City Council approves raising impact fees; here's how much it will cost developers | Western Colorado

City Council approves raising impact fees; here's how much it will cost developers 

City Council approves raising impact fees; here's how much it will cost developers

• DUFFY HAYES

A northern view of downtown Grand Junction.
Christopher Tomlinson

Staring down a backlog of roads projects estimated at $184 million, Grand Junction City Council members took a bit of a plunge Wednesday night and approved big increases to the upfront fees developers pay to offset traffic and other impacts of growth.

So-called transportation impact fees — or Transportation Capacity Payment (TCP) fees — will rise for residential development as a result of Wednesday's vote, from the current $2,554 across all home types. The city will distinguish between home sizes — the fee for residences with less than 1,250 square feet of living area will increase to $3,077.50, up to homes with 2,300 or more square feet of living area seeing a fee increase to $7,042. The fees associated with multifamily developments similarly will rise in sharp fashion.

The fees will be incrementally increased over four years, and after that will change based on a 10-year rolling average of the Colorado Department of Transportation's Construction Cost Index.

The new traffic impact fees were narrowly approved 4-3 by the council, with council members Phyllis Norris, Anna Stout and Chuck McDaniel voting against the measure.

The motion that council approved included numbers that were 25% less than city staff had proposed, and also changed the recommended rollout period from three to four years.

Fee increases will begin Jan. 1, 2020.

The TCP fees for commercial development, which also will rise, vary by category but, for reference, the general shopping center development fee of $4,189 per 1,000 square feet will increase to $7,227.25.

Impact fees on new residential projects haven't been raised since 2008.

To further address the estimated $184 million gap in needed roads projects, Grand Junction voters also are being asked this election season to approve up to $70 million in new debt for roads projects.

OTHER FEES

Traffic impact fees were just one piece of the fee increase package approved by City Council on Wednesday.

Fees residential developers pay to offset impacts on parks and recreation — currently at $225 per residential unit, a fee set in 1987 — are also going to be significantly increased. City Council members in their motion approved a jump in the parks and rec fee for single-family homes to $1,260, and an increase for multifamily developments to $847.50 per unit. Both will be incrementally increased until full implementation on Jan. 1, 2023.

Brand new fees for impacts to fire and police agencies were also approved as part of the measure. Starting Jan. 1, 2022, new single-family residences will be assessed a combined $1,015, and new multifamily projects will have combined police and fire fees of $667 per dwelling attached.

Additional new fees to address impacts to municipal facilities were stripped from the proposal Wednesday.

Fees associated with new connections to the city's water service were also part of the increases agreed to by councilors on Wednesday.

The panel approved increases to tap and plant investment fees that will mean new typical single-family water connection charges will go from $1,000 to $5,180 over three years.

Only Councilor Phyllis Norris voted no on the water fee increases.

Another change adopted by Council Wednesday will tweak policy and code to require developers to construct safety and adjacent street improvements related to their projects, as many other communities require.

That change will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021. Council members Phyllis Norris and Kraig Andrews voted no in the 5-2 approval vote.

The city engaged an ad-hoc group of industry stakeholders during the process of raising the fees, a group that included the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, contractors, builders and real estate agents. While some changes were made to the city proposal, the industry group notably ended up recommending raising the traffic and parks fees by just 50% of what the city proposed.

The group suggested no fees be adopted for fire, police or municipal facilities.

The city's approved action Wednesday essentially split that difference.

Many residents and representatives of industry expressed their opposition to the steep fee increases during public participation on Wednesday. Numerous people said they were concerned about slowing growth, and said that consumers are likely going to be the ones picking up the tab for the new fees.