GILROY
– It will be next month at the earliest that City Council can
set its new development impact fees.
City officials say an error in population projections has
delayed potential adjustments to the charges which help pay for
things such as roads, utilities, parks and police and fire
protection.
GILROY – It will be next month at the earliest that City Council can set its new development impact fees.
City officials say an error in population projections has delayed potential adjustments to the charges which help pay for things such as roads, utilities, parks and police and fire protection.
The population error was due to an over-count of housing to be built by 2040, an error that was pointed out last fall by then-mayor Tom Springer.
“With that error, we had to go back and essentially redo all of the city’s master plans,” City Engineer Rick Smelser said.
Nonetheless, the city has released the anticipated costs for improvement projects running through 2040. Making those improvements as spelled out within 11 city planning documents, called master plans, will cost more than $905 million.
“The delay is not a problem. We’re in no rush to know the fees,” said Beverly Bryant, spokeswoman for the Home Builders Association of Northern California.
The organization is following the issue closely and wants the city to justify the relationship between new development and the fees the city requires.
“That’s not only what the law says, it’s what is absolutely fair,” Bryant said.
A related controversy over a proposal to lump together various impact fees, rather than itemize them, also must wait. To fund projects in a more timely manner, the city is considering putting revenue from all impact fees – from sewer and roads to police and fire – in one lump sum.
Under this format, the city doesn’t have to wait for, say, the park fund to accrue before building a new park. Instead, the city can use the necessary amount of funding from the lumped account.
Developers worry, however, this will make it difficult to know they are being fairly charged. In spring 2002, the Home Builders Association challenged the city’s existing impact fees and the new fee system.
Gilroy developer James Suner was one of a handful of development interests that attended what turned into a number crunching session Monday night at City Hall. Suner, who builds mostly infill projects, says his developments don’t necessarily create as much impact on the city as larger projects on the outskirts of town typically do.
“If I’m connecting to an old pipe, I should not be charged the same as a developer who needs the city to build him a whole new pipe,” Suner said. “Some cities as a rule make you pay less when you develop closer to the city core.”
Suner also wants to see the City Council adjust how it funds the 11 infrastructure items in the city.
“There are storm drainage issues all over the city and there’s no money to fix it, yet we have $26 million to spend on a new police station,” Suner said.
