Indian Land Impact fees pass

Impact fees for sheriff, fire, EMS, and parks & recreation pass

July 22, 2021 | Wilson

Monday night’s County Council meeting officially adopted impact fees for sheriff, fire, EMS, and parks & recreation after more than four years of planning. The fees will go into effect starting October 1st, 2021.

These impact fees are charges on new developments/construction designed to offset the economic burden on county services with population growth in the area. The areas affected by the new fees are Pleasant Valley, Indian Land, and Van Wyck. The parks & recreation area expands to include the Greater Panhandle area which includes Riverside, Shiloh Zion, and Camp Creek.

During the three readings of the fees, the original impact fee schedule was tweaked slightly. The cost per single-family home will be $1,943 whereas an apartment will be $1,381 per unit. Here are the final numbers:

“While the impact fees will affect the Indian Land district more than others, they will also affect everyone in the county,” said Councilman Brian Carnes, who represents Indian Land. “The things that will be paid for by the impact fees are things county voters will not have to pay for overall. They will be paid by people buying new houses and new construction and new businesses moving in.”

The development impact fee study by TischlerBise was updated just last month. See the most recent impact fee results here.

Highlights from the study, by 2030:

• The Greater Panhandle population is expected to grow by 40,000 new residents

• We will add an average of 500 new jobs per year

• We will add 17,000 new houses

“This was a long time coming,” said Carnes. “But we finally got it passed.”

School Impact Fees

Important to note that these impact fees are different from the proposed school impact fees. Those fees have been through the planning commission who made a recommendation for a lesser amount than the study.

The Indian Land Action Council will have a public meeting tonight (7/22) at 7 p.m. to discuss school impact fees at 8341 Shelley Mullis Rd.