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Planning department outlines 3 Corners negotiations, impact-fee questions and plan to digitize permits
Summary
Planning staff briefed council on the 3 Corners redevelopment negotiations, how impact fees are collected and spent through interlocal agreements with the county, and a multi-year plan to digitize records and modernize permitting, including scanning, a part‑time scanning position and later integration with an ERP.
Planning staff told the council they are balancing daily permit workload with several multi-year projects including 3 Corners and updates to the land development regulations.
3 Corners and impact fees: staff said 60 percent of planning staff time is consumed by development and permit review, and 30 percent by special projects; the department is engaged with the 3 Corners site plan, master developer negotiations and the wastewater treatment plant discussions. On impact fees staff explained there are two impact-fee districts administered by the county. Water-meter impact fees are collected and retained in the water and sewer fund; building-permit impact fees are collected by the county per interlocal agreement and must be spent within the fee district on capacity-increasing projects. Staff said the city is investigating past collections and expenditures and plans to coordinate with the county on how fees from a large project (3 Corners) would be calculated, apportioned and used for traffic and sewer capacity improvements. Staff noted recent state rules emphasize proportionate-share and offsets.
Permitting modernization: Planning staff proposed a program to digitize historic site plans and records and modernize the permitting workflow. Budget requests include funds for document scanning, a part-time hire to prep and clean files for scanning, and a modest professional-services allocation (quotes in the notebook for scanning). Staff said the city is evaluating an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with an integrated permitting module; the ERP would centralize finance and permitting and could reduce duplicate entries and manual updates. Planning indicated it will update fee schedules after the digitization and process review and will present a resolution if fee changes are recommended.
Why it matters: better digital records and a modern permitting system would speed review, make historical site plans searchable and help planning enforce landscape and site-plan maintenance. 3 Corners projects also have broad budget implications: building permit fees, water/sewer impact fees and required capacity improvements can shift substantial capital costs.
Next steps: staff will continue negotiations on 3 Corners and coordinate with PFM (financial advisor) on developer pro forma; staff will present a proposed scanning scope and vendor quotes and will return to council with recommended fee updates and a timeline for ERP and permitting modernization.
