Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Time To Lock In Reasonable Development Fees

Item 6 on tonight's Oro Valley concerns raising developer impact fees for town infrastructure items like parks, police, library, transportation and general government.

Developers have been getting a free ride for years. Now its time to raise the fees to levels that reflect the reality: Growth causes an enormous impact on the needs for infrastructure in Oro Valley. Its time for growth to pay for growth.

Needless to say, the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) isn't happy with this. They're even threatening to sue the town if higher rates are approved.

Sorry, SAHBA. It's not business as usual any more in Oro Valley. Our town council is not going roll over for you. If you don't like what we do, you are welcome to waste your money to sue us and when we're done with you, maybe we should counter sue you for our costs. Also, SAHBA, be good to recognized who approves what gets built where, what the code is and even occupancy permits. Why it's us: The Town.

In the long run, save us all headaches. Suck it up. Add the fees to the cost of what you're building and pass it on to the buyer. Like you always do.

Click here to read an Explorer preview article.

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