Folsom | Permits and Fees

Folsom, California Permits and Fees: Who Decides, Hearings, Appeal Periods and Expiration, the 2026 Fee Resolutions, Impact Fees and the Folsom Plan Area Fees

This page covers who decides a project in Folsom, California, how long each step takes, how to appeal, and what the code says about fees. Most planning fees in Folsom are set by City Council resolution, and the code prints few amounts. The City Council agenda of April 28, 2026 lists a new impact and connection fee schedule and a user fee adjustment, but both are on the City website, which refused requests, so this page names those resolutions and gives no amounts from them. The Folsom overview has the summary.

Who Decides What

Sources: Folsom Municipal Code 17.06, 17.38, 17.52.360, 17.60, 17.62, 17.68, 17.105.050, 17.110.030, 16.16 and 16.24.

Folsom is a charter city: its own charter, approved by its voters, sets its powers. Charter Section 1.01 gives the City "all powers possible for a city to have under the Constitution and laws of the State of California," and says that "As regards municipal affairs, this Charter shall supersede all laws inconsistent therewith." The state housing laws on these pages apply to charter cities by their own terms: Government Code 65852.21 and 66411.7, and the ADU definitions in Government Code 66313, define a local agency as a city "whether general law or chartered."

Design Review

Chapter 17.06 reviews the outside of buildings. The community development director reviews "Custom single-family homes," "Residential additions and exterior alterations that require a building permit," a single-family home not in a planned development or map, and "Multifamily residential projects containing no more than two units." The Planning Commission reviews "Multifamily and residential mixed-use projects containing more than two units" and "Single-family residential projects which are a part of a planned development or a tentative subdivision map."

• Exempt. Repairs and changes that need no building permit, and minor work such as new roofing, windows, colors, "additions of one hundred twenty square feet or less," patio covers and fences. Projects in the historic district follow Chapter 17.52 instead.
• Submittal. An application form, the fee "as established by resolution of the city council," a site plan, elevations, material samples and photographs taken within thirty days.
• Posting. The site is posted "five calendar days prior to" the review with a notice "eleven inches by seventeen inches in size." After the decision, a notice stays on the City website for at least ten calendar days, stating the right to appeal.
• Findings. The reviewer finds compliance with the General Plan, any specific plan and zoning; for multifamily and mixed-use projects in the regulated areas, the adopted objective standards; and for other projects, "compatibility of building materials, textures and colors with surrounding development."
• Expiration. An approval lapses without "a complete application for a building permit within two years." The reviewer may extend it six months for a director-level project and one year for a commission-level project, on a written request filed before it expires.
• Appeal. To the Planning Commission "within ten days after written notice of the director's decision," and from the commission to the City Council "within ten days after the rendition of the decision." The Council sets the appeal fee by resolution.

Use Permits, Variances and Rezoning

• Use permits. Chapter 17.60: the Planning Commission "may hold a public hearing" and decides whether the use "will or will not, under the circumstances of the particular case, be detrimental" to the neighborhood. A permit "not been exercised within the time limit set by the planning commission or within one year if no specific time limit has been set" becomes void. The commission may extend it by periods of up to twelve months.
• After a denial. "No application for the same or similar use shall be filed for a period of one year from the date of the last denial."
• Variances. Chapter 17.62 allows a variance from "area, height, yard and space requirements" where special circumstances of size, shape, topography, location or surroundings apply. "A public hearing may be held within sixty days after filing of application." Section 17.62.050 voids a variance whose use is not evident "within sixty days after the date of granting thereof," while Section 17.62.060 applies the one-year rule for use permits. Ask the City which period it uses.
• Rezoning. Chapter 17.68: a Planning Commission hearing with ten days' published notice, then a City Council hearing; the Council may adopt the change "Within ninety days from the date of receipt of the planning commission report."
• Historic district. The Historic District Commission takes the place of the Planning Commission for use permits, variances and design review there. See the historic district page.

State Deadlines That Apply in Folsom

• ADUs. Section 17.105.050 repeats Government Code 66317: completeness notice in fifteen business days and a decision on a complete application "within sixty days," after which it "shall be deemed approved."
• SB 9. Government Code 65852.21 and 66411.7 require a decision on a two-unit project or urban lot split "within 60 days" of a complete application, or it is deemed approved.
• Small-lot maps. Government Code 66499.41 gives 60 days for a map of up to 10 parcels.
• Ministerial multifamily review. A project that qualifies for ministerial review under state law gets staff design review against the ODDS with "not subject to public notice, site posting, or appeal" under Section 17.06.045.

What the Code Says About Fees

Almost every Folsom fee chapter delegates the amount to a City Council resolution. Title 16 says applicants "shall pay all fees and/or deposits as provided by this title and by the city council's resolution or resolutions establishing applicable fees and deposits." The table lists each fee the code names and where its amount is set.

