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Local Voices

Sewer Hook Up Fee's Fall Through The Floor

The City of Healdsburg has announced that the fee’s charged for connecting a commercial business in Healdsburg are being reduced dramatically. When there was a Redevelopment Agency in Healdsburg the high fee’s were to be bought down with grants and a variety of programs over the years. The RDA is gone and we have a new fee structure in place. For example, a property like 465 Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg which is located at the northern boundary of the Downtown Business District is currently being used as an office building. This is the perfect location for a restaurant with a wonderful garden area behind it much like Barndiva or Brava’s. The challenge of converting it to a restaurant has been the fee’s to accomplish this. Under the old fee structure the cost for the sewer hook-up alone was $380,000. Under the new structure that fee will be under $100,000. This is a total game changer and has come at a great time. For years Healdsburg has had a tax basis that all of the surrounding towns were envious of because of our car dealerships sales tax productivity. That base is still there and a big part of our towns success. This past month our sales tax from Restaurants and Hotels exceeded that amount by just a bit. That is amazing! Editors Note: I have been attending the round table discussion at the Foss Creek School for the past year. Leaders from the City of Healdsburg, The Chamber, Business Leaders and the public attend. Mark Gladden is the moderator. I have watched our city leaders and their passion for getting us through a lot of really tough complicated situations during the past several years. I applaud them for their dedication and foresight. Take a look at Center Street tonight now that it is paved. We are completing a downtown revitalization because our leaders handled the RDA issues better than any other town in Northern California.

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