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Developers tell Sandy council recent SDC increases and moratorium threaten housing projects
Summary
Multiple public commenters including Dave, Scott Clayton and Mac Even told the council that recent system development charge (SDC) increases and moratorium delays have made previously approved housing projects infeasible, citing multi‑hundred‑thousand– to multi‑million‑dollar cost increases and asking for fee exemptions or extensions of approvals.
Several developers and representatives used the public-comment period to press the Sandy City Council to ease or exempt projects from recent SDC fee increases, arguing the higher charges and earlier moratoriums have stalled housing developments the council previously approved.
Dave (public commenter) said his project (Mul Run Terrace) has had nearly $2,800,000 added to its cost due to SDC increases and asked the council to exempt projects approved before the moratorium or adopt an ordinance extending land-use approvals and ERU allocations by 18 months to preserve feasibility. "I plead with you to consider making projects that were approved prior to the moratorium exempt from the massive SDC fee increases," he told the council.
Scott Clayton and online commenter Mac Even provided similar testimony. Mac offered a numeric example for the Bornstead Road subdivision: SDCs that would have been $746,234 for 43 homes are now $2,330,929 — a $1,584,695 difference, which he called "a project killer." Tom Orth, another public commenter, warned of downstream economic effects — fewer builds would mean fewer vehicle trips, less revenue for local merchants and fewer local construction jobs.
In response, the Chair acknowledged the council's support for previously approved projects but explained the trade-offs: the city faces rising costs to build and maintain infrastructure and cannot avoid necessary sewer and water improvements. The Chair said staff will take the comments under review and the council will consider the submissions, potentially at a later meeting.
The public urged remedies ranging from fee rollbacks to time-limited exemptions and extensions of approvals; council did not adopt any immediate fee changes during this meeting.