Sources: Folsom Municipal Code 3.80, 3.120, 3.130, 16.04.070, 16.32.040, 17.58.120, 17.90.030 and 17.104.060; City Council agendas of January 13 and April 28, 2026.

• The 2026 fee resolutions. The April 28, 2026 City Council agenda lists Resolution No. 11601, "Replacing Resolution No. 11366 and Approving the Updated City Impact and Connection Fee Schedule for Law Enforcement, Fire Suppression, General Facilities, Vehicles and Equipment, Park Improvement, Humbug-Willow Creek, Housing Trust, Water, Sanitary Sewer, Solid Waste, Transportation Improvement, Drainage, and Light Rail Impact Fees," and Resolution No. 11604, "Enacting the Annual Inflationary Adjustment for City User Fees." The amounts are in the attachments on the City website and were not read.
• Old printed amounts. The residential construction tax of Section 17.90.030 and the $25 lot split fee of Section 17.58.120 date from the 1970s. A home is exempt where its subdivision map carried the park dedication or in-lieu fee requirement. Use the current schedule for a budget.
• The capital improvement new construction fee. Chapter 3.80 funds police, fire and general government facilities. It is "paid at or prior to the issuance of any building permit," set by resolution, and "automatically be adjusted each fiscal year" by a construction cost index. A developer may ask for a reduction "not later than 20 calendar days after notification of the amount of the fee," or pay "under protest" and ask within ten days.
• The housing trust fund fee. Chapter 3.90 charges nonresidential projects. Residential uses, including the residential floor area of a mixed-use project, are exempt.
• School fees. School districts set their own fees, which this guide did not read. Chapter 14.30 adds a City process for "Residential Units in Impacted School Areas," where a school's enrollment "exceeds its rated capacity."

Fee Relief in the Code

• ADUs. No city impact fees on an ADU of 750 square feet or less or a junior ADU of 500 square feet or less, under Section 17.105.060.
• Studio apartments. Studios of up to 630 square feet in a multifamily project may pay "fifty percent of the impact fees otherwise applicable," for up to thirty-five percent of the units, under Chapter 16.70.
• Affordable units. Chapter 16.60 lets the City Council defer City impact fees on low and very low income units, up to "75% of the total amount of impact fees applicable to the low income and/or very low income units," and waive processing fees within a yearly fund. No impact fees may be waived under it.
• Deferral for larger subdivisions. Chapter 16.80 allows deferral of City impact fees on residential projects "with subdivision maps of ten lots/units or more," without interest, until final inspection or close of escrow, "but in no event later than twelve months from the date of issuance of the building permit." It applies only to projects that had no building permit when the chapter was adopted.
• Inclusionary projects. Section 17.104.070 lets the City grant fee waivers, reductions or deferrals for inclusionary units, "in its sole discretion."

Fees in the Folsom Plan Area

Land south of Highway 50 in the Folsom Plan Area pays its own set of fees under Chapter 3.120, adopted by Ordinance 1234 in 2015. The chapter cites "voter-approved Measure W," which "provides that the city's residents north of Highway 50 shall not pay fees for the construction of new transportation improvements required to serve the Folsom plan area." Charter Section 7.08, added "by a vote of the people, Nov. 2, 2004 election," holds the same rule for land south of Highway 50, and the dates match.

• The components. "The FPA development impact fee includes" a solid waste fee, a corporation yard fee, a transit fee, a Highway 50 improvements fee, a Highway 50 interchange fee, the Sacramento County transportation development fee, and the FPASP fee for capital facilities, a library, a municipal services center, police, fire, parks and trails.
• What it builds. The parks component funds "one hundred twenty-five acres of parkland in the Folsom plan area comprised of two community parks, five neighborhood parks, and two local parks," and the fire component "two new fire stations."
• Amounts. They are set "by resolution of the city council" by "the type of residential development or the size of nonresidential development," subject to the plan area's development agreements, and paid at "the then-current amount at the time of the building permit issuance."
• The specific plan infrastructure fee. Chapter 3.130 adds the SPIF, an infrastructure fee whose amount for "each owner subarea" depends on the location and type of development and the land dedicated there. Part of it may be due at "recordation of such small-lot final map" for single-family development.
• An update in progress. The October 13, 2026 City Council agenda lists Resolution No. 11729, "to Adopt and Approve the Nexus Study for the Folsom Plan Area Specific Plan Public Facilities Fee Update," marked "Continued to December 8, 2026."

Limits of This Page

The City website answered 403. The fee resolutions and their schedules, the planning application forms, the Folsom Plan Area fee amounts, the nexus studies, the school district fees and the City's permit handouts were therefore not read, and this page gives no fee amount from them. City Council agendas list items before a meeting and do not record votes. Ask the Planning Division and the Building Division for the fees in force on the day you apply.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the Folsom overview, the California impact fees page and the California ADU law page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)