Oakland to impose impact fees on new housing developments

Beginning in September, the city will impose impact fees on new housing developments, adopting a mechanism that many Bay Area cities use to generate money for transportation, infrastructure and affordable housing.

City officials have worked for two years to calculate the fees, which will be applied to every new housing structure, from single-family homes, to town houses, to high-rise apartment buildings.

The idea is to prompt developers to include affordable housing in their projects or pay a fee for every market-rate unit they build so the city can build its own affordable housing.

“We are very concerned that the city is not acting like there is actually an emergency out there in the community,” said Jeffrey Levin, speaking at the council meeting on behalf of East Bay Housing Organizations, a group that for years has pressured Oakland to include more affordable and low-income housing in its zoning plans.

Some residents and activists saw the gradual phase-in as a sign that the council is pandering to developers, many of whom have said that any fees at all will hinder the city’s economic boom.

Taking what they said was a balanced approach, City Council members divided Oakland into three geographic zones.

In the area stretching from east of 23rd Avenue and including Coliseum City, fees will start at $750 and increase to $13,000 per market-rate unit by 2020.

“Three years from now, when these fees are permanent, and will be in place for generations, no (high-rises) will ever be built in Oakland,” said Alex Ludlum, a Chinatown resident who works in real estate.

“People coming in who make six-figure salaries will compete with Oakland residents who make $55,000,” said Gregory McConnell, a lobbyist representing various Oakland developers.