Public opinion has been notably absent from the debate over increasing fees for developers as the Anne Arundel County Council grapples with proposed legislation.
At a recent public hearing, developers, Realtors, builders and business leaders mainly spoke out against the bill to raise impact fees, money a developer pays to fund road, school and public safety expansion to accommodate growth, by 400 percent to 700 percent.
“I was a little disappointed about the [residents?] turnout,” Council Chairwoman Cathy Vitale, R-District 5, said recently.
“But the citizenry is usually geared up for regular council meetings. We?ll likely see a
bigger turnout at our next meeting.”
That meeting is 7 tonight at the Arundel Center, 44 Calvert St., Annapolis, and proponents and opponents of impact fees say
public comment will be noticeable.
One reason for the lack of public opinion is the complexity of the issue. The fee debate has gone in different directions, from questionable data on impact fees to the proposal of connecting fees to school capacity charts, resulting in many people possibly avoiding the issue.
“Most of us live Pavlovian lifestyles that we don?t have the time to weigh the issue,” said Tim Reyburn, president of the West County Federation.
“But that decision will have a long-term impact on our lifestyles.”
Those such as Reyburn who support increased fees say developers aren?t paying the real
cost of expanding roads and schools.
Though the proposal has been public for more than a month, the complexity of the issue also has delayed efforts to educate the public, officials said.
Growth Action Network, a smart-growth advocacy group, is working to create such a forum, though many of its members support higher impact fees.
The public may not understand impact fees, officials say. Though they are levied on developers, the Home Builders Association has said any increase in fees would be passed on to homeowners, which opponents to fee increases say could affect
anyone buying a house in the county.
“If it was a $40,000 increase in your taxes, you?d have more people coming out,” said John Pantelides, director of the Alliance for Fair Land Use, a group opposed to impact fees.
