TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Response to Petition About Fees for Providence Glen
DATE: June 26, 2000
This memorandum responds to a petition from Ms. Dawn Heric on behalf of Mr. Michael Sandman, presented to the Town Council on June 12, 2000.
The Town Council approved Rezoning and Special Use Permit applications for the Providence Glen Condominium project on May 15, 2000. The approval followed several meetings and hearings at which affordable housing components of the project were discussed. The petitioner notes that the Council anticipates adopting a new fee schedule for development applications, expected to go into effect July 1, 2000. The petition asks the Council to allow the Providence Glen final plan application to be submitted up to July 31, 2000, under the old fee schedule. The argument is that approval of the project was delayed at least 3 weeks as a result of the applicant agreeing to respond to a Council request.
This application is one of several that are in the position of submitting a Special Use Permit application under the old fee structure, and now being faced the possibility of significantly higher fees for the final plan stage of the application. The Council recently heard a similar request made by the applicant of The Cedars, the assisted living development at Meadowmont recently approved by the Council.
The Council did not direct the Town Manager to adjust the proposed fee schedule in the case of The Cedars. In the case of Providence Glen, we similarly believe that there is not a reason to single out a specific development for different treatment under the proposed increased fee schedule. In the case of Providence Glen, the final plan fee under the current fee structure (in place until June 30) would be approximately $6,700. Under the proposed fee schedule, the fee would be approximately $30,000.
We note that the Town’s 2000-01 budget is on the agenda for consideration and possible adoption tonight. If the Council were to decide to make adjustments to the fee schedule that is part of that budget in response to this petition, the following options could be considered:
We offer the following observations: First, there are distinct, separate phases in any development application: e.g. initial application, final plan or plat application, building permit application. Fees are subject to change at any time during this sequence, and there is no guarantee at the beginning of the process that fees for later stage reviews will not change. Second, we note that, no matter what date is chosen for effective date of change, there will likely be some applications who are near the end of the process and might be affected.
We do not recommend any action to adjust the proposed fee schedule or its effective date. If adopted as proposed, the new schedule will mean that all applications accepted by June 30 pay the old fee, and applications accepted July 1 or later pay the new fee.
1. Petition from Ms. Dawn Heric (p. 3)