Review board presses staff for explanation of 15–65% fee increases, asks to add Board of Supervisors memo to record

Board members at the Mendocino County Historical Review Board meeting on May 4 pressed staff for justification of recent increases to planning and review fees and discussed whether sign applications could be handled with a shorter staff memorandum rather than a full staff report.

A public commenter and a board member both said recent application fees have risen sharply and discouraged applicants. One committee member summarized the concern: "I don't understand this because what we did as a board was made the signs on consent… I don't know where all these magic hours and hours of work are coming in that they're gonna charge someone $1,500 for a sign for their business." The comment framed a broader question from members about the transparency and scale of the fee increases.

Planner Goldman said the increases reflect direction from the Board of Supervisors in 2023 to move projects toward cost recovery and referenced a memorandum presented to supervisors on April 21 that explains the analysis behind the fee changes. Goldman told the board staff would follow up by sharing that memorandum and said Planning and Building Services will run an analysis comparing a full staff report to a one‑page memorandum approach for routine sign changes.

Board members discussed practical options: maintaining a one‑page memo with a site plan for simple sign changes, setting a flat fee for basic sign permits to provide certainty for small businesses, or continuing to require full staff reports when more review is necessary. Several members urged staff to present a clear dollar example (e.g., $300 or $500 per sign) to the public so applicants know expected costs.

Staff said they will attempt to include the April 21 memorandum as an informational attachment to a future Historical Review Board meeting record and may agendize it for further discussion; the board did not vote on fee policy at this meeting but directed staff to follow up with the Board of Supervisors and return with the memo and analysis.

The exchange highlighted tensions between the board's volunteer review role and county directives on cost recovery and staff time allocation for sign and historic permit processing.