Lake City council reviews proposed mobility plan and one-time development fee

Lauren Rushing, transportation planner with New Urban Concepts, told the Lake City Council at a workshop on April 6 that the city is considering a mobility plan and a one-time mitigation fee on new development to fund a connected multimodal transportation system through 2050.

"This is a fee that is not a tax on existing residents, it's not an assessment on existing homes, it's a fee that's paid by new development only," Rushing said as she explained that the fee would apply to new growth and is assessed one time at building permit.

The mobility plan is organized into three subplans — streets, trails and greenways, and intersections — and covers projects on city, county and state roads that affect Lake City travel. Rushing presented planning-level cost estimates totaling roughly $500 million; she said about $369 million of that is expected to come from county, state or other funding, leaving an attributable city cost of about $137 million over the 24-year planning horizon.

Rushing summarized the draft ordinance and technical report that would amend the city's code by adding Article 6 (mobility fees) under Chapter 86 (streets, sidewalks and public spaces). The ordinance would require a comp-plan amendment within a year of adoption,…