Building a new home or starting a business will be a little more expensive in Bonney Lake.
The City Council approved a traffic impact fee increase Aug. 22 with a unanimous vote of the members present.
Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman, council members Mark Hamilton, David Bowen and Phil DeLeo all voted yes.
Excused from the meeting were council members Jim Rackley, Dave King and Cheryle Noble.
The fee increase was part of the update of the comprehensive plan amendments package that the full council had been working on since 2005 and had passed out of the Aug. 15 workshop.
The fee for a single family residence being built is $4,043, increased from $2,701.
Apartment buildings will be charged $2,482 per unit.
Business will be assessed by the type of business and how many trips are generated during peak time, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Peak trips are the basic measuring tool the city uses to assess traffic impact fees.
A single-family residence is calculated to use 1.01 peak trips per day, while an apartment comes in at .62.
Business impact fees range from a fast-food restaurant with drive through at $69,330. Peak trip calculation is 17.32.
A video rental store is listed at 7.21 peak trips with a $28,853 traffic impact fee levied.
A home improvement store gets 1.27 peak trips and the traffic impact fee is $5,100.
Traffic impact fees were not levied in Bonney Lake until 2003.
According to Public Works Director Dan Grigsby, the fees are increasing, “because we're growing so quickly. We've gone to a 20-year plan and identified more projects.”
Grigsby said the fees pay for only 30 to 40 percent of the new roads needed to accommodate growth in the city; the balance comes from other taxes, grants and loans.
Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.
