FAYETTEVILLE -- The parks board settled on an adjustment to the one-time fee developers pay for new residential properties that is lower than initially projected amounts but higher than the existing rates.
Board members voted 9-0 to forward to the City Council new rates for parkland dedication fees. Developers pay the fee as a way to counteract the impact new residences have on park usage, and the money in turn is used to buy land, build amenities or put money down toward grants and partnerships for parks.
The current rate is $920 per unit for a single-family development and $560 per unit for multifamily. The board's recommended change would have the rates go up to $1,089 per unit for single-family and $952 per unit for multifamily.
Part of the board's responsibility is to review the fee every two years. The rate has stayed the same since 2013, although it has been reviewed in the time since.
The board started looking at the rates again late last year. Initially, parks staff recommended even higher rates at $1,258 per unit for single-family and $1,100 for multifamily. That was because the land value used in the formula to calculate the fee was higher.
At its January meeting, the board asked staff to take a closer look at the land values. Staff met with the Washington County Assessor's Office and came up with a lower land value. The land value went from $54,462 per acre to $47,130 per acre.
Staff ended up changing which types of parcels were used in the estimate, based on guidance from the Assessor's Office, and used more recent numbers, Park Planning Superintendent Ted Jack said.
"I feel a lot better about this data," he said. "I think we were missing some that we probably should've had in there, and I think they really explained all the different types that could be relevant to us and allowed us to then study that and figure out the best way to move forward."
The formula used to calculate the fee involves the land value per acre, park acres per person and number of people living in a unit.
Any developer of 24 or more residential units, whether single- or multifamily, has two options under city code: either dedicate a portion of the land for a park, or pay a one-time fee instead.
The City Council will make the final decision on the parkland dedication fees. The parks board also recommended the council hire a consultant to look at the formula itself. That task may involve examining other city impact fees, Chairman Richie Lamb said.
"There are lots of different opinions now on how to look at this," he said. "We won't know how close we are or how far off we might actually be until we get serious about it and do a study."
In other business, the board voted 9-0 to forward to the City Council a proposal that would make the trails running through the Underwoods' property at Mount Sequoyah available to the public.
Park Planner Ken Eastin said staff has been working with Craig Underwood and his family on a use agreement for several trails on about 50 acres west of Sequoyah Woods. The public portion of the woods is nearly 100 acres.
Some of the trail also runs through the Cliff's Apartments property immediately south, but the use agreement would cover that as well. Some of the trails in the woods are not sustainable and cause damage to the natural area and need to be removed, Eastin said. Other existing trails need work, and a few new routes are proposed. The city will partner with Ozark Off-Road Cyclists on the trail work, he said.
A park zone near a bluff along a creek also will be designated with signs. Signs outlining acceptable behavior that instruct users to stay on the trails also will be placed.
The City Council will have to approve the agreement. Eastin said parks staff also is working on a possible agreement with the owner of another 80 acres immediately north.
Parkland dedication fees
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board recommended the following changes to the city’s parkland dedication fee structure:
Use $47,130 for land value.
Use occupancy rates of 2.31 for single-family developments and 2.02 for multifamily.
Use 10 acres of park land per 1,000 population.
Fee for single-family is $920. New fee would be $1,089, which is an increase of $169.
Fee for multifamily is $560. New fee would be $1,100, which is an increase of $392.
Source: Staff report
NW News on 02/05/2019