A.
Authority and applicability (03/2004). This article is authorized
by New Hampshire RSA 674:21 I(m) as an innovative land use control.
The administration of this article shall be in compliance with RSA
674:21V(a. through i.). This article, as well as, regulations, studies
and methodologies adopted by the Planning Board consistent with and
in the furtherance of this article, shall govern the assessment of
impact fees imposed upon new development in order to meet the needs
occasioned by that development for the construction or improvements
of capital facilities owned or operated by the Town of Raymond or
the Raymond School District.
B.
The public facilities for which impact fees may be assessed in the
Town of Raymond may include:
(1)
Water treatment and distribution facilities.
(2)
Wastewater treatment and disposal facilities.
(3)
Sanitary sewer.
(4)
Stormwater.
(5)
Drainage and flood control facilities.
(6)
Public road systems and rights-of-way.
(7)
Public works equipment and facilities.
(8)
Municipal office structures, equipment and facilities.
(9)
Fire, ambulance, emergency management.
(10)
Police and dispatch equipment and facilities.
(11)
Public school facilities.
(12)
Solid waste collection.
(13)
Transfer, recycling, processing and disposal facilities.
(14)
Public library facilities.
(15)
Public recreation facilities not including public open space.
C.
Prior to assessing an impact fee for one or more of the public facilities
enumerated above, the Planning Board shall have adopted such studies
or methodologies and related fee schedules that provide for a process
or method of calculating the proportionate share of capital improvement
costs associated with the increased demand placed on capital facility
capacity by the new development. (03/2004).
D.
The regulations shall govern the assessment of impact fees for public
capital facilities in order to accommodate increased demand on the
capacity of these facilities due to new development. (03/2004)
E.
This article is intended to require new development to contribute
its proportionate share of funds necessary to accommodate its impact
on public facilities having a rational nexus to the proposed development,
and for which the need is attributable to the proposed development;
and implement the relevant portions of the Town of Raymond's Subdivision
Regulations and Site Review Regulations. (03/2004)
F.
Findings. In review of the impact of growth relative to the existing
and planned capital facility capacity available to the Town of Raymond
for its municipal and school needs, the Town of Raymond hereby finds
that:
(1)
New development in Raymond will create the need for the construction,
equipping, or expansion of public capital facilities in order to provide
adequate facilities and services for its residents. (03/2004)
(2)
Impact fees may be used to assess an equitable share of growth-related
cost of public facility capacity to new development in proportion
to the facility demands created by that development. (03/2004)
(3)
In the absence of impact fees, anticipated residential and nonresidential
growth and associated capital improvement costs could necessitate
an excessive expenditure of public funds in order to maintain adequate
facility standards and to promote and protect the health, safety,
and welfare. (03/2004)
(4)
As documented by the Master Plan and the Capital Improvements
Program of the Town of Raymond, recent and anticipated municipal growth
rates and associated improvements and costs would necessitate an excessive
expenditure of public funds in order to maintain adequate municipal
and school facility standards and to promote and protect the public
health, safety, and welfare.
(5)
The imposition of impact fees is one of the methods available
to ensure that public expenditures are not excessive and new development
will bear a proportionate share of the capital costs necessary to
accommodate such development.
(6)
The impact fee methodology adopted by the Raymond Planning Board,
and as amended represents a reasonable, rational and proportional
method for the assessment of growth-related facility costs to new
development.
(7)
An impact fee ordinance for public capital facilities is consistent
with the goals and objectives of the Master Plan and the Capital Improvements
Program of the Town of Raymond.
G.
FEE PAYER
NEW DEVELOPMENT
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
NEW RECREATION FACILITIES
PUBLIC CAPITAL FACILITIES
PUBLIC OPEN SPACE
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
The applicant for the issuance of a building permit which
could create new development.
Any activity which results in a net increase in the demand
for additional public capital facilities, as defined in this chapter:
(03/2004)
The creation of a new dwelling unit, except for the replacement
of existing units of the same size and density.
The expansion of a dwelling unit to create additional bedroom
area.
The net increase in the gross floor area of any nonresidential
building/structure or in the habitable portion of a residential building.
The conversion of an existing use to another use if such changes
creates a net increase in the demand on public capital facilities
that are subject to impact fee assessment methodologies adopted by
the Planning Board.
Land and facilities owned or operated by the Town of Raymond
or the Raymond School District, other than public open space, which
are designed for the conduct of recreational sports or other active
uses of an organized nature, and which include equipment or improvements
to the land to support indoor or outdoor public recreation programs
and activities.
Facilities and equipment owned, maintained, or operated by
the Town of Raymond as defined in the Capital Improvement Program
and which are listed in the adopted impact fee schedule. (03/2004)
An unimproved or minimally improved parcel of land or water
available to the public for passive recreational uses, such as walking,
sitting, or picnicking which does not include "public recreation facilities."
The Raymond School District.
H.
Imposition of impact fees. Impact fees shall be assessed to new development
to compensate the Town of Raymond and the Raymond School District
for the proportional share of capital facilities generated by new
development in the Town of Raymond, including municipal and public
school facilities to be constructed, or which were constructed in
anticipation of new development.
(1)
Any person who seeks a building permit for new development is
hereby required to pay a capital facility impact fee upon adoption
of this article in the manner set forth herein.
