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Moab planning commission backs master fee schedule changes, forwards ordinance 2025-08 to council
Summary
The Planning Commission on June 12 voted 3-0 to recommend that City Council adopt Ordinance 2025-08, which updates the city—s master fee schedule. Staff said the changes raise some minimum building-permit fees (from $65 to $85) and adjust planning and engineering fees to better reflect staff time and new state review requirements.
The Moab City Planning Commission on June 12, 2025 voted unanimously to forward a positive recommendation to the City Council for Ordinance 2025-08, an update to the city—s master fee schedule that adjusts building, planning and engineering fees.
City Treasurer Marcy Mason said the ordinance was presented after legal counsel advised staff to bring the master fee schedule to the commission for recommendation because the fees can affect building and zoning activity. "This is our master fee schedule. This is every single fee that the city charges, to the community, essentially," Mason said during the presentation.
Planning staff explained the commission—s review focused on the building and planning/engineering sections of the schedule. Staff said the ordinance raises the minimum building-permit fee from $65 to $85 to account for increased staff time and new state-mandated, expedited review requirements. "The $85 is only really looking at one person," a planning staff member said, describing how the figure corresponds to an approximate hourly review cost. Staff also cited an internal audit (conducted in the 2021-2022 timeframe) showing Moab—s fees are lower than comparable communities.
Staff provided examples of planning fees being adjusted: the master plan development fee was shown as a $350 base fee plus $50 per lot in the redlined schedule. Staff emphasized that the current update is intended to be a modest alignment of minimums, with a fuller fee study and additional audits planned in a later fiscal year to aim for nearer a neutral revenue position for review work.
Commissioners suggested minor cleanups to the ordinance text (for example, consistent job titles such as "planning coordinator" and clearer recommended-motion language in staff reports). No substantive amendments were proposed to the fee amounts under consideration.
Commissioner Miles Lofton moved to forward a positive recommendation of Ordinance 2025-08 to the City Council without modifications; Commissioner Jill Tatten seconded. The motion passed 3-0. The commission—s recommendation will be considered by the City Council at a later meeting.
Separately, staff flagged an upcoming EV-readiness ordinance that is under review by the city attorney and will return for final comments and public hearing, and commissioners discussed ongoing recruitment efforts to fill vacancies on the planning commission.
