Get ready to pay more for fire inspections

The city of Merced is looking at a plan to spend less on fire inspections, which means they’d cost landowners more.

Merced City Council will take up the fees for fire inspections, and a number of other topics, during a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Merced City Hall, 678 W. 18th St. Labor Day bumped the regular meeting to Tuesday.

The city hired NBS, a local government consulting firm, to conduct a study on Merced City Fire Department fees in June. The firm’s study suggests the city should charge fees for initial inspections, which previously cost nothing of most building owners, according to fire officials.

Inspections are an attempt to prevent potential fires, according to fire officials. The proposed fee schedule would also increase the cost of subsequent inspections, which are necessary when a building is not compliant with fire safety standards. The extra inspection, under the proposed fee schedule, would cost $130, which is more than double the cost now.

The fire department gave some examples of estimated yearly fees, which are different depending on the type of building. St. Patrick’s Church, a nonprofit example, could pay $205 (up from $125) if the building needed non-compliant inspections.

Merced High would pay $390 for an initial inspection, what now costs $50, according to the fire department. A large company, like Scholle Packaging Corp., could pay $901, three times the current cost, if an extra inspection is necessary.

Inspections are time-consuming, fire officials said, and the city would be essentially “subsidizing” landowners if the new fees are not put in place.

The City Council will take public comment on the proposed fees, as well as its first zoning code update in 50 years.

The zoning code regulates everything from where a business can set up to the allowed height of a home’s backyard fence. The code describes itself as a guide that “implements the goals and policies of the Merced General Plan,” the document that sets out long-range planning for the city.

The 50-year-old code doesn’t have entries on businesses that didn’t exist in the 1960s, like dialysis centers or Internet cafes. It had no descriptions to regulate video stores, when those existed, nor the more modern automated DVD vending machines.

City staff has described the code as “critical” to the city’s future economic development.

This story was originally published September 5, 2016 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Get ready to pay more for fire inspections."