(2)
Public school facility impact fees may be waived, in the discretion of the Planning Board, for those units within an elderly housing development approved pursuant to the provisions of § 197-5.5K of this chapter, in which at least one occupant of the dwelling unit is required to be 55 years of age or older, and where such requirements are documented in restrictive covenants recorded in the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds. (03/2005)
(3)
A person may request, from the Planning Board, a full or partial
waiver of impact fees for any residential units or nonresidential
development that was approved for construction prior to the effective
date of this article.
I.
Computation of impact fees.
(1)
The amount of each impact fee shall be as set forth in the Impact
Fee Schedules prepared and updated in accordance with a report prepared
and adopted by the Planning Board for the purposes of impact fee assessment.
(2)
In case of the new development created by conversion or modification
of an existing use, the impact fee shall be based upon the net increase
in the impact fee assessed for the new use as compared to the highest
impact fee that was or would have been assessed for the previous use
in existence on or after the effective date of this article.
J.
Assessment and payment of impact fees. Assessment and payment of
impact fees shall be implemented pursuant to the provisions of RSA
674:21(V)(d), as amended. Pursuant to the provisions of RSA 674:21,
the Town of Raymond and the assessed party may establish an alternate
payment schedule, and the Town of Raymond may require that the future
payment of such fees be secured by bonds, letters of credit or other
forms of security which are acceptable to the Town of Raymond. (03/2005)
K.
Appeals. If a fee payer believes the Planning Board acted improperly
in imposing or calculating the impact fee, the action may be appealed
to the Superior Court as provided by RSA 677:15.
L.
Administration of funds collected.
(1)
All funds collected shall be properly identified and promptly
transferred for deposit into separate impact fee accounts for each
of the capital facility categories for which impact fees have been
assessed. This impact fee account shall be a nonlapsing special revenue
fund account, and under no circumstances shall such revenues accrue
to the General Fund.
(2)
The Town Treasurer shall record all fees paid, by date of payment
and the name of the person making payment, and shall maintain an updated
record of the current ownership Tax Map and lot reference number of
properties for which fees have been paid under this article, for each
building permit so affected for a period of at least six years from
the date of receipt of the impact fee payment associated with issuance
of each permit. (03/2004)
(3)
Impact fees collected may be spent from time to time by order
of the Board of Selectmen and shall be used solely for the reimbursement
of the Town and the School District for the cost of public capital
improvements for which they were collected, or to recoup the cost
of capital improvements made by the Town or District in anticipation
of the needs for which the impact fee was collected.
(4)
In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments have been,
or will be, issued by the Town or the District for the funding of
capacity-related facility improvements, impact fees may be transferred
to pay debt service on such bonds or similar debt instruments.
(5)
At the end of each fiscal year, the Town Treasurer shall make
a report to the Board of Selectmen, giving a particular account of
all impact fee transactions during the year.
M.
Refund of fees paid.
(1)
The current owner of record of property for which an impact
fee has been paid shall be entitled to a refund of that fee, plus
accrued interest, where:
(a)
The impact fee has not been encumbered or legally bound to be
spent for the purpose for which it was collected within a period of
six years from the date of the full and final payment of the fee;
or
(b)
The Town or, in the case of school facilities, the School District,
has failed, within the period of six years from the date of the full
and final payment of such fee, to appropriate any of the nonimpact
fee share of related capital improvement costs, thereby permitting
the capital improvement or capital improvement plan for which the
impact fee was collected to be commenced. If any capital improvement
or capital improvement program for which an impact fee is collected
has been commenced, either prior to or within six years from, the
date of final collection of an impact fee, that impact fee payment
shall be deemed to be encumbered and legally bound to be spent for
said capital improvement or capital improvement program and shall
not be refunded, even if it is not fully expended within the six-year
period.
(2)
The Board of Selectmen shall provide all owners of record who
are due a refund written notice of the amount due, including accrued
interest, if any, and shall promptly cause said refund to be made.
N.
Additional assessments. Payment of the impact fee under this article
does not restrict the Town or the Planning Board from requiring other
payments from the fee payer, including such payments relating to the
cost of the extensions of water and sewer mains or the construction
of roads or streets or other infrastructure and public capital facilities
specifically benefiting the development as required by the subdivision
or site plan review regulations, or as otherwise authorized by law.
O.
Premature and scattered development. Nothing in this article shall
be construed so as to limit the existing authority of the Planning
Board to deny new proposed development which is scattered or premature,
requires an excessive expenditure of public funds, or otherwise violates
the Town of Raymond Zoning Chapter or the Raymond Planning Board Site
Plan Review Regulations or Subdivision Regulations, or which may otherwise
be lawfully denied.
P.
Review. The Impact Fee Assessment Schedule shall be reviewed at least
once every five years by the Planning Board (3/2017), according to
the methodologies established within a report adopted by the Raymond
Planning Board, and as amended. Such review may result in recommended
adjustments in one or more of the fees based on the most recent data
as may be available including, but not limited to, current construction
cost information or capital improvement plans or programs, property
assessment data, demographic data, United States Census information,
and other sources. Based on its review, the Board may consider the
adoption of an updated or amended impact fee methodology, or may modify
the schedule to correct errors or inconsistencies identified in the
review process. No change in the methodology or in the impact fee
schedules shall become effective until it shall have been the subject
of a public hearing before the Planning Board, noticed in accordance
with RSA 675:7. (03/2016)
