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Edgewood staff to recalculate park impact fees by square footage per new guidance
Summary
Planning staff proposed computing park impact fees on livable square footage to comply with state rules allowing fees based on square footage, bedrooms, or trips; staff recommended square footage and will coordinate with the school district and produce a rate study.
City planning staff told the commission they will update Edgewood’s park impact fee methodology to comply with recent state legislation that requires impact fees to be based on one of three metrics: square footage, number of bedrooms or trip generation.
Staff said transportation impact fees are already calculated on trip generation and recommended adopting a square‑footage method for park fees. The packet included an example from the city of Federal Way and staff said they have begun preliminary conversations with the Puyallup School District about similar changes for school impact fees. The Master Builders Association, staff said, has indicated a preference for square footage as the most straightforward method.
Staff explained they would base calculations on livable square footage (excluding garages and accessory storage) and that permit application data already collected would support a rate recalculation. Commissioners asked whether square footage could undercount park use by smaller units; staff acknowledged the tradeoffs and said the team will test correlations between livable area and park use and present the results in the fee study.
Next steps: staff will run a rate‑setting analysis and return with proposed fee schedules to be adopted through the development‑regulation process.
