City staff presented a revised schedule of land use and building permit fees and three options for park impact fees to the Lake Stevens City Council on Dec. 17, 2024. After public comment from a Master Builders representative, the council adopted fee adjustments, approved annual indexing tied to a five-year rolling CPIU average and directed staff to set both park and traffic impact fees using the CPIU option (option 3).

Russell Jo of Master Builders of Snohomish County spoke during citizens' comments and urged the council to choose option 3 (a CPIU adjustment) for park impact fees, citing concerns about housing affordability and noting the recommended CPIU percentage of about 4.42% in staff materials.

Staff said the city currently does not recover full permit costs and presented a hybrid methodology for land use and building permit fees; the proposed fee schedule in the packet included annual CPIU adjustments calculated as a five-year rolling average. The park impact fee analysis presented three approaches: an updated project-cost approach (revised to reflect allowable costs under state law), a status-quo option, and a CPIU update option. Staff recommended the CPIU indexing for ongoing adjustments.

Councilmember discussion noted concerns about housing affordability and the effect of fee increases on attainable housing; several councilmembers said they were comfortable choosing the CPIU adjustment to balance cost recovery with affordability concerns. A motion to adopt the resolution with option 3 for both park and traffic impact fees passed by voice vote; the meeting record does not include a recorded roll-call tally in the transcript.

The resolution also includes deletion of a $10 sign-return fee listed in the draft fee schedule; staff noted that fee is not used and should be removed. The adopted changes remain in effect until the city updates impact fee calculations again next year.