El Dorado Hills panel boosts some charges by up to 118 percent.
The El Dorado Hills Community Services District board approved a master plan calling for approximately $131 million in parks and recreational facilities to serve an anticipated 57,100 residents by 2020.
The board last week also approved a park impact fee program to generate nearly $94 million, the estimated cost for facilities needed to serve new development. The $15,399 fee for single-family homes in most of El Dorado Hills represents a 118 percent increase. The fee for homes in Serrano will increase 90 percent, to $5,455.
The fee is paid when the building permit is issued.
"We have a high quality of life, and we want to keep that," said board member Joe Chinn.
The projects' timing, he said, will be tied to district finances.
During hearings Nov. 30, some residents urged the board to hold off on developing new parks until it finishes those in existing neighborhoods.
"There is a history of the (community services district) not finishing parks," said Darin White, a resident of the Promontory neighborhood. "I hope that with the master plan that you would quit building new parks until you finish the parks that were promised to people."
But others asked the board to move forward, particularly in constructing new ball fields and tennis courts. Current facilities trail demand in all sports categories, said Desi Menendez, representing El Dorado Hills soccer clubs.
"We need it, and we can't wait," he said.
Moni Gilmore, who served on the advisory committee that helped develop the master plan, complained that the document did not adequately reflect the needs of El Dorado Hills' senior citizens.
"I feel like I'm a weak voice in the wilderness," she said, adding that district officials don't understand the senior community.
Dianna Hillyer, district planning director, said Gilmore's written comments on the plan had alerted staff members to the need to provide more services for people with physical limitations.
The board approved increases in the park impact fees charged to development, despite objections from the North State Building Industry Association, which sought more time to work with the district to refine the program.
Kirk Bone, representing Parker Development Co., also requested adjustments in the fees charged for development in Serrano. Fees for those neighborhoods are less because the developer builds the parks.
