Palm Coast officials weigh large parks-and-recreation fee increase, debate which projects to include

Palm Coast — City staff and consultants on Tuesday presented a parks and recreation impact-fee study that would raise the residential parks impact fee to roughly $3,620 per single-family dwelling, a near doubling of the current fee, and asked council for direction on which long-range projects to include in the fee calculation.

The study, led by consultant Sean Ocasio of Raftelis Financial Consultants with staff presentations from Eric Gebo, an architect in the Stormwater and Engineering Department, reviewed about $236 million in planned parks capital through build-out and several large projects in the city’s 10-year capital improvement plan. The consultant’s calculation produced a $3,620 per-dwelling-unit fee that Ocasio said would represent about a 98% increase from the current parks fee.

Why it matters: Impact fees are charged to new residential development to pay the proportionate share of capital facilities that growth requires. If the city adopts the higher fee, developers and home buyers would face significantly larger upfront charges; if it does not, the study estimates existing residents would have to make up a $17.8 million shortfall on planned park projects through 2035.

Most of the meeting’s debate focused on two practical questions: which projects to include in the fee calculation and whether the city should pursue the full, “extraordinary-circumstance” fee now or phase in an increase under statutory limits. Ocasio told the council the study used a standard methodology that nets grant-funded projects and spreads remaining capital cost across projected population to derive a per-person cost that is converted to a per-dwelling-unit fee using…