City will study impact of traffic fees

To help inform a Spokane City Council decision on proposed traffic impact fees that some businesspeople say would deter development and drive growth outside the city, officials will take a closer look at the potential economic effects of the fees.

The council plans a third study session on the fees and could begin holding public hearings next month, Council President Joe Shogan said. Council members want to know how the proposed fees compare to those in nearby cities, Shogan said.

If approved, the fees would add thousands of dollars to development costs to pay for citywide transportation upgrades.

“I hope we approve it, because I think that’s progress,” Shogan said. “I really hate to see us go back to where it’s been.”

A group of residents, developers and businesspeople spent months formulating the fees, which would generate up to $18.1 million in projects over the first six years. Advocates say the fees are needed to keep pace with growth, while opponents argue developers would be burdened with an unfair share.

“My feeling is it’s pretty late in the game now to say we didn’t have a chance to participate, but even at that, there’s opposition to them,” Shogan said.

But the proposal appears headed for debate. City Councilman Bob Apple said he opposes the fees as unreasonable, and that the four fee districts are “irregular” and the city can’t spend the money on improvements within the time limit set by state law.

“I’ve got some real problems with the impact fees,” he said. “I tend to believe it’s not the right way to go.”

Spokane’s Plan Commission in April voted 6-4 to send an ordinance allowing the fees to the council. But it did not pass on the fee schedule, which sets rates for different types of development, recommending the council modify it to promote development in centers and corridors as outlined in the city’s comprehensive plan, according to meeting minutes. Under the schedule, developers would pay $774 to $2,542 per single-family house.

Staff will try to pin down what “makes or breaks” developers’ decisions on building in Spokane versus other cities, said Eldon Brown, acting director of the Engineering Services Department. The analysis will be more focused on commercial than residential development, he said.

Brown added there’s been a per-lot mitigation fee of $1,430 on the Five Mile Prairie for years.

“We’ve had a fairly significant fee going on for 15 years, and that certainly didn’t slow anything down on the residential side up there,” he said.