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Council holds first required public hearing on development impact fee update; consultant outlines proposed increases
Summary
At a required first public hearing on the city's development impact fee update, consultant Ben Griffin summarized land use assumptions and the Infrastructure Improvements Plan, projecting nearly 14,000 new housing units over 10 years and proposed fee increases for library, parks, police and streets with a timeline of public hearings through December and potential effective date of Feb. 15.
Ben Griffin of Tischer Baez presented the first required public hearing on Apache Junction's development impact fee update on July 7. He told the council this step covers the land use assumptions and Infrastructure Improvements Plan (IAP), which must be adopted before development fees themselves.
Griffin summarized the growth assumptions: roughly 8,900 additional housing units projected inside the auction property and about 5,000 additional housing units in the remainder of the city over the next 10 years, for a citywide total approaching 14,000 housing units and about 900,000 square feet of nonresidential floor area. He explained Arizona law limits impact fee-funded library facilities to 10,000 square feet at a single site and noted the city plans a 15,000-square-foot library with fees able to fund up to the allowed 10,000 square feet; the remainder would be funded by debt.
Griffin outlined proposed fee changes (examples cited in the presentation): the single-family library fee rising from $550 to $714; parks from about $1,700 to $2,057 for single-family units; police fee from about $1,200 to $1,449; and the street fee from $3,250 to $4,843. He said the increases largely pass through recent construction cost escalations and vehicle/equipment cost growth rather than changes in service levels.
He explained the two-step adoption timeline: a second public hearing and adoption of land use assumptions/IAP could occur Sept. 1, the first public hearing on development fees could occur Oct. 20, adoption could follow Dec. 1, and fees could take effect no earlier than Feb. 15 (minimum 75-day waiting period after adoption). Griffin also noted the auction property is treated separately by an existing development agreement and therefore is not assessed certain park and street fees within that area.
The mayor opened the hearing and—seeing no speakers—closed it. The council received the presentation; staff said materials and slides would be posted online and invited public comment at the designated call-to-public period.
What happens next: staff will post the presentation, and the city plans the subsequent hearings per the consultant's schedule.
