Cleveland council adopts draft land-use assumptions, advances impact-fee process

The Cleveland City Council on July 7 adopted a resolution approving draft land-use assumptions and a draft capital improvements plan (CIP) that will feed into a possible city water and wastewater impact fee program.

Blake Behringer, a consultant with Blahle Engineering, presented the 10-year land-use assumptions and a high-level CIP and explained how the city converts projected growth into service units (SUs) for fee calculations. "The impact fee is a one-time fee that is going to incur at the time the development comes in ... based on their meter size," Behringer said, noting Cleveland’s standard conversion uses a 5/8-inch meter as equivalent to one single-family home and that commercial and industrial areas were estimated at about 1,200 gallons per day per acre.

A Council member asked how an impact fee differs from property tax and monthly utility rates. Behringer replied that impact fees are assessed once to developers (at platting or meter calculation) to pay for needed capacity tied to new development; property taxes are annual levies on assessed value, and water and sewer rates are monthly charges based on usage.

Council members pressed several operational questions during the presentation: whether tearing down an existing house and reusing the same meter would trigger an impact fee (Behringer said the city would make such determinations case by case), whether projects could be added to the CIP later (Behringer said the land-use assumptions, impact fee schedule and CIP must be revisited at least every five years and can be updated through the public hearing process), and whether the Grand Oaks development was exempt. "If I am not mistaken, during their original developer agreement with the city [Grand Oaks was] grandfathered into not having impact fees imposed," Behringer said.

Following the presentation and questions, the council moved to the regular agenda. A motion to approve Item 2 — the resolution adopting the draft land-use assumptions and draft CIP relating to possible adoption of city water and wastewater impact fees as authorized by the Texas Local Government Code, chapter 395 — was made and seconded. The Chair announced that the motion carried (the transcript includes an inconsistent intermediate tally of "5 to 0" and later the Chair announcing "Motion carries 6"); the resolution was recorded as approved for the council's record.

The council also approved Item 3, a separate resolution calling for a public hearing to consider formal adoption of city water and wastewater impact fees under Texas Local Government Code chapter 395; the Chair announced "Motion carries." The public hearing on the underlying fee ordinance will follow the notice and hearing procedures required by state law.

The meeting record captures the consultant's key assumptions and policy details that will determine how any future fee is calculated: 10-year growth projections, a single-family equivalency measured by a 5/8-inch meter, residential density assumed at about 4 lots per acre for large acreage, and an industrial/commercial demand estimate of roughly 1,200 gallons per day per acre. The consultant and council members stressed that redevelopment scenarios and special developer agreements (such as grandfathering clauses) affect whether an impact fee applies to a specific parcel and that the CIP and fee methodology will be revisited on a maximum five-year cycle.

The Chair closed the public hearing and moved toward adjournment after approving the items.