Laserfiche WebLink
MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Cal Portner, City Administrator <br />Tina Allard, City Clerk <br />FROM: Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager <br />DATE: November 4, 201 I <br />SUBJECT: Development Fees <br />After careful review of the development fees imposed by the city to offset costs incurred by <br />the review of development applications, I feel a shift in how these fees are applied is <br />necessary. Currently, a fee is applied based on the application, with an escrow set up for <br />legal, engineering, and recording fees, if anticipated. <br />This process is acceptable if similar projects require the same amount of time and resources. <br />In the past several years, however, staff has noted that projects require a great deal of <br />additional time and effort. For instance, this year alone, Pizza Ranch, Crossing Church, and <br />Ashley Furniture have required more staff time after approval than before, with their <br />concerns related to what was approved and desiring changes to landscaping, phasing, etc. <br />This staff time spent after approval is not reimbursed; the taxpayer foots the bill for these <br />changes. <br />The attached spreadsheet highlights the expected charges for applications that require a <br />public hearing, which amount to about $275, and includes actual costs and clerical staff <br />costs. <br />The application fee (for conditional use permits/interim use permits, plats, variances, land <br />use applications, zoning amendments, and other applications requiring a public hearing) <br />would be $275 plus the escrow. Staff hours would be billed monthly at $50 per hour and <br />applied to the escrow. The Council has given staff the authority to reduce the escrow, staff <br />will continue to do this on certain projects. The escrow fee is not new but has been <br />highlighted to show the inclusion of staff time. On projects requiring multiple land use <br />applications (conditional use permit and zone change, for example) only one escrow would <br />be collected, though actual staff hours would be billed for the project. Applications without <br />a public hearing are about $100. <br />In an era where tax dollars spent are being scrutinized, it is prudent to charge the users for <br />the time they require. <br />P U W E R E A ®- <br />N:\Departments\Administradve Services\Administration\Fee Schedule\2012\Memo to Tina RE Develolpment fees.doc <br />