HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Read Before Packet - 5/16/2017 - Memorandum From Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Chamber Of Commerce Re: Agenda Item #14 - Capital Expansion Fees And Electric Capacity FeeApril 16, 2017
Fort Collins City Council
300 LaPorte Ave.
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Dear Mayor Troxell, Mayor-Pro Tem Horak and Council Members Cunniff, Martinez, Overbeck,
Stephens and Summers;
The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce appreciates the additional time and energy that has been
invested in the evaluation of the Capital Expansion Fees and the Electric Capacity Fee. This additional
consideration has created a solution that, while still too large, is a much more viable option for
consideration.
We do want to remind the council that they have regularly stated, individually and as a body, that they
want to work to increase the attainability of a variety of housing options in our community. These fee
increases are in direct conflict to that goal. These fees will impact the cost of housing in Fort Collins,
in a very negative way.
In addition to the cost of housing, these fee increases will impact the ability of Fort Collins to attract
and expand primary employers. Several local employers have expressed to us extreme concern about
the increase in the fees and the impact that would make on future expansion in the community.
Business will choose to grow somewhere else.
While we remain concerned about the impact on housing costs and commercial expansion in our
community, we do appreciate the compromise option being presented to you on May 16. The CEF at
75% of proposed option, paired with the more reasonable Option B for transportation, results in
unfortunate but more moderate increases that can be more easily adopted by the community. It should
be noted that the Industrial/Warehouse increases are still extremely high at 58% and could impact our
ability to grow manufacturing and primary jobs in Fort Collins.
We are very supportive of Mayor Pro Tem Horak’s recommendation of creating a working group that
will consider future changes to the Capital Expansion Fees. This group should include a strong
business voice and should be directly involved in the analysis and creation of any changes suggested.
On a final note, current practice is that fees are assessed at the time of the building permit. This is too
late in the development process and results in unexpected increased costs for projects that could be in
the development review process for 12-24 months. We would prefer to see the fees set for the project
at a preliminary submittal, such as the PDP submittal.
Sincerely,
Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Ann Hutchison
Executive Vice President
cc: David May, Darin Atteberry, Mike Becksted, Tiana Smith
May 16, 2017
Agenda Item #14