Commission pauses impact‑fee workshops until consultant report is distributed to commissioners and business community

The Daytona Beach City Commission voted unanimously on May 21 to postpone scheduled public workshops on proposed impact‑fee increases until the independent consultant’s capital‑needs report is provided to commissioners and the business community.

Why it matters: Florida law requires an impact‑fee study to justify fee increases and calls for public workshops on any phased‑in increases. Commissioners expressed concern that business owners and stakeholders must see the consultant’s underlying analysis ahead of workshops so they can participate meaningfully.

City staff explained the methodology and timing. Deputy City Manager Drew Driscoll said the city hired Raftelis to prepare a capital‑needs‑based impact‑fee report. He explained that the capital‑needs methodology requires the commission to identify growth‑related capital projects (for example, planned fire stations, roadway improvements or other facilities) so the consultant can allocate costs and compute fees. Driscoll said demographic and functional population data were already in the consultant’s draft, but the consultant needs the commission’s capital‑needs specification to finalize fee calculations.

City Attorney Benjamin Gross summarized the legal standard for fee adoption and how commission discretion applies to various approvals. Gross advised that the commission has greater discretion when evaluating annexations and comprehensive‑plan amendments than when deciding a conventional rezoning; by analogy he said holding workshops with the study in hand reduces legal risk if the commission later phases fees or adopts increases.

Commission debate focused on fairness and timing. Commissioner Ken Strickland and others said businesses and neighborhood stakeholders should receive the draft study before public meetings. One commissioner noted that the state law provides for two publicly noticed workshops when a phased adoption is proposed and warned that failing to follow statutory steps could expose the city to legal challenge. After discussion the commission voted 6‑0 to delay the workshops until the completed report is posted and circulated.

What the city will do next: staff said they will deliver the completed Raftelis report to the commission and make it available to the public and local businesses; staff also said they can reschedule the two statutorily required workshops with short notice once the report is distributed.

Speakers quoted in this story are identified from the meeting transcript.