Representatives from Derrels Mini Storage in Clovis City, Calif., have asked the city council to change its municipal code, allowing a reduction in development fees for self-storage facilities. They argued in a council meeting last week that some of the fees, including those for water and sewer, are excessive.

Paul Ridenour, senior vice president for construction and development at Derrels Mini Storage, said the fees are triple that of other nearby communities, including Bakersfield, Fresno and Visalia.

The city council, which has directed staff to do a study of the impact fees, has several options. It can initiate an amendment to keep self-storage development in light-industrial zones or remove language to pay fees based on the underlying land-use designation. The third option is to leave the ordinance as is, forcing developers to pay the fees. An impact-fee study could take about 90 days, Ridenour said.

In 2002, the Clovis City Council approved Derrels Mini Storages request to pass an ordinance amendment that would allow self-storage development in other areas besides those zoned for light industrial. The amendment included the fee requirement after the council concluded self-storage development would displace residential development, which would generate more revenue for the city.

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