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Hikes coming for rezonings for single-family homes, townhouses and apartments; county will look next at impact fees. Date published: 6/15/2006
By GEORGE WHITEHURST
It's about to get a lot more expensive to build a house in Spotsylvania County. When developers seek rezonings to build new subdivisions, the Board of Supervisors now expects them to offer the county more than $35,000 per house. Supervisors want the money and/or infrastructure improvements--dubbed proffers--to offset the cost to the county of providing public services to the new residents the houses likely will draw. The supervisors voted Tuesday night to boost the proffer standards for rezonings for single-family houses, townhouses and apartments. The increases ranged from 59 percent to more than 280 percent, depending on the type of dwelling. Those who don't need a rezoning to build a home won't get off scot-free either. The state has instructed county staff to lay the groundwork for imposing transportation levies on certain by-right developments that don't require rezonings. The so-called impact fees would finance road construction and improvements needed because of by-right developments. The fees would be limited to specific zones set up by the Board of Supervisors and wouldn't apply to rezoned developments. County staff have estimated it may take as much as two years to establish the fees, due to state regulations. Several supervisors expressed hope Tuesday that the county can streamline the process and follow the lead of Stafford County. Stafford has collected more than $1.9 million in such fees since establishing them in 2003. Spotsylvania Supervisor Emmitt Marshall worried Tuesday that the fees will disproportionately affect people who build homes on land subdivided for them by their parents. Deputy County Administrator Doug Barnes stressed yesterday that the fees will apply only to the zones set up by the supervisors. He also noted that they could--if they choose--apply the fees to by-right subdivisions with a certain number of houses. "I think we have all that flexibility in the way it's drafted," he said. "I don't think it's a cut-and-dried, 'This is the way it's going to be.'" And Supervisor Jerry Marcus may partially have mollified Marshall by pointing out that the fees could help pave dirt roads--a cause dear to Marshall's heart. But it was the discussion and vote on proffer guidelines that consumed far more time at Tuesday's meeting.
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