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| Judge overturns builder's suit |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Wednesday, 26 December 2007 | |
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A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge last week overturned a homebuilder’s lawsuit against the city of Patterson regarding the city’s affordable housing fees. Judge David Vander Wall on Thursday denied the Oct. 30, 2006, suit from Morrison Homes and the Building Industry Association of Central California, which claimed the city’s $20,000-per-home “in-lieu fee” was unreasonably high. “We were quite pleased,” Patterson City Attorney George Logan said Monday. Morrison Homes’ Central Valley office in Salida and the Modesto-based BIA of Central California office were closed for the holidays Monday and Tuesday, so no one could be reached for comment. Patterson City Hall was also closed during that time. Morrison Homes, one of the builders in southwest Patterson’s 1,100-home Patterson Gardens development, previously expected to pay a $734-per-home in-lieu fee when a tentative subdivision map was approved for the project. However, the homebuilder had signed a developer agreement with the city that allowed for an increase in the fee when it came to time to issue building permits. The BIA of Central California and Morrison Homes said they did not expect the fee would increase so much. In-lieu fees are charged to homebuilders if they do not set aside a certain percentage of their homes for affordable housing as required by the state. Affordability is determined by the state Department of Housing and Urban Development. As of last year, a family of four in this area was considered to have a very low income if the household earned less than $26,325 in a year; a low income if it made less than $42,120 and a moderate income if it took in less than $63,180. Before the fee was raised in 2006, every developer in Patterson chose to pay the fee rather than provide affordable housing. Those funds recently have gone to build a 24-unit senior complex at Kestrel Drive and West Las Palmas Avenue. Steve Madison, executive director of the BIA of Central California, last year described the fee as “onerous and excessive.” Among other claims, Morrison Homes’ lawsuit accused the city of trying to charge new development for the city’s existing lack of affordable housing. However, Vanderwall cited a Stanislaus Council of Governments report that laid out the city’s affordable housing needs in 2002 before the tentative map involving Morrison Homes’ project was approved. City consultant Crawford Multari & Clark Associates used StanCOG’s figures when coming up with a development impact fee study in 2005 and 2006, which Patterson used to come up with its increased fee. Vanderwall also noted that a similar in the city of Napa also had been unsuccessfully challenged in court. “The court finds, based upon the evidence submitted, that the methodology used by the defendant in determining the amount of the affordable housing fee at issue is reasonable,” he said. “That there might be other methodologies, which are also reasonable does not mean that the one in dispute is unreasonable.” Logan said the city had tried to settle with the plaintiffs outside of court before Thursday’s ruling, asking that Morrison Homes only pay a $10,000-per-home in-lieu fee instead. However, the plaintiffs refused, he said. Morrison Homes is the only builder to pay the higher in-lieu fee so far. Other builders pulled their permits before the new fee was established. The Villages of Patterson project, proposed for the east side of Patterson, plans to include affordable housing within the project. Logan, who said Patterson’s in-lieu fee is the highest in Stanislaus County but not as high as some cities’ in other counties, said he expected the BIA would appeal the case. “The BIA does not let off easy,” he said. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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