The impact fees in Erie for development have been discussed here before, and further comparative analysis shows Erie is unfortunately skewed to being way more expensive than most of its immediate neighbors. As local Erie businesses start analyzing the cost of expanding within the town, they will find, as attorney Jennifer McCallum did, that staying just doesn't make financial sense. (Thanks, JM for the detail!)
Erie Impact fees:
Office
Boulder $67,349
Broomfield $0
Dacono $0
Erie $71,810
Firestone $0
Frederick $14,809
Lafayette $5,450
Longmont $17,724
Louisville $17,000
Mid Size Retail
Boulder $119,444
Broomfield $0
Dacono $0
Erie $129,132
Firestone $0
Frederick $41,001
Lafayette $9,010
Longmont $67,514
Louisville $86,040
I have a lot more comparative data but creating a table in Blogger is like learning Mandarin Chinese. Suffice to say the single family home and supermarket-based retail, and other categories show Erie as a near last place choice if impact fees were the only factor.
They're not, but what is the critical mass at which the profitable tipping point is reached for development? Is the town hindering its options with such demonstrably higher fees?
The town does have a newer marketing focus on itself as a business development destination, it is "one of the hottest business prospects..." and "..most talked about exurbs in the western US."
I like the confidence. I'm interested to see if a tie between that confidence and self-imposed mechanisms to manifest that vision of that confidence. Does Erie have what it takes?
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Erie will have a hard time attracting small, service related businesses with this impact fee structure. But, then small, service related businesses, like insurance agencies, don't produce sales tax, so maybe Erie doesn't want those kinds of businesses.
And, mid size retail? Are you kidding - $129K as an impact fee?
I know they're reviewing these fees, let's hope they decide what they want and structure fees accordingly. Until then, the fees seem arbitrary and designed to scare businesses away. That may, in fact, been the intent if the fees were determined during the period of anti-growth sentiment on the Board of Trustees.
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