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City staff: converted church may face nearly $250,000 in water/sewer connection fees
Summary
City staff told the council a planned conversion of a former church into congregate housing faces a high sewer/water connection charge after a consultant27s usage estimate. Staff said the owner was surprised and that the city is reviewing similar projects to seek comparable data.
City staff told the Port Orchard City Council during its April work study that a developer converting a former church into congregate housing faces unexpectedly large water and sewer connection charges that could approach a quarter-million dollars.
Staff said the project27s application included a consultant27s water-usage estimate that the consultant initially recorded as 14,000 gallons per day, then as 1,400 gallons per day. Using the city27s connection-charge rules, staff said that level of use equates to about eight Equivalent Residential Units, or ERUs, and that the property already qualifies for credit for one ERU; staff calculated a net of seven ERUs. "That27s nearly a quarter million dollars for their connection charges," a city staff member said during the meeting.
City staff said the developer, identified in the transcript only by the first name Andrew, had not expected that figure and had not previously factored it into move-in timing. Staff described back-and-forth review with the finance department after determining the consultant had applied the wrong code provisions in the first submission. Staff also said the city has reached out to Bremerton, which operates a similar congregate facility, to obtain actual usage data and possibly identify a lower benchmark.
Staff emphasized it cannot legally waive or "give away" connection charges without a justification that would meet code requirements. "We're working hard to find a path to get to this lower number, but we've got to be able to justify it," the staff member said.
Councilmembers and other speakers asked whether the city had earlier opportunity to flag the fee during plan review; staff replied that the connection charge was confirmed when the meter order was placed and that the document submitted by the applicant is what the city used for its calculation.
The council discussion also noted this building type is a relatively new conversion in Port Orchard, and staff recommended pulling comparative meter data from other jurisdictions and refining the city27s checklist and preapplication steps to ensure applicants and their consultants understand the likely fees earlier in the process.
Ending: Councilmembers said they want staff to continue seeking comparable usage data and to report back with options for mitigation or clarification of the fee-calculation method.
