Scofflaw boots, mobile vendors and city costs

COEUR d'ALENE — Fees associated with some city services in Coeur d'Alene are going up, while others have been removed completely.

During a public hearing Tuesday, the Coeur d'Alene City Council voted in favor of fee changes initially proposed by multiple city departments.

New fees related to the city’s new parking scofflaw ordinance are among those approved by council members. Included in the scofflaw fees is a $10 administrative charge to those who have their vehicles booted, a $45 charge for placing the boot on the vehicle, and a $65 fee to have the boot removed.

A series of new fees associated with regulations for mobile vendors, previously approved by the city council, were also included.

Under the suggestion of the city’s finance department, two fees associated with commercial garbage recycling were removed and the fee for extra yardage for commercial garbage was increased.

The cost of legal preparation for annexations, previously set at $250, was raised to $1,000. During the hearing, City Attorney Mike Gridley explained the increase more accurately represents the time it takes the city’s legal department to prepare an annexation agreement.

In the city’s planning department, three items were added to the fee schedule that are currently used but previously did not appear on the list. The fee associated with design review has also been updated from $100 per Design Review Commission meeting to a flat rate of $400.

Three meetings are typically held with the Design Review Commission and an applicant, Community Planning Director Hilary Anderson said, and the increased fee accurately reflects the cost of preparing staff reports and presentations for those meetings.

The changes to fees in the city were approved by the city council by a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Dan English absent. Although time was allocated for public comment during the hearing proceeding the vote, no one from the public wished to make one.

A complete list of the changes can be viewed here: bit.ly/2hNZjqw.