[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Lawrence
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 267.
[Adopted 4-23-2007]
The Town Board of the Town of Lawrence has the specific authority
under §§ 60.22 and 60.61, Wis. Stats., and the general
authority under its village powers to adopt this article.
When land is developed for residential or other purposes, it
often creates a need for additional transportation, water, sewerage,
and stormwater facilities, as well as parks and recreational facilities
and other public facilities. Without the generation of new revenue
sources, municipalities often must choose between foregoing needed
public facilities or imposing higher property taxes. The imposition
of impact fees has become an increasingly important source of local
revenue to pay for public facilities, The State Legislature has adopted
an Impact Fee Law which helps communities raise funds to pay for new
development and maintain current levels of service. Pursuant to the
authority granted to the Town of Lawrence by § 66.0617,
Wis. Stats., the Town Board hereby enacts this article to enable it
to impose park system and water system impact fees to pay for park
system and water system capital costs that are necessary to accommodate
land development and to maintain current levels of service to those
developing areas of the Town of Lawrence.
In accordance with § 66.0617(4), Wis. Stats., the
Town of Lawrence has prepared a public facilities needs assessment
for the Town of Lawrence park and recreational system and water system.
Copies of these assessments, titled "Public Facilities Needs Assessment
for the Park and Recreational System" and "Public Facilities Needs
Assessment for the Water System," are on file and available for public
inspection and copying in the office of the Town Clerk/Treasurer.
The definitions set forth in § 66.0617(1), Wis. Stats.,
and any amendments thereto are hereby incorporated and made a part
of this article as if fully set forth herein.
The following impact fees are hereby established and imposed
by the Town of Lawrence upon a developer or property owner in accordance
with this article and § 66.0617, Wis. Stats.:
Impact fees imposed under this article:
A.
Shall bear a rational relationship to the need for new, expanded
or improved public facilities that are required to serve land development.
B.
May not exceed the proportionate share of the capital costs that
are required to serve land development, as compared to existing uses
of land within the Town of Lawrence.
C.
Shall be based upon actual capital costs or reasonable estimates
of capital costs for new, expanded or improved public facilities.
D.
Shall be reduced to compensate for other capital costs imposed by
the Town of Lawrence with respect to land development to provide or
pay for public facilities, including special assessments, special
charges, or any other items of value.
E.
Shall be reduced to compensate for moneys received from the federal
or state government specifically to provide or pay for the public
facilities for which the impact fees are imposed.
F.
May not include amounts necessary to address existing deficiencies
in public facilities.
Impact fees shall be payable by the developer or property owner
to the Town Clerk/Treasurer in full upon the issuance of a building
permit. Impact fees shall be presumed to be payable by the owner of
record at the time the building permit is requested.
A.
Park and recreational system impact fees shall be $700 for each single-family
residential building and $600 for each residential unit in a two-family
or multiple-family building.
B.
Water system impact fees shall be $475 for each single-family residential
building or each residential unit in a two-family or multiple-family
building. Impact fees for commercial and industrial properties will
be based on the water meter size.
A.
Revenues from each impact fee that is imposed shall be placed in a separate segregated interest-bearing account and shall be accounted for separately from the other funds of the Town. Impact fee revenues and interest earned on impact fee revenues may be used solely for the purpose of paying for the particular capital costs for which the impact fee was imposed, unless the fee is refunded under Subsection B hereof. These costs may include the costs of debt service on bonds or similar debt instruments when the debt has been incurred for the purpose of proceeding with designated public facilities projects prior to the collection of all anticipated impact fees for that project.
The fee schedule set forth in § 168-8 above will be reviewed by the Town Board annually and modified, if necessary, as a result of changing park system and water system facility needs, inflation, revised cost estimates, capital improvements, changes in other funding sources applicable to park and recreational system and water system public facilities projects, and other relevant factors in accordance with the standards for impact fees set forth in § 168-6 hereof.
A developer or property owner upon whom an impact fee is imposed
under this article may appeal the amount, collection or use of the
impact fee to the Town Board within 30 days from the date the fee
is due and payable. The appeal shall be in writing and shall specify
the basis or the grounds upon which the appeal is taken. The Town
Board shall provide a hearing on the appeal within 45 days of the
receipt of the appeal. The Town shall serve the appellant with notice
of such hearing by mail or personal service at least 10 days before
such hearing. The burden shall be on the appellant to establish the
illegality or impropriety of the fee from which the appeal is taken.
Within 14 days after the hearing, the Town shall render a written
determination stating the reasons therefor. The written determination
shall be a final determination and mailed or delivered to the appellant.
