Town of Gorham - Procedures | Impact Fees (General Provisions)

Impact Fees (General Provisions)

Full Text from eCode360®

The purpose of these impact fee provisions is to ensure that new development in Gorham will be accomplished in a safe and healthful manner and that such development will bear a proportional or reasonably related share of the cost of new, expanded or modified infrastructure necessary to service the development through:

The payment of impact fees that shall be dedicated to paying for the needed improvements; or

The construction of appropriate improvements as provided for herein.

§ 300-7.2: Authority.

These impact fee provisions are adopted by the Town under the authority of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4354 and its statutory and constitutional home rule provisions.

§ 300-7.3: Calculation and payment of impact fees.

The impact fees provided for under this Part 7 shall be determined in accordance with the provisions for calculation of each impact fee as established by the Town Council and set forth below. Where there is uncertainty as to the amount of the impact fee required to be paid by any development, the amount of the fee shall be determined by the Planning Board based upon the fee calculation methodology for that fee and the recommendation of the Town Planner. The impact fee shall be paid to the Town of Gorham in care of the Planning Department. The fee shall be paid prior to the issuance of any building, plumbing or other permit for the development subject to the fee. The Town Council may approve the payment of impact fees over time in accordance with an approved payment schedule, provided that appropriate arrangements are in place to guarantee collection of the fees.

§ 300-7.4: Impact fee accounts.

All impact fees collected under the provisions of this Part 7 shall be segregated and accounted for in separate impact fee accounts designated for the particular improvements in question. The impact fee accounts are as follows:

Middle School Facilities Impact Fee.

Recreational Facilities and Open Space Impact Fee.

Fort Hill Water Main Extension Impact Fee.

§ 300-7.5: Use of impact fees.

Impact fees collected under the provisions of this Part 7 shall be used only to pay for the capital cost of the infrastructure improvements specifically associated with each impact fee as described below. No portion of the fee shall be used for routine maintenance or operation activities.

The following costs may be included in the capital cost of the infrastructure improvement:

(1)

Engineering, surveying and environmental assessment services directly related to the design, construction and oversight of the improvement;

(2)

The actual construction of the improvement, including, without limitation, property acquisition costs, demolition costs, clearing and grading of the land and necessary capital equipment;

(3)

Mitigation costs;

(4)

Legal and administrative costs associated with construction of the improvement, including any borrowing necessary to finance the project;

(5)

Debt service costs, including interest if the Town borrows for the construction of the improvement;

(6)

Relocation costs; and

(7)

Similar costs that are directly related to the project.

§ 300-7.6: Refund of impact fees.

If a building permit is surrendered or lapses without commencement of construction, the developer shall be entitled to a refund, without interest, of any impact fee paid in conjunction with that project. In the case of a refund, the Town shall retain 4% of the impact fee paid to offset a portion of the administrative cost of collection. A request for a refund shall be made in writing to the Town Planner and shall occur within 90 days of the lapse or expiration of the permit.

Any fees collected that are not spent or obligated by contract for the specified improvement within a twenty-year period for the specific impact fee account by the end of the calendar quarter shall be returned to the developer or its designee without interest.

If a developer paid an impact fee pursuant to this Part 7 prior to the effective date of July 1, 2019, but would have been eligible for a waiver of the fee pursuant to § 300-7.7D at the time of construction of the replacement dwelling unit, the developer may apply for a refund of the impact fee paid. Such application must be made in writing to the Director of Community Development within five years of the date of construction of the replacement dwelling unit, and must go to the Town Council for a formal vote following a public hearing. If approved, the refund of the impact fee shall be paid to the developer without interest.

§ 300-7.7: Waiver of impact fees.

The Town Council may, by formal vote following a public hearing, waive the payment of a required impact fee, in whole or in part, if it finds that:

The developer voluntarily agrees to construct the improvement for which the impact fee would be collected; or

The developer is required, as part of a development approval by the Town or a state or federal agency, to make or to pay for infrastructure improvements that are of the same nature as the improvement to be funded by the impact fee; or

The infrastructure that the impact fee relates to has been created to attract industry and the fee would be charged to an industrial use; or

The residential development activity will not result in a net addition of new dwelling units because the new dwelling unit will replace a demolished dwelling unit that was previously owned and occupied by the developer.

§ 300-7.8: Review and revision.

The Town Council shall periodically review each impact fee established under this Part 7 at least once every five years. If the Council finds that the anticipated cost of the improvement has changed or that the identification of developments subject to the fee is no longer appropriate, the Council may propose changes in the impact fee. Any changes adopted as a result of such review shall apply to all future development but shall not be applied retroactively to projects that have already paid an impact fee.

This site is under active development. Got it!

MapLink™ | Procedures | Impact Fees (General Provisions)