An appellate court has ruled that Santa Rosa must pay more than $240,000 in legal fees to the attorneys who successfully challenged the constitutionality of a city law imposing a special tax on new developments.

Sonoma County planners are recommending that the state be prevented from charging new day use fees at beaches up and down the coast on the grounds that doing so would limit public access and violate local and state laws.

It’ll cost a little more to ride a Sonoma County bus or hold a picnic in a regional park following Tuesday’s approval of a slate of fee increases meant to offset the county’s budget deficit. With little opposition, the Board of Supervisors approved hundreds of hikes, including raising the cost of adult bus fare by 5.8 percent and increasing park day-use fees from $6 to $7.