Developers urge Pasco to codify grandfathering after city raised water-rights fees
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Developers and builders urged the City of Pasco to codify earlier council discussions to grandfather in preliminary plats and avoid retroactive water-rights fees after the city raised in-lieu fees and removed certain exemptions in 2023; staff said council direction is needed to formalize the approach.
Developers and several property owners told the Pasco City Council Thursday they need clearer, codified rules after the city increased water-rights in-lieu fees and removed exemptions last year.
Miss Seagdell reviewed the city's water-rights history and recent changes: the Quad-City acquisition context, a 2006 policy that previously exempted some commercial and industrial development from providing water rights, and a 2023 ordinance that raised the in-lieu fee to $4,150 per acre-foot while removing the commercial/industrial exemption. Staff noted a 50% surcharge applies if a water right is moved from the land after a firm cut-off date in late 2023 and said a council subcommittee recommended evaluating fees periodically and exploring conservation programs.
Developers asked council to codify earlier assurances that projects in process before the fee change would be grandfathered to the lower rate. Peter Harpshire (Harpshire Land Development) said his project applied in February 2022 and that final platting and fee planning were underway; he requested the council formalize the understanding that pre-existing applications should be charged the earlier fee. "Our project initially applied in February 2022...we will final plat the final phase this year," he told the council during public comment.
Other builders said they received late invoices or demands for additional fees tied to duplex conversions on lots and that city staff withheld certificates of occupancy in some cases until fees were paid. Jeff Kelly described a dispute over retroactive fees for duplexes at the Wernett Ridge subdivision and said withholding certificates was preventing sales or rentals.
Council discussion reflected broad support for grandfathering preliminary plats that were already in the pipeline at the time of the change, while rejecting retroactive relief for commercial/industrial exemptions because those had already been removed and staff said there were few outstanding commercial applications. Several councilmembers asked staff to return with codified language clarifying: (1) grandfathering of residential preliminary plats (older fee), (2) that any sale of a water right after the firm date would still trigger the surcharge, and (3) a firm list of which applications qualify for grandfathering.