OCR Text |
Show Fee change drew spirited debate By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer FARMINGTON A staff " proposal to restructure developmen- tal impact fees to ensure developers pay a larger share of administrative costs incurred by the city was the subject of spirited debate Wednesday Wednes-day at a city council meeting. City Planner Craig Hinckley presented a new consolidated fee schedule aimed at lowering ad- ministrative cost and services for small developers and ensuring larger developers pay their fair share. Under the present fee schedule, small developers are charged the same amount as large developers. Hinckley said existing fees were not equitable for small developers. One example is the fee for site plan review of conditional uses. Developers are currently charged $800 for review of the first two acres and $400 for each acre thereafter. Preliminary and final plat review fees for subdivisions was another example Hinckley listed. Developers De-velopers currently pay a flat fee of $300 for preliminary plat review; final review is $300. Staff is recommending rec-ommending a preliminary plat fee of $100 plus $25 for every lot reviewed. Final plat review would be $200 plus $25 for every lot review. Hinckley said the revised fees would accurately reflect the additional addi-tional study and review undertaken by the city for larger development projects and would be in keeping with the city's philosophy of having developers bear more of the cost of development. But Mayor Robert W. Arbuckle said the proposed changes in fees did not "ring true" and could serve to drive away large developers. The mayor objected with raising public improvement inspections fees, a new administrative fee for staff determination de-termination of minor zoning variances and conditional uses, and the proposed fee changes for review of site plans and subdivision plats. You keep hitting them with higher fees and pretty soon they'll just say the "hell with it," he said. When asked by Councilman Greg Bell if he wanted to facilitate development, Arbuckle replied he didn't want to discourage it. Bellwho ran for the council on a slow development platform said the city needed to make development de-velopment more expensive rather than subsidize it. People here, more than anywhere else in the state, don't want to subsidize development, de-velopment, he added. Arbuckle said that was a case of the last guy in rolling up the red carpet and that he didn't agree with that. Hinckley said current fees were higher than anything he had encountered. en-countered. The changes would help the city meet more of the administrative ad-ministrative costs associated with development. More study and review is required on larger projects and so it is only fair that city recoup the additional cost by charging more. Despite the changes, Hinckley said total revenues would be about the same and would be pretty much in line with what is charged in other cities. The council will hold a June 19 public hearing before voting on the new fee schedule. Arbuckle will not be able to attend at-tend the hearing, but will meet with staff and make recommendations prior to the hearing. Other changes recommended in the proposed fee schedule are: A new $25 administrative fee for staff decisions on minor conditional condi-tional use amendments, variances and nonconforming uses. A inspection fee increase from one to two percent of the city engineer's engi-neer's estimate of the total cost of public improvements. The city park fee would increase in-crease 25 percent to $250 per dwelling dwell-ing unit. Site plan review for conditional condi-tional uses would cost $100 for the first acre, $200 for the next two to four acres, and $400 for any additional addi-tional acreage for commercial and industrial developers. Site plan review for permitted uses would be conducted by staff for $50, rather than being reviewed by the planning commission. Temporary use applications would cost $25. Street dedications, vacations and name changes would cost $150. Currently, the city does not charge for the services. |