Impact fees could drop next month

Council wants more housing downtown

MICHAEL BURNHAM, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published December 12, 2001

"The whole purpose of going through these exercises is to diversify the population downtown." -- Mark Foutch, mayor pro tem

OLYMPIA -- Downtown development impact fees could be almost 46 percent lower next year and new housing and large office developments could be exempt from city parking requirements.

The policy changes could lead to more market-rate housing downtown, city planners said Tuesday night at City Hall.

The City Council will vote on the proposed changes Tuesday after public comment. The fee and code adjustments would go into effect Jan. 1.

City staff would use the policy changes next year to entice developers into building middle- and upper-income housing and parking structures along portions of two city-owned lots east of Columbia Street.

The reduced impact fees would save developers about $84,000 if they built a 50-unit housing structure along a downtown quarter-block.

"The whole purpose of going through these exercises is to diversify the population downtown," said Mayor Pro Tem Mark Foutch, following an hourlong staff presentation.

While a 2000 downtown housing study showed demand from well-heeled twentysomethings and empty-nesters who want to live downtown, the city is not attracting the influx of downtown housing development that other cities are experiencing.

City plans call for the development of about 15,000 new downtown housing units during the next 15 years.

Developers and council members alike point to the city's downtown fees and code regulations as barriers blocking Olympia's urban renaissance.

Impact fees are taxes on development that are used to pay for their proportionate share of growth. The fees are charged only for new construction or changes in building use, which create a need for street improvements, schools, parks and fire buildings.

"All of the reductions we're proposing this evening are based on specific, quantifiable data," said city planner Steve Friddle, who cited regional transportation and 2000 Census data.

For example, 2000 Census data show that downtown families are 31 percent smaller than those in other city sections. That means there would be fewer school-age children living downtown to attend schools.

Businesses must now pay higher impact fees if they change downtown locations, but city staff proposed Tuesday that the council eliminate the fee increase.

If businesses are able to move more freely throughout downtown, they will stay downtown, staff contended.

Impact fees would be about 12 percent lower for new downtown office buildings between about 100,000 and 300,000 square feet, according to the proposal.

Downtown now has a 22-block zone where businesses are not required to provide parking. Staff recommended expanding the parking-exempt zone to the entire downtown.

While existing buildings and new housing developments would not be required to provide parking, new office developments of 3,000 square feet and larger would.

Michael Burnham covers Olympia for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-704-6869.

On the Web:

- City of Olympia

The Olympian Copyright 2001

back to main Census 2000 index