CRESTVIEW — The City Council unanimously agreed to extend for another year the waiver of traffic impact fees.
At a brief Monday evening meeting, council administrative assistant Theresa Gaillard presented the ordinance for a first reading.
“The main objective is to relieve the burden on our developers and our builders and to allow time for a study of the impact fee,” Gaillard said.
Gaillard said in 2009, a periodic review of the traffic impact fee was mandated by city code. The last study was held in 2008.
Extending the fee 12 months will allow time for a consultant to review the fee, determine its affect on development, and recommend either extending the waiver or implementing the fee again. If the latter course is recommended, the consultant would also suggest how much the fee should be, Gaillard said.
She estimated the study will cost between $25,000 and $55,000.
When Councilman Mickey Rytman suggested studying the impact fee concurrently with planning the city’s 2015-16 budget, city attorney Jerry Miller advised against waiting so long.
“It will not be my guidance that you delay the study of the impact fee with the next budget cycle,” Miller said. “I recommend a very short period of time than the one year.”
Miller has previously counseled the council to allow the fee waiver to sunset at the end of December, because extending it could expose the city to litigation from developers who had to pay the fee before it was waived at the request of Gov. Rick Scott.
“At the completion of the impact study, if you continue to have the impact fee, we expect the waiver period may not last 12 months,” Miller said.
The ordinance extending the waiver will be presented for a second reading and final vote at the council’s Dec. 8 meeting.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: City Council extends traffic impact fee waiver