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Council waives sidewalk fee for Habitat for Humanity project, declines blanket SDC cut
Summary
The City Council declined a proposed 50% reduction in system development charges (SDCs) for Habitat for Humanity but voted to waive the sidewalk fee in-lieu for a specific project after discussion about precedent and budget impacts.
St. Helens city councilors on Feb. 5 considered a request from Habitat for Humanity to cut system development charges (SDCs) by 50% and to waive the sidewalk fee in-lieu for an upcoming build.
At a work-session item, a motion to both reduce SDCs by 50% and waive the sidewalk fee was discussed; council members raised concerns about precedent, frequency of such requests and impacts to city finances. City staff explained the fee-in-lieu funds are set aside for frontage improvements and that waiving the fee removes the revenue source for future sidewalk projects in that area.
An initial combined motion was put to the council and did not pass. Council then took a separate vote on waiving the sidewalk fee for the Habitat project; that motion passed (Councilor Sandeep Aye; Council President Chilton Aye; Councilor Gunderson Aye; Councilor Hubbard Aye; Mayor Aye). The SDC reduction was not adopted; councilors said the statutory nature of SDCs and current budget pressures made a permanent SDC reduction difficult without an identified funding offset.
Why it matters: Habitat for Humanity builds are intended to add lower-cost homeownership options; local waivers or reductions reduce developer costs but create revenue gaps for the city's capital funds or create precedent for future requests. City staff said similar requests are rare and that prior projects (for example, a different Habitat project or other nonprofit projects) have seen fee waivers in isolated cases.
Clarifying detail: City staff said the sidewalk fee-in-lieu has been waived in the past for some Habitat projects; SDCs and off-site utility costs were not included in the waived item and staff noted that SDCs, if waived, would need to be made up elsewhere in the budget.
Next steps: The council's waiver applies to the specific Habitat project discussed; any future requests will be considered individually and would require council action and a staffing plan to identify offsets if SDC reductions are proposed.
Ending: Councilors asked staff to record and track waivers and to be prepared to identify budget offsets before approving future SDC adjustments.
