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Builders, Realtors and Chamber urge council to limit new fees to protect housing affordability
Summary
Representatives of the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association, Realtors Association and Eau Claire Chamber urged the council to adopt the lower $100 tree fee and to set park-impact fees at the lowest reasonable level, warning that higher fees could increase rents and home costs.
Four industry and business representatives told the council they support the Century Code update but urged restraint on associated fees to avoid adding costs to new housing.
Pat Smith of Oak Corner Insulation and government-affairs chair for the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association said the association had submitted a letter and data and urged the council to adopt the $100-per-inch tree fee and the lowest possible park-impact fee option. "Every thousand dollars an increase in cost prices 31 people out of the ability to buy a home," he told the council, urging consideration of infill situations where planting space is limited.
Christina Thrun, executive officer for the Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association, and Ian Gager from the Realtors Association of Northwest Wisconsin made similar points about the disproportionate impact on smaller infill lots and on renters; Scott Rogers, vice president for governmental affairs at the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, urged council to keep affordability central and to monitor the code's effects after implementation. Industry speakers provided project examples (the Cannery and Prairie West) to show potential dollar impacts at different fee levels.
