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City officials are proposing to more than double traffic impact fees for new housing in and near Grass Valley but lower the charges for new businesses - setting the stage for a new chapter in the debate over development fees.
The proposal comes as Grass Valley officials wrestle with how to raise enough money to build the Dorsey Drive interchange, new freeway onramps at Idaho-Maryland Road, Mill Street and McKnight Way, as well as other projects needed to ease traffic congestion.
City and county officials disagree sharply on the approach, with Grass Valley leaders saying they may pull out of a countywide fee program that collects money for the projects.
If the city does pull out, it could lose some funding that had been set aside for the projects, according to a letter this week from a county transportation leader.
At the same time, the Nevada County Transportation Commission program depends largely on Grass Valley for its funding. The money is used for county-wide transportation projects.
Grass Valley officials are looking at an alternative fee program they say would raise far more than the county can offer. They will hold a public hearing on the proposed fee structure at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
They're "frustrated" because the county Transportation Commission (NCTC) is not collecting enough money in regional development fees to pay for regional projects needed in the city, interim City Administrator Jeff Foltz said Thursday.
That's "because the (county) fees are so low," Foltz said.
The city's proposed alternative would levy fees on developments built inside and just outside city limits.
As a part of that new fee structure, city staff have proposed raising fees on single-family residences from nearly $1,800 per house to more than $4,000 per house. But fees for retail and office buildings would decrease to less than a third of the current charge - a plan to encourage business, Foltz said.
The new fees would go into effect June 1.
But the county is in the process of raising its own fee structure, NCTC Executive Director Dan Landon said.
The city plan to levy a higher fee on unincorporated land would encounter political obstacles, NCTC Chairman Nate Beason wrote in a letter to Grass Valley Mayor Mark Johnson.
Such a fee "would require either consent by the Board of Supervisors or through annexation," wrote Beason, also the District 1 county supervisor
"I doubt that there is any appetite among board members to support an outside entity's prioritization of local projects in their jurisdictions other than through a regional agency in which priorities are agreed on in plenary fashion," he wrote.
NCTC's regional mitigation fee program collects 60 percent of its fees from Grass Valley, 36 percent from Nevada County and 4 percent from Nevada City, the letter said.
Grass Valley's contribution is much higher - 73 percent, Foltz said.
Delays in county study
The dispute marks a new chapter in the thorny issue of development impact fees in western Nevada County.
Grass Valley raised fees in 2005 and 2006 after years of painful and sometimes bitter discussions.
In April 2006, NCTC agreed to study raising its fees as well, though Beason and other commissioners refused Grass Valley's plea to raise fees on an interim basis while the study was completed.
"Grass Valley got frustrated with waiting around," Foltz said.
NCTC's study has been delayed, Beason acknowledged. "NCTC is not the cause of most of the delays," however, he added.
The study is based in part on land-use information from the area's governments. Nevada County and Nevada City provided their information to NCTC in a timely manner, Beason said. When asked if Grass Valley had provided its information in a timely fashion, Beason declined comment.
Consultants recently finished a new list of regional road improvement projects and estimates of what they would cost.
At NCTC's May 21 meeting, transportation commissioners expect to see the study that links that list of regional projects and costs to a new fee structure that would help pay for the projects, Landon said.
A new county fee structure also would have a built-in mechanism for raising fees to meet inflation, Landon added.
Builders pay the fees based on complex calculations involving the use of the property, square footage and the number of vehicle trips that can be expected from the people who use the building. The fees are supposed to pay for projects that offset the impacts of their development.
Local governments add to the mitigation fees to pay for traffic signals, new roads and other improvements to handle the increased traffic caused by the development.
$14 million for Dorsey
Grass Valley has projected the need for $76.6 million in new city projects to handle regional traffic during the next 20 years. This would include building the Dorsey Drive interchange, extending Railroad Avenue and improving the intersection at Brunswick and Idaho-Maryland roads.
The city's proposed new fee structure would collect $43 million from developers during 20 years to help pay for the projects, Foltz said.
NCTC's program will collect about $6.5 million for the Dorsey Drive project - now estimated to cost $35 million, Foltz said.
Grass Valley's proposed fee increase would collect $14 million for the project during 20 years. When added to the $13 million or so set aside in city funds, the total comes closer to fully funding the interchange, Foltz said.
"Dorsey Drive is a top priority for the city," Foltz said. "If things start to happen (in the real estate market) in the next seven to 10 years, we'll get the money to build it."
The new fee structure would be in place if the large Loma Rica Ranch, Kenny Ranch and SouthHill Village projects, all scheduled to be annexed into the city by 2020, begin to move forward.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
The numbers
Proposed changes in traffic impact fees in Grass Valley:
n Single-family house would rise from $1,784 to $4,043
n 25,000-square-foot retail building would drop from $305,959 to $172,930
n 10,000-square-foot office building would drop from $91,807 to $51,290
n Public hearing on the changes is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Grass Valley City Hall, 125 E. Main St.
