Residential projects: fees and charges: emergency services.

Senator Stern's proposal to amend California's Mitigation Fee Act expands local agencies' authority to collect early development fees for emergency-related public facilities. The legislation adds parkland and recreational facilities that serve emergency purposes to the categories of improvements for which agencies may require fee payment before issuing occupancy certificates.

The bill allows local agencies to collect these fees earlier in the development process when the facilities are specifically identified in the agency's safety element as serving emergency functions beyond general recreational use. Until January 2031, agencies may alternatively use their local hazard mitigation plans to designate eligible facilities. The measure maintains existing protections for affordable housing developments, continuing to exempt projects with at least 49 percent lower-income units from early fee requirements.

These changes operate within the established framework that generally prohibits requiring development fees until final inspection or occupancy certification, while preserving local agencies' ability to collect fees earlier for critical infrastructure like water, sewer, transportation, and school facilities when specific planning and appropriation requirements are met. The amendment adds emergency-purposed recreational facilities to this list of essential public improvements that may qualify for advance fee collection.