Saratoga News

Council considers lowering fees for temporary permits

By Sarah Lombardo

Applying for a temporary-use permit may become cheaper under a new plan to reduce how much organizations are charged to obtain permission to hold events in Saratoga.

The plan, recommended by Saratoga's Planning Department staff and presented to the City Council June 3, was developed in response to a recent rash of requests for fee waivers by a number of nonprofit groups looking to hold events in Saratoga, but not eager to pay the $1,500 application fee for the temporary-use permit.

A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for the council's meeting Wednesday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m.

The council had asked staff to look into the idea of reducing the permit fee for local nonprofit groups after both the San Jose Symphony Auxiliary and St. Andrew's Church requested waivers last March and April. A temporary-use permit for an event lasting fewer than 10 consecutive days is subject to a $500 processing fee; a permit for an event lasting more than 10 days, and thus subject to Planning Commission review, is $1,500.

"All the fees for the department were designed to be full-cost recovering, and that's how these amounts were reached," Community Development Director James Walgren said.

Because some permits require publicized hearings and law-enforcement involvement, Walgren said, the fees were adequate for covering these costs.

Under the staff's plan, the fees for permits would simply be lowered across the board--to a rate deemed appropriate by the council--instead of distinguishing between nonprofit and commercial organizations.

"Of the approximately six events the city issues temporary-use permits for annually, only the Farmer's Market would be considered a commercial activity," Walgren's report to the council stated. "Rather than create a separate fee schedule for nonprofit vs. commercial events, staff would recommend simply considering a fee reduction for all TUPs."

And with the lower fees, the proposal recommends, city staff would require organizations applying for the permits to conduct some of the work that goes into a permit for themselves, such as the notification of interested parties before a public hearing and ontaining the approval of law enforcement officials.

But, Walgren pointed out, a reduction would result in a partial city subsidy of the permits.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]