Planning and permission
Benefactors should cover costs of new infrastructure.
By BEN LONDEREE
Published Sunday, October 26, 2003
In this article, The Boone County Smart Growth Coalition makes recommendations
regarding payment for infrastructure costs of growth.
Previously, we showed that the costs of infrastructure outside of new developments - streets, sewage treatment, water treatment, schools, etc. - exceed $30,000 per residential lot and new homes pay very little up front to offset these costs. Therefore, existing taxpayers and utility users must foot the upfront infrastructure costs through higher taxes and utility rates.
This subsidy of new development causes several problems. Development typically occurs on cheaper land outside of the population centers and might lead to sprawl and require new, expensive infrastructure. Communities through their taxpayers and utility ratepayers must finance this new infrastructure, including upgrading treatment facilities. In the meantime, the countryside disappears and the environment is degraded.
If more of the upfront external infrastructure costs are borne by those who will benefit, i.e., new development, the economics will reduce sprawl. Payment of these fees by new development will reduce taxes and utility rates for everybody. More compact development will reduce the need for new infrastructure and also lead to lower taxes and utility rates for everybody.
Therefore, we offer the following recommendations.
? Public infrastructure should be provided in a timely manner to areas where such growth is consistent with an overall plan.
? Building of public infrastructure should be limited in environmentally sensitive areas and rural areas. Without public infrastructure, development is less likely to occur.
? Development fees should be increased gradually over several years to recover on average 25 to 50 percent of prorated external infrastructure costs - including use of reserve capacity of existing facilities.
? Development fees should be higher for perimeter development to reflect the higher cost of providing infrastructure to areas further removed from central services.
? Connection of rural customers to city infrastructure without annexation should be avoided. If such connections are made, development fees should recover 100 percent of the prorated infrastructure costs -including use of reserve capacity of existing facilities.
? Development fees should be considerably higher for environmentally sensitive areas.
? Standards for storm-water quality and peak flows should be rigorous in environmentally sensitive areas.
? Development fees should be considerably lower in central regions of a city to encourage infill development.
? Incentives should be provided for particularly appealing infill development projects.
? Incentives or reduced development fees should be provided for a limited amount of desirable low- and moderate-income housing.
Boone County does not have legislative authority from the state to enact development fee ordinances. We recommend that the legislature enact laws that will permit Boone County to establish development fees.
Until such legislation is forthcoming, Boone County has mechanisms by which sprawl can be reduced and costs of infrastructure can be assigned to the benefactors. These mechanisms include zoning and neighborhood improvement districts - or NID.
One possible scenario would be a permanent moratorium on septic systems and lagoons for sewage treatment in subdivisions. New development would be required to have an approved sewage treatment system with the cost included in the price of lots.
Alternatively, the sewage treatment system cost could be paid over a 10-year period by the members of the NID. The Boone County Regional Sewer District should operate and maintain any sewage treatment system, and NID members would be charged a monthly fee for this service. The NID mechanism for paying for sewage treatment systems has been used previously in Boone County in existing neighborhoods.
Another scenario might require approved hard-surface roads leading to any new subdivision. Numerous financing mechanisms might be used, including the developer, NIDs, liens on nearby properties likely to benefit when developed, etc. The NID mechanism for paying for road improvements has been used previously in Boone County in already existing neighborhoods.
Another scenario is the adoption of EPA Phase II storm-water control regulations. These regulations likely will require developers to take appropriate measures to control storm-water runoff during and after development. A storm-water utility could be established to deal with education about and maintenance of storm-water control mechanisms.
Adoption by the county of measures such as those listed above will reduce the stimuli for sprawl and assign costs to the benefactors. Mechanisms for dealing with electrical and water costs would require votes by the respective co-op members.
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Ben Londeree is a member of the Infrastructure Cost Committee of the Boone
County Smart Growth Coalition. He prepared this commentary in cooperation
with other members, including Elaine Blodgett, John Clark and Norman Lenhardt.
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Record suggests city is on right path
By BILL WATKINS
The Boone County Smart Growth Coalition and city decision-makers have
many common goals. We all want the same things. Certainly, the national
recognition our community has garnered suggests that the city’s current
development policies have made Columbia one of the premier livable communities
in the country with opportunities for people of all income levels.
Perhaps our differences are not so much in our goal of trying to improve and maintain our community’s great quality of life but in the process of how we go about it. And even there, the city is already doing much of what has been suggested by the coalition.
Columbia has long taken the position that the best, most cost-efficient development comes from the "inside out." The coalition seems to strongly agree.
We both agree development should be limited in "rural" areas and that environmentally sensitive areas deserve extra thought and protection. We might need further public discussion as to exactly what is rural and sensitive.
We both agree infrastructure should be extended in a timely manner consistent with good planning. The city recently completed its updated land use plan for the year 2020 and regularly updates its transportation and utility plans. These plans are publicly adopted by the city council after much discussion. A logical next step to these plans might be a mechanism to foster the completion of infrastructure concurrent with new development.
We both agree that standards for storm water should be rigorous and based upon the best science available. Several years ago, we were one of the first cities in the nation to create a storm-water utility, and two years ago, before it was on most folks’ radar, the city began a process of developing its storm-water regulations to comply with EPA regulations. We recently submitted our Phase 2 permit application. The coalition has actively participated in development of the regulations, and we thank its members for their work.
We both agree city infrastructure should be limited to those who are willing to annex. Over the years, the city has taken some flak for this position.
We both agree that in cases where non-city residents do connect, those customers should pay more. They do and have for many years - both in their monthly bills and connection charges.
The city has long collected development charges for new buildings based on a building’s square footage to help cover storm-water and collector road costs. Columbia also collects connection fees for water and sewer hookups based on water meter size. All of those fees were raised recently to reflect increasing city costs. The coalition’s proposed stepped-development charge might be an idea to publicly consider in the future, perhaps within the context of providing affordable housing.
Incentives for infill development are good in concept but hard to execute in practice. For instance, is Bass Pro "infill"? Should we subsidize Famous-Barr for helping to revitalize Biscayne? In the long run, we need to ensure that the housing market and business climate in our central city are strong and attractive for infill and redevelopment and not rely primarily on incentives and giveaways.
One coalition proposal that gives me some heartburn is the $30,000 suggested cost of infrastructure for each new house. Almost half of this suggested figure is composed of school/education-related expenses, and I have little personal knowledge in this area. The other half, however, includes some questionable components such as $7,000 for electric and $151 for jails. There is also no allowance for repayment through taxes and utility payments by residents over the many years’ life span of a house. Cities have customarily spread the true upfront costs over many years to make owning a home more affordable.
Columbia and Boone County collectively issued about 2,000 residential building permits last year, and most were built with the expectation of being sold and occupied. Many, if not most, are being constructed in the urbanizing fringe of one of the county’s cities. Today most "rural" residents want urban services such as public water and sewer, strong police and fire protection and good roads. With rural water districts, fire districts, sewer districts and increased funding for county roads and law enforcement, these services are usually available in unincorporated areas. Contrary to what some might believe, DNR is issuing sewer discharge permits in these areas. The bottom line for our communities is that people want to live in Columbia and Boone County. If we restrict their options here, then Callaway, Howard or Cooper counties become attractive alternatives.
Columbia generally has gained a reputation as having high development standards administered impartially. People will continue to want to live here and our children to grow up and establish homes of their own here because, over time, our community has enacted smart and prudent development policies.
Working collectively, we can ensure that quality, planned development occurs in our community and that to the best of our ability, it complements our quality of life.
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Bill Watkins is assistant city manager for Columbia.
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