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Builders may see higher charges

The county will consider increasing some service fees that developers pay. The Planning Department says project reviews have grown more complex.

By DAN DEWITT
Published August 20, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Developers and builders will have to pay more for inspections and reviews of plans if the County Commission approves a series of proposed rate increases at its meeting Tuesday.

The increases are needed because requests for these services continue to pour into county offices, said County Engineer Charles Mixson. Also, reviewing each project has grown more complicated as the county has added regulations in recent years.

The county started requiring traffic studies for all proposed subdivisions about two years ago, Mixson said. Starting Oct. 1, his staff will also begin conducting final drainage inspections for all newly competed houses.

"Growth needs to be paying for itself, and this is just one more avenue to make sure that happens," Mixson said.

Most builders accept that argument, said Tim Stoops, president of the Hernando Builders Association.

"They are probably justified," Stoops said of the increases, adding that the county consulted with his organization as the new fee schedule was developed.

But the increases have come at a time when other expenses - such as the continued high price of labor and the soaring cost of homeowners insurance - are making it more difficult to build and sell homes, he said. Stoops also questioned how the county can say it faces more review costs at a time when home sales have dropped significantly.

"It doesn't seem to be a booming market," Stoops said. "Their timing could have been a little better."

The increases do not apply to the inspections performed by the Development Department, which raised its fees about three years ago, just before the height of the recent building boom, said department director Grant Tolbert.

"Our timing was exquisite by accident," Tolbert said. "We're doing fairly well right now."

Though the county's Planning Department raised prices for some services last year, it has not imposed an across-the-board increase since 2000, said planning director Ron Pianta. The proposed increases to be considered Tuesday are not intended to raise revenue for the department, he said, just to cover the costs of services and to bring the county in line with similar-size counties.

"It's an equity issue," Pianta said.

Still, the fees could add thousands of dollars to the cost of some projects.

For example, developers must now pay $250 for a standard rezoning and $2 for every lot; that will climb to $500 and $10 per lot if the county approves the proposed increases. Fees will also climb for other stages of the development process, such as the review of projects' initial and final plans.

Some engineering fees will climb more dramatically than the Planning Department's. The cost of inspecting a driveway and its drainage areas, for example, will go from $20 to $200, plus $50 per acre.

Mixson is also asking for new fees for services - such as reviewing rezonings - that are currently free to developers.

Though new housing starts have dropped, Mixson and Tolbert said, their inspectors are still busy with ongoing residential construction. Also, the county is seeing more commercial development to serve the thousands of new residents.

"With all these new rooftops, commercial is beating down the door," Tolbert said.

That trend may not continue if the cost of doing business keeps climbing, said Gary Schraut, a Brooksville developer and real estate broker.

The new regulations that have added to the expense of reviewing projects have also caused construction costs to increase, Schraut said.

"It's becoming overly burdensome," he said. "If the goal is to stop development, stop growth, stop all business, then we can just keep raising the fees."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6116.

[Last modified August 19, 2006, 21:07:51]