HEMET — The Hemet City Council holds a public hearing tonight on an ordinance that would update Stephens’ Kangaroo Rat habitat mitigation fees paid by new development.
The hearing is Item 16.A on the Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, regular agenda. Closed session is listed at 4 p.m. Open session is at 6 p.m. The city’s kangaroo-rat fee page lists chambers at City Hall, 445 E. Florida Ave. CivicWeb’s standing council listing uses 450 E. Latham Ave. Confirm the room at the door.
Staff Report No. 26-279 asks the council to introduce Ordinance No. 2081 by title, waive full reading, and return it for second reading and adoption. The agenda recommendation line says Sept. 22. The staff report’s discussion section says Sept. 23. This newspaper will not lock either date until the council states one on the record.
The ordinance would amend Chapter 58 to match the Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency’s 2026 nexus study, which that agency’s board adopted July 9, 2026. The city’s posted fee table and the Sept. 8 packet list:
Individual single-family residence on a single legally created lot: $250 flat, unchanged.
Agricultural development: $500 per gross acre. Staff says that simplifies a prior formula of $100 or 1 percent of valuation, capped at $500 an acre.
All other development: $900 per gross acre, up from $500. Surface mining stays on a separate calculation.
Qualifying nonprofits may still get up to a 75 percent reduction.
If adopted, the updated fees would take effect 60 days later under Government Code section 66017, staff wrote. Beginning July 1, 2027, the ordinance would allow annual CPI-U adjustments for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County region.
Staff wrote there is no direct General Fund impact. Fees are paid by applicants and remitted to the regional habitat agency.
Packet and hearing materials: CivicWeb meeting Id 6991
City fee page: City fee page
Nexus study packet: Nexus study packet
The Chronicle will report the named vote after the meeting from a primary.
