Panama City workshop reviews proposed transportation impact fees; commission leans to adopt study but delay charging fees

City Manager Jonathan Hayes opened a workshop on a proposed transportation impact-fee ordinance for the City of Panama City, calling it a chance to refresh elected officials and the public on a study completed last winter and revised as recently as May. "This is a workshop on the transportation impact fees ordinance for the city of Panama City," Hayes said, introducing Kimley‑Horn consultant Vincent Spar and city staff.

Consultants from Kimley‑Horn presented the study's methodology and legal constraints under Florida law, saying impact fees must be proportional to new travel demand and used for capacity improvements rather than operations or previously funded projects. "Impact fees do address a growing community in a more targeted way in terms of asking for the the funding for those capacity improvements from new developments," Vincent Spar said.

The draft ordinance and fee schedule presented by staff and Kimley‑Horn would split the city into service areas (Panama City proper and Panama City North), apply trip‑generation rates from ITE standards (with pass‑by trip adjustments), and allow credits for gas‑tax and ad‑valorem contributions and for developer‑built improvements. Fuller, the city's director of development services, highlighted several changes made after public workshops: exemptions for single‑family homes on existing lots of…