SAN CLEMENTE : City to Consider Fees to Fund Roadwork

The City Council tonight will consider taxing property owners to help raise as much as $1.9 million annually for much-needed street repairs. It would be the second new fee considered by the city this year.

The Street Overlay and Replacement District proposal would require owners of homes on public streets to pay fees of up to $130 annually. Those living on private streets would pay up to $33 annually, while commercial owners would pay about $283 per acre of property annually.

The council will consider two possible fee scales tonight. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in council chambers. A final decision on the street-repair fee, which would raise either $1.5 million (under the lower scale) or $1.9 million annually, is expected July 14.

Earlier this month, the council adopted a storm-drain utility fee, in which homeowners will pay $2.96 monthly to help the city raise about $1 million annually for storm-drain repairs.

Engineers estimate that the city would have to spend more than $2 million annually during the next 10 to 20 years for street repair and maintenance.

That amount is far more than the $750,000 that it receives annually in state and county transportation funds and grants for street repairs, according to a report prepared by City Engineer William Cameron.

Cameron has said the city needs to take immediate action to protect and improve its 120 miles of streets, which were all hit hard during winter storms.

If the council approves the higher-scale fee program, the city would be able to repair all larger streets within seven years and all smaller residential streets in 10 years. Under the lower-scale fee program, it would take 10 years to repair the larger streets and 20 years for the residential streets.

During the meeting, the council will also consider fee increases for some downtown property owners through the city’s street lighting and landscaping district, formed in 1981.

At the request of the Downtown Business Assn., the city is considering an increased fee of about $139 a year for property owners in the 100 and 200 blocks of Avenida del Mar to pay for steam-cleaning the sidewalks.

Fees for other property owners in the district would remain the same, for the third year in a row.