City staff outlines land‑use rewrite timeline; council workshop proposed for High Street impact‑fee discussion

A resident renewed a request to remove impact fees on the High Street corridor and the Finance Committee discussed next steps and timing as part of the city's land‑use ordinance rewrite.

Jared, a resident and regular commenter, said he has urged Councilor Charlie Pierce and staff for more than a year to remove the impact fee for High Street and asked whether removal might happen within six months or take longer. "I've been talking to Charlie for, like, a year, year and a half about it," Jared said.

Staff responded that the review of impact fees is tied to a broader ordinance‑rewrite effort. Staff said the rewrite will be presented to the planning board and city council in December as an informational update to gather feedback; a formal vote or action is expected in the March–May timeframe. Committee members suggested dedicating one of the scheduled workshops (January or February) to the High Street impact‑fee discussion and a public workshop for community input.

Staff also said the city expects to coordinate public outreach and that taking an existing scheduled workshop and making the High Street impact‑fee discussion the full subject would keep the process on the regular public schedule. No formal action or vote on impact‑fee removal was recorded in the transcript.

Next steps: staff to include the impact‑fee topic in the ordinance‑rewrite update in December and to consider scheduling a dedicated workshop early in the calendar year for public feedback.