Albemarle County supervisors on Wednesday decided to have real-estate developers pony up as much as 50 percent of the county’s cost of evaluating development plans.
That figure is significantly lower than the 75 percent the Planning Commission had recommended. County staff said 75 percent was too much and recommended 50 percent instead.
The fee proposals have been met by criticism from some developers who say that they’re too steep and are coming at a bad time, while some county officials say the fee increases are long overdue and would merely allow the county to recover half of its costs.
The Board of Supervisors plans to hold a public hearing on the matter at a later date.
If approved by the board, the county would impose new fees and raise existing fees for nearly all applications, permits, reviews and inspections of new subdivision developments. The last time the county conducted a comprehensive review of its development fees was in 1991.
Neil Williamson, executive director of the Free Enterprise Forum, a local watchdog group, said that the county’s latest fee proposals are derived from comparisons with localities with fees that are unusually high.
“Albemarle chooses to compare their fee structures with the most expensive ... in the state,” Williamson said. “One might question if that’s a fair comparison.”
Mark Graham, Albemarle’s director of community development, said that county leaders have proposed fees that are compatible with most localities. Officials are aiming to require builders and developers to cover more of the cost of review plans, as opposed to having county taxpayers footing the vast majority of the costs.
Swimming lanes
The Board of Supervisors also discussed whether a lack of swimming lanes for high school swimmers was an urgent enough problem to warrant the dedication of $500,000 to help fund county swimming facilities. The money would go to a proposal by Star Swimming to construct a roof over new pools at the Fairview Swim and Tennis Club.
The board agreed to have officials further examine the proposal and look at other options for swimming facilities.
Traffic-light cameras
Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker also said that the county should look into the possibility of installing cameras to catch drivers who fail to stop for red traffic lights, noting that it would be a safety improvement that could also increase revenue for the police department. He said that the board, however, needs more information to determine whether it would be a good idea.
“I think we ought to push it to a decision and either do it or not,” Rooker said.
County Executive Robert W. Tucker Jr. said that county staff would prepare a report on the matter.
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