Los Angeles ADU Fees

[Patrick Fidell]

Hello, we are converting our garage to a 1200sqft, 3 bed 2 bath ADU. The process has been a slog to say the least but we are now 99% of the way through the permitting stages. The only thing left is an $8943 permit fee from LA County which we were never told about. We have already paid:

LAUSD Development fee- $4896

City fees: City Water, ect. - $3610

Fire flow test fee- $287

Submission of plans to city- $665

Building and Safety for new address-$804

Property site survey - $1300

Structural Engineer/structural plans- $2500

Architectural plans and design- $7150

ADU consultant- $4400

So we are $25,600 into this project and now this unexpected permit fee of $8943 is required. This puts us at $35k before the project even starts. 

Our question is: Have others experienced similar LA County permit fees($8943)? Or may there are programs in place to help out with this fee or ways to reduce the fee? We feel like we are being taken advantage of.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you, Patrick