Committee reviews draft transportation impact fee program, highlights credits for Snoqualmie Mill and comprehensive-plan projects

The Community Development Committee on the evening discussed agenda bill AB24-096, a draft ordinance and rate study that would create a citywide transportation impact fee program and a mechanism for developers to receive credits when they build projects already listed in the rate study.

City staff said the rate study posted with the committee packet was updated to include a list of assumptions and an explicit project list to make the program more transparent. Transportation planner Chris Bridal told the committee that projects already on the rate-study list — including some regional improvements identified in the Snoqualmie Mill EIS — can be implemented by a developer and then counted as an impact-fee credit against the fee they otherwise would owe.

Why it matters: the change is intended to standardize mitigation and reduce later negotiations by establishing cost estimates and credit rules up front. Committee members focused questions on how the program would apply to the large, phased Snoqualmie Mill development, the scale of credits for specific projects and how the program treats comprehensive-plan intersections that were pooled into a $30 million allowance.

Staff explained that inclusion on the project list does not mean the city is rebuilding a WSDOT-led bridge or covering full regional project costs. Bridal said the rate study includes a portion of the Snoqualmie River bridge project (noted as a WSDOT-led effort) to “facilitate a more robust multimodal improvement,” adding the impact fee program would contribute only a fraction of the larger project’s cost. He also cited the general rule that if a future developer implements a listed project to city standards, the cost estimate for that project is treated as an impact-fee credit, not a cash reimbursement to the developer.

Committee members pressed staff about the Snoqualmie Mill development agreement. Council member Johnson asked whether an existing development agreement would exempt the mill from the proposed impact fee. Staff replied that the Snoqualmie Mill development agreement specifically contemplates impact fees and does not exempt the project. Staff said the program was designed with the mill in mind so that planned mitigation items identified in the EIS can be credited rather than repeatedly negotiated as each phase comes forward.

Officials discussed several numeric clarifications: the comprehensive-plan “batch” of intersections was described in the rate study as a $30,000,000 total set of projects, with up to $10,000,000 of impact-fee funding allocated across those intersections (spread across the set rather than per intersection). Mill Street was listed in the packet at $1,500,000; staff said a developer that implements Mill Street to city standards could receive a credit up to the estimate on the list (for example, up to $1.5 million), but would not receive cash back for saving less than the estimate. Staff also emphasized that the overall fee calculation, trip-rate methodology and fee collection mechanics remain unchanged from the materials previously circulated.

Staff requested the committee’s continued review and indicated the item is scheduled to return to the council agenda (committee members confirmed the item will be on the council agenda for the 13th). Committee members asked staff to keep clarifying the list of projects and the credit rules in the rate study and ordinance text before the council reading.

Ending: Committee members did not take a final vote on AB24-096. Staff said they will remain available to answer follow-up questions and will proceed with the scheduled council agenda placement for further readings and any formal action.