Earlier this week, members of Charlotte’s Economic Development Committee received a presentation from staff regarding proposed changes to certain land development fees.
In 2006, the Charlotte City Council adopted a policy that it would aim for 100% cost recovery on all regulatory user fees. Shortly thereafter, in the midst of the recession, the City determined it would not be prudent to substantially increase fees on the development industry, and the proposal was shelved.
But during last year’s preliminary budget discussions, staff reminded Council of its nine-year-old policy regarding cost recovery, and recommended that fees go up accordingly. After REBIC expressed concerns about potentially staggering jumps in the cost of rezoning and land development fees,, the City acquiesced and imposed some less dramatic increases, capping cost recovery at 80%.
As staff is preparing its FY 16 budget recommendations to Council, they are suggesting it adopt a budget that increases most land development and rezoning fees to a level that recoups 100% of the cost of service. In some instances fees would actually decrease, but in many others, they would go up. Here are some examples:
Conventional Rezoning (Residential to Commercial) ⇑15%
Minor Conditional Rezoning (3 acre site) ⇑15%
Major Conditional Rezoning (10 acres or 2,500 trips/day) ⇑40%
Commercial Site Development (3 acres denuded, 10 trees) ⇓9%
Commercial Subdivision (23 acres, 80 trees) ⇓13%
Single-Family Subdivision (10 acres, 10 denuded acres, 40 lots) ⇓5%
Staff is making a concerted effort to get in front of those in the development industry who are paying the fees. Several meetings will be held in March and here is the schedule:
Wednesday, March 9th, 12:00-1:00, NAIOP, Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, Rm CH-14
Wednesday, March 9th, 1:30 – 3 p.m., Development Services Technical Advisory Committee (DSTAC), Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, Rm 136
Wednesday, March 16th, 11:00-12:00, Greater Charlotte Apartment Association, Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, Rm 136
Thursday, March 17th, 2:00-4:00, Charlotte Water Environment Services Committee, 4222 Westmont, Charlotte
Wednesday, March 23rd, 8:00-9:00, Charlotte Chamber Land Use Committee, 330 South Tryon, Charlotte
City Council is expected to vote June 13th on a final FY 2016-2017 budget. REBIC will continue to work with staff and members of the City Council on this critical issue.
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