second round of bills, assessing Ventura Boulevard merchants $11.2 million in fees for street and other improvements under the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan, will be sent to 120 merchants by the end of the month, a transportation official said Friday.

The bills will affect merchants who promised to make street and other improvements in exchange for building permits while details of the plan were being worked out between 1985 and 1991.

Last month, the City Council passed an amendment giving boulevard merchants four years to begin paying the fees.

Merchants had been required to make a down payment of 50% on the bills, and to pay them off within 60 days of receipt. But in the two years since $15.4 million in bills were sent out, only $1.1 million in fees have been collected. Other fees were dropped as a result of developers’ forgoing their projects.

Under the new payment plan, a deposit of 20% is required and the balance can be paid in four payments over four years. The amendment also allows a 5% discount for a bill paid in cash, and provides a process for appealing the bills.

“I hope the easy payment procedure will mean more bills get paid,” said Allyn Rifkin, principal transportation engineer for the Department of Transportation. “With the payment of these fees, staff can get going on the design for some of these improvements.”