[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Wells 4-27-2007.
Amendments noted where applicable.[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: The provisions of former Ch. 174, Residential
Growth Management, adopted 3-7-1986, as amended 11-2-1993, expired 6-20-2003.
For current provisions on residential growth management, see Ch. 175, Residential
Growth Management.
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Impact Fee Ordinance of
the Town of Wells, Maine," and will be referred to as "this chapter."
This chapter is adopted pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4354 and
pursuant to the Town of Wells' home rule authority as provided in Article
VIII-A of the Maine Constitution and Maine statute.
The Town of Wells finds that new development places demands on municipal
government to provide new services and expand and improve public facilities.
In order to provide an equitable source of funding for these new services
and facilities, the Town of Wells has established a capital improvement program
which charges a proportionate share of the costs of facilities improvements
to those who are creating the demand for these improvements.
A.
Impact fees may only be used for financing infrastructure
improvements needed due to demand caused by new development.
B.
The following costs may be included in determining the
capital cost of infrastructure improvements:
(1)
Acquisition of land or easements including conservation
easements;
(2)
Engineering, surveying, architectural, and environmental
assessment services directly related to the design, construction and oversight
of the construction of the improvements;
(3)
Mitigation costs;
(4)
Legal and administrative costs associated with the improvements,
including any borrowing necessary to finance the project;
(5)
Debt service costs, including interest if the Town borrows
for the acquisition of the improvements; and
(6)
Similar costs that are directly related to the improvements.
C.
Funds collected as impact fees shall be expended only
for the infrastructure improvement for which the fee was collected.
D.
Impact fees may not be used for any of the following:
(1)
Operations and maintenance costs, such as, but not limited
to, paying salaries, day-to-day operational costs, or replacement of existing
equipment;
(2)
The cost to improve facilities to meet existing deficiencies,
such as, but not limited to, relieving existing congestion or overcrowding;
or
(3)
The cost to construct or improve facilities that are
not needed to serve new development or which do not benefit new development.
There must be a reasonable connection between the need for additional facilities
and growth due to new development and between spending the fees collected
and benefits received by the development paying the fee.
A.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall require the applicant
for a building permit to pay an impact fee as specified in the fee schedule
determined by the Board of Selectmen. The impact fee shall be paid prior to
the issuance of a building permit and shall be paid separately from, and in
addition to, any other fees required by this chapter. The impact fee shall
be payable to the Town of Wells, care of the Office of Planning and Development.
B.
The Board of Selectmen shall establish the initial impact
fee schedule and shall review and revise the impact fee schedule annually
and as necessary to reflect changes in planned improvements, current budget
levels, and compliance with the Town of Wells Comprehensive Plan and the Town's
Capital Improvement Program. Prior to the establishment or revision of the
impact fee schedule, the Board of Selectmen shall hold a public hearing on
the proposed fee schedule. Notice of the public hearing shall be published
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town no less than seven days
prior to the public hearing.
C.
The impact fee schedule shall indicate the improvements
to be financed; the anticipated schedule for construction; and the characteristic
of new development by which the fee shall be calculated such as, but not limited
to:
D.
The amount of the fee shall be reasonably related to
the development's share of the cost of the facilities improvements made
necessary by the development or, if the improvements were previously constructed
at municipal expense prior to the development, the fee must be reasonably
related to the portion or percentage of the improvement used by the development.
A.
The Board of Selectmen may, by formal vote following
a public hearing, reduce or eliminate the payment of a required impact fee
if it finds:
(1)
The developer or property owner who would otherwise be
responsible for the payment of the impact fee voluntarily agrees to construct
the improvement for which the impact fee would be collected or an equivalent
improvement approved by the Board of Selectmen; or
(2)
The developer or property owner 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.
A.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall record the name of
the individual paying the impact fee, the Tax Assessor's map and lot
numbers for the property for which the impact fee is being paid, the amount
of the fee paid for each facility for which fees are collected, and the date
the impact fee was paid.
B.
Upon collection of an impact fee, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall transfer the funds to the Town Treasurer who shall deposit the
impact fees in special non-lapsing accounts dedicated for funding the improvements
for which the fee is collected.
C.
Impact fee funds shall be maintained separately from
and shall not be combined with other municipal revenues.
A.
Impact fees shall be refunded in the following cases:
(1)
If an approval or permit lapses or expires, the permit
holder or developer shall be entitled to a refund, without interest, of any
impact fee paid in conjunction with that approval or permit. A request for
a refund shall be made in writing to the Office of Planning and Development
and shall occur within 90 days of the lapse of the approval or the expiration
of the permit. After 90 days, no request for a refund of the impact fee shall
be permitted.
(2)
Any impact fees collected that exceed the Town's
actual costs or that were not expended or obligated by contract within 10
years of the date they were collected, shall be returned to the current record
owner of the property for which the fee was paid.
This chapter shall become effective upon its adoption by the Town.
