Las Cruces council adopts new park impact fee schedule, approves $2.1 million in park and road grants

The Las Cruces City Council on June 2 adopted a revised park impact fee schedule and approved four recently awarded grants that together direct state and federal funds to trails, a regional bike park and street work.

The fees adopted by the council use the “without neighborhood parks” option from the city consultant’s study and are structured by residential unit size rather than by housing type, city staff said. Gabriela Pratz, grants manager in the finance department, told the council the resolution before them implements “the maximum amount without neighborhood parks” as presented in the study and that council could choose a lower amount.

The action matters because impact fees are a one-time payment collected at building permit to help pay for infrastructure capacity created by new growth; they cannot be used for operations or maintenance. Julie Herlins, vice president with consulting firm Tishler Bice, told the council the study establishes a legal nexus under the New Mexico Impact Fee Act by documenting need, proportionality and benefit for…