Developer may get a break on fees

He hopes a move by the Crystal River City Council helps him avoid paying more than $40,000 in expansion fees.

By ALEX LEARY

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 12, 2001

CRYSTAL RIVER -- The developer of an assisted living facility near City Hall has moved a step closer in his quest for relief from more than $40,000 in water and sewer expansion fees.

The City Council opened the door for Bruce Mott this week when it voted down a proposed ordinance requiring proof that the assessments were paid in the past before such credit is given.

The unanimous decision followed a lengthy discussion Monday night during which City Attorney Clark Stillwell cautioned that granting credits for fees that may not have been paid would hurt taxpayers in the long run.

Because some of its records were damaged in a 1993 flood, the city doesn't have a complete list of who has paid the fees. Also, it appears that some people were never assessed impact fees.

Mott, one of the developers of Cedar Creek assisted living facility, said he is entitled to credit for fees based on 23 ERUs -- equivalent residential units -- assessed to the previous landowner. However, no one is sure whether the previous owner paid the fees. The assisted living center has been assigned 27 ERUs, meaning that if Mott prevails, he would pay impact fees based on only four units, or $7,280. An additional 23 units would require nearly $42,000 in fees on top of that.

"I just want to pay with what I feel I fairly owe," Mott said.

"Whatever circumstances existed in the past are irrelevant," he said. "If the original property owner hadn't done what is required by the city, the water would not have been turned on."

ERUs, which are used to calculate expansion fees and monthly user charges, have been assigned to businesses since the early 1980s. For example, a hospital is assigned one ERU for every three beds.

Current expansion fees are $1,400 for sewer and $420 for water for each ERU. The money is put into a fund, which currently contains $462,000, that will go toward infrastructure expansions when needed.

Because the city has a limited amount of undeveloped commercial land available, the impact fee issue stands to intensify as property changes hands or is redeveloped.

On one hand, developers could be deterred from taking over a property if they think they will have to pay large impact fees. On the other hand, if the city grants credits for impact fees that were never paid, it could be hurting its ability to pay for improvements.

Stillwell, who has pointed out that there is no proof that Mott's predecessor, who operated a trailer park, ever paid the expansion fees, said allowing one business relief could prompt others redeveloping land to seek the same kind of treatment.

And that would be fine if they have proof of payment, Stillwell's ordinance states. "The fact of the matter is (that) some people have been charged and some have not," Stillwell said. "The question I have is: Are we going to set some precedent that bites us on the butt?"

Not only could the city lose out on future impact fees, Stillwell said, but business owners whopaid the fees when they expanded or redeveloped their land could ask for their money back.

Combined, these scenarios could leave the city short of the funds it will need years from now when the sewer and water systems need to be expanded.

Council member Bonnie Taylor said she basically agrees with the points Stillwell has made, but she thinks Mott should be given relief because shethinks he was given assurances when he first approached the council in early October.

"I do not feel it's fair to give someone something and then snatch it back at the next meeting," Taylor said. "We need to cut this off at the knees and not do this again."

During that October meeting, Mott built a case for receiving the relief. He noted that Cedar Creek had contributed to the United Way and the annual July 4 fireworks show. Once open, the company will create 35 new jobs.

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