The proposal comes as Grass Valley officials wrestle with how to raise enough money to build the Dorsey Drive interchange, new freeway onramps at Idaho-Maryland Road, Mill Street and McKnight Way, as well as other projects needed to ease traffic congestion.
City and county officials disagree sharply on the approach, with Grass Valley leaders saying they may pull out of a countywide fee program that collects money for the projects.
If the city does pull out, it could lose some funding that had been set aside for the projects, according to a letter this week from a county transportation leader.
At the same time, the Nevada County Transportation Commission program depends largely on Grass Valley for its funding. The money is used for county-wide transportation projects.
Grass Valley officials are looking at an alternative fee program they say would raise far more than the county can offer. They will hold a public hearing on the proposed fee structure at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
They're "frustrated" because the county Transportation Commission (NCTC) is not collecting enough money in regional development fees to pay for regional projects needed in the city, interim City Administrator Jeff Foltz said Thursday.
That's "because the (county) fees are so low," Foltz said.
The city's proposed alternative would levy fees on developments built inside and just outside city limits.
As a part of that new fee structure, city staff have proposed raising fees on single-family residences from nearly $1,800 per house to more than $4,000 per house. But fees for retail and office buildings would decrease to less than a third of the current charge - a plan to encourage business, Foltz said.
The new fees would go into effect June 1.
But the county is in the process of raising its own fee structure, NCTC Executive Director Dan Landon said.
The city plan to levy a higher fee on unincorporated land would encounter political obstacles, NCTC Chairman Nate Beason wrote in a letter to Grass Valley Mayor Mark Johnson.
Such a fee "would require either consent by the Board of Supervisors or through annexation," wrote Beason, also the District 1 county supervisor
"I doubt that there is any appetite among board members to support an outside entity's prioritization of local projects in their jurisdictions other than through a regional agency in which priorities are agreed on in plenary fashion," he wrote.
NCTC's regional mitigation fee program collects 60 percent of its fees from Grass Valley, 36 percent from Nevada County and 4 percent from Nevada City, the letter said.
Grass Valley's contribution is much higher - 73 percent, Foltz said.
Delays in county study
The dispute marks a new chapter in the thorny issue of development impact fees in western Nevada County.
Grass Valley raised fees in 2005 and 2006 after years of painful and sometimes bitter discussions.
In April 2006, NCTC agreed to study raising its fees as well, though Beason and other commissioners refused Grass Valley's plea to raise fees on an interim basis while the study was completed.
"Grass Valley got frustrated with waiting around," Foltz said.
NCTC's study has been delayed, Beason acknowledged. "NCTC is not the cause of most of the delays," however, he added.
The study is based in part on land-use information from the area's governments. Nevada County and Nevada City provided their information to NCTC in a timely manner, Beason said. When asked if Grass Valley had provided its information in a timely fashion, Beason declined comment.
Consultants recently finished a new list of regional road improvement projects and estimates of what they would cost.
At NCTC's May 21 meeting, transportation commissioners expect to see the study that links that list of regional projects and costs to a new fee structure that would help pay for the projects, Landon said.
A new county fee structure also would have a built-in mechanism for raising fees to meet inflation, Landon added.
Builders pay the fees based on complex calculations involving the use of the property, square footage and the number of vehicle trips that can be expected from the people who use the building. The fees are supposed to pay for projects that offset the impacts of their development.
Local governments add to the mitigation fees to pay for traffic signals, new roads and other improvements to handle the increased traffic caused by the development.
$14 million for Dorsey
Grass Valley has projected the need for $76.6 million in new city projects to handle regional traffic during the next 20 years. This would include building the Dorsey Drive interchange, extending Railroad Avenue and improving the intersection at Brunswick and Idaho-Maryland roads.
The city's proposed new fee structure would collect $43 million from developers during 20 years to help pay for the projects, Foltz said.
NCTC's program will collect about $6.5 million for the Dorsey Drive project - now estimated to cost $35 million, Foltz said.
Grass Valley's proposed fee increase would collect $14 million for the project during 20 years. When added to the $13 million or so set aside in city funds, the total comes closer to fully funding the interchange, Foltz said.
"Dorsey Drive is a top priority for the city," Foltz said. "If things start to happen (in the real estate market) in the next seven to 10 years, we'll get the money to build it."
The new fee structure would be in place if the large Loma Rica Ranch, Kenny Ranch and SouthHill Village projects, all scheduled to be annexed into the city by 2020, begin to move forward.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
The numbers
Proposed changes in traffic impact fees in Grass Valley:
n Single-family house would rise from $1,784 to $4,043
n 25,000-square-foot retail building would drop from $305,959 to $172,930
n 10,000-square-foot office building would drop from $91,807 to $51,290
n Public hearing on the changes is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Grass Valley City Hall, 125 E. Main St.
