Carpinteria Lowers Fees to Spark Economy

This from Carpinteria Council Member Armendariz. Interesting concept. Let's hope they can also be careful with responsible planning as well! -- Sara

Carpinteria, CA - By a unanimous vote of the Carpinteria City Council, the "Highway, Interchange and Bridge" Development Impact Fee (DIF) in the City of Carpinteria will be reduced by 50% for the next 18-months. This action by the city council was proposed by council member Joe Armendariz with the support of fellow council member Gregg Carty, who also serves as Mayor.

"I am pleased and very proud of my colleagues for supporting what I would suggest is one of the boldest and frankly one of the most audacious, pro busiess, pro economic growth decisions by a city council anywhere in California", said council member Joe Armendariz.

Presented to the council in the form of a resolution, the 50% reduction goes into effect immediately and will apply to any commercial development permit pulled in the next 18 months.

The decision was applauded by the local business community including a representative of the chamber of commerce. Also speaking in support of the resolution was a representative from Inve.stec, who told the council that because of this decision, their approved project called Lagunitas, has now been restored to viability and the company expects to move forward on the project in the next few months. Lagunitas is a mixed use development in the eastern part of the city and will add over 60,000 square feet of new R&D space to the city's existing commercial space inventory.