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Woodland council weighs fee deferrals, credits and limited waivers in transportation impact-fee workshop
Summary
City staff and the city attorney told Woodland's council on Monday they can legally offer short deferrals and developer-agreement payment plans for transportation impact fees, but broad fee holidays would shift costs to taxpayers and require explicit policy changes.
City staff and council on Monday explored ways to reduce the up-front burden of transportation impact fees for new development while protecting the city's future transportation projects.
Travis Goddard, Woodland's community development director, told the council the city's updated impact-fee study increased the per-peak-trip charge sharply from the prior $828 figure to a level the council set as high as about $8,500 per evening peak-hour trip after a multi-year recalculation of needed projects and construction costs. The council has been phasing in the increase over three years; the city is currently at roughly 90 percent of the new rate and scheduled to reach 100 percent on Nov. 6, 2025.
Goddard outlined two tools the city can use to help developers: an occupancy deferral and a fee holiday. An occupancy deferral delays collection until the building is occupied; state law limits such deferrals to 18 months, city attorney Emily said. Fee holidays temporarily waive or reduce fees, a tactic Woodland used briefly after the COVID economic downturn.
Emily, the city attorney, said the code should include clear standards and a developer's agreement to ensure the city can collect fees if a project fails or the property changes hands. "Development agreements can address a variety of things," she said, including payment timing, credits for off-site improvements and liens to protect the city's interest.
Staff emphasized that credits for previously existing trips and in-lieu construction of project-specific transportation improvements are common tools. Goddard said a developer who rebuilds an existing site will receive credit for trips associated with the prior use; the developer pays only for the incremental new trips.
Business owners and developers told the council the current fee schedule can be a barrier. Bobby, who said he has purchased property for a proposed restaurant, said recent tariffs and supply-cost spikes have increased his expected material costs by more than 20 percent and said paying roughly $200,000 in impact fees up front would threaten his project. "I'm just the guy that's trying to start a small business," he said. He and his partner estimated a conservative opening in mid-2026 if permitting and construction proceed.
Several council members asked whether the council could set a capped waiver or offer partial holidays only to a fixed number of projects. Emily said the council could examine caps and targeted waivers but must document the legal rationale and base any fee adjustments on the transportation-improvement plan that defines the costs the fees are intended to cover. "You have to have a record ... otherwise courts are going to find it's arbitrary and capricious," she said.
Staff recommended deferrals and developer agreements rather than a broad fee holiday because a holiday that waives collections would shift costs for future projects onto existing taxpayers and reduce the city's ability to fund planned transportation capacity projects. "We're recommending you consider the deferral of payments," Goddard said.
Council directed staff to research options for limited, documented deferrals or caps and to return with draft language for development agreements and code amendments. Staff noted other options include: phased payments, making credits for upfront infrastructure work, and preserving statutory protections for the city to record liens if fees go unpaid.
Councilmembers and residents also raised related issues including how impacts are measured (peak-hour trips, treated equally whether car or truck), whether impact-fee proceeds are restricted to new-capacity projects, and how fees interact with county and state responsibilities for roads. Riley from Public Works noted the city sometimes accepts off-site work in lieu of fees on larger commercial projects, and that projects in the development queue address specific bottlenecks like Exit 22 and North Beacon.
Council did not adopt an ordinance; it asked staff to return with options that include legal checks, a cap or limited pilot and model developer agreements.
