The Mount Vernon Municipal Planning Commission adopted a flat private stormwater maintenance fee (PSMF) of $13.15 per unit per month for the Liberty Crossing subdivision on Jan. 8, following staff presentations, developer input and a lengthy commission discussion about fairness and billing complexity.

Assistant city engineer Quentin Platt described two options for funding long‑term maintenance and periodic rehabilitation of private stormwater facilities: a flat per‑unit fee (initially presented near $12.67, later recalculated to $13.12 and rounded to $13.15) or a variable fee that charges single‑family/townhome units a higher rate and multifamily units a lower rate based on impervious area per unit. Platt said the variable approach reflected approximate ratios of impervious area per unit (single family roughly three times the impervious area of multifamily units in this calculation) and presented example rates (about $18.78 for single‑family and $6.26 for multifamily, later rounded to $18.80 and $6.30).

Developer representative Trent McDaniel told the commission the developer preferred a flat fee “to keep things simple.” Commissioners and staff debated equity concerns (that smaller apartment units might pay more under a flat structure relative to impervious area) and the practical burden on utility billing staff if the variable structure were adopted. One commissioner warned that a variable schedule could add complexity for billing staff and property owners.

Because unit counts were adjusted during the meeting (townhome units were reduced to 77 and multifamily unit counts were recalculated), the commission temporarily tabled the rate decision early in the hearing to recalculate totals. After voting on two related land‑use items (minor multifamily layout adjustments and townhome plan changes, which staff said aligned with the amended final development plan and required no variances), the commission resumed the rate discussion with updated numbers. Staff reported the recalculation left the proposed variable rates largely unchanged and produced a flat fee rounding to $13.15 per unit per month.

A motion was made and seconded to adopt the flat PSMF of $13.15; roll call showed unanimous support on the final vote. The commission clarified that the PSMF is separate from the city’s public stormwater fee and is intended to create a maintenance corpus the city can use for rehabilitation or emergency work on private stormwater facilities that had been added to a maintenance district.

Separately, the commission approved minor changes to the Liberty Crossing multifamily area and townhome area. Staff said those changes were a response to the selected developer’s building footprints and unit programming and that the changes remained within the scope of the previously amended final development plan.

The commission’s actions will allow staff to set up the PSMF and proceed with development review; engineering and legal staff said they had no outstanding technical or legal concerns with the minor plan changes. The adopted PSMF and the approved plan changes now become part of the development record and will be applied as the subdivision moves to construction and permit phases.