Copperopolis Road Fee Debated

Copperopolis, CA — A proposal to raise road fees paid by developers in Copperopolis was met with much opposition Tuesday in the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors chambers.

The increases are part of an update to the Copperopolis Roadway Impact Fee program.

The update says roughly $67 million is needed to pay for identified road improvements in the area.

Dave Haley of Castle and Cooke says, if approved, fees on the Copperopolis Town Square, which is currently under construction, would go from a little under $500,000 to nearly $1.4 million.

Another issue was with the traffic assumptions and models that were used to create the program, which analyzes projected road issues and lays out the anticipated road improvement projects.

Still, the board passed an ordinance to update the program but held off on approving any actual fees.

The ordinance will come back for adoption next week and will take effect 60 days after that.

In the meantime, county staff was directed to work with the developers to deal with the issues involving fees.

Written by Vanessa Turner.