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Council sends interim park impact fee ordinance to consent; public hearing set for Aug. 19

5498165 · July 15, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

City staff recommended an interim ordinance to change park impact fees from per-unit to square-foot basis to comply with 2023 RCW changes; council directed minor edits and moved the ordinance to the next consent agenda with a scheduled public hearing.

The Committee of the Whole voted to place an interim ordinance updating the city's park impact fees on the next consent agenda and to hold a public hearing on the proposal Aug. 19. The interim ordinance would shift park impact fee calculations from a per-dwelling-unit model to a square-foot basis to align with 2023 changes to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW).

City Planning Director Fessor told the committee the city currently collects separate impact fees for traffic and parks and that the proposed changes focus on parks, formally called "parks, open space and recreation facilities impact fees." The planning director said the fees fund capacity-building capital projects such as land acquisition and adding lights to athletic fields, and that under state law the city must expend impact fees within 10 years or return them.

Why it matters: The state RCW revision requires residential impact fees to be based on square footage, number…

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