Letter: Developers should pay infrastructure fees

Graphic by Lori Deaton

I hope that city leaders are also levying infrastructure fees on all past and future developers/landlords to pay for upgrades to city systems that are already stressed by all the new arrivals to our area. Items such as roads and traffic controls (timed traffic crossings come to mind), parking, electrical grid, sewer system, wastewater treatment, landfill, freshwater system, policing, fire and rescue, emergency room capabilities.

An associate of mine (an ex-Asheville resident) has worked extensively as a builder and architect in Orange County, Calif., and said that there, developers post bonds and pay infrastructure fees that stretch 20 years into the future.

All I read about is how many tax breaks developers in AVL have been granted by the city.

— Arthur Treff
Asheville

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5 thoughts on “Letter: Developers should pay infrastructure fees

  1. kw

    Arthur, you’re right that these jokers aren’t paying their share. They’re even being rewarded for destroying community.
    Greedy developers and complicit politicians gamed the system to place an urban forest next to Richmond Hill Park into an Opportunity Zone (created by Trump 2016 Tax codes to favor unscrupulous humans who are not part of our community). Opportunity Zones are for distressed areas, which Richmond Hill is *not*, or wasn’t until that parcel of land was grabbed by Woodfin.

    Woodfin stands to gain about 1.5 million in tax dollars, but many are concerned about short-sightedness (in addition to many other concerns for the river and traffic, etc). Tax payers will most assuredly get stuck for infrastructure, maintaining a bridge, and policing thousands of renters…

  2. WNC

    In Orange County the average home cost between $900,000 and $1,000,000.
    An apartment of about 900sq/ft cost between $$2,300-$2,400 per month.
    Thanks for suggestions.

  3. Enlightened Enigma

    tax breaks for affordable housing which is what everyone screams about …

  4. eastside_guy

    they do, it’s called property tax. Almost all of us live in a house built by a developer, even if it was 60 years ago. I’m not for unrestricted development, but it’s up to the city/county to use the increased tax revenue to build infrastructure or not approve projects because the lack of infrastructure.

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