Article XII. Impact Fees

§170-114 Authority.

This article is adopted pursuant to home rule powers as provided for in Article VIII, Part 2, Section 1, of the Maine Constitution and 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3001 and 4354.

§170-115 Short title.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Recreational and Pedestrian Access Facilities and Open Space Impact Fee Ordinance of the Town of Boothbay Harbor, Maine" and will be referred to herein as "this article."

§170-116 Purpose.

The general purposes of this article are to maintain the Town's financial capacity to provide adequate public facilities to meet the additional needs for recreation, pedestrian access and open space created by future year-round and seasonal residents and visitors to the east side of Boothbay Harbor and to protect and enhance existing and future working waterfront facilities within the Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use District. Further, this article establishes a fair and equitable process by which to ensure that new residential and commercial development in the district will be accomplished in a safe and healthful manner and that such development will bear a proportional or reasonably related share of the cost of new, expanded or modified recreational and pedestrian infrastructure and open space necessary to service such development through the payment of impact fees that shall be dedicated to paying for the needed improvements.

§170-117 Applicability.

New residential structures:
This article shall apply to the issuance of any building permit for a new common wall residential structure within the Atlantic Avenue Mixed Maritime/Water Dependent District.
This article shall not apply to the issuance of a building permit for the repair, replacement or reconstruction of a residential structure that was unintentionally damaged or destroyed by fire, flood or other natural disaster, provided that the number of dwelling units is not increased.
This article shall apply to the issuance of a building permit for the replacement or reconstruction of a residential structure that was intentionally demolished if such replacement or reconstruction results in a new common wall residential structure.

Non-residential structures. This article shall apply to the issuance of a building permit for a new or substantially renovated nonresidential, non-maritime structure and associated facilities that exceed 3,000 1,000 square feet in gross floor area.

No building permit shall be granted for any construction activity described herein that requires payment of an impact fee under this article until the impact fees hereby required have been paid.

§170-118 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

Common Wall Residential Structure. A type of residential building in which a wall separates two units in a condominium, duplex, or other multi-unit property.

Developer. A person who has received an approval for construction under either Article V Site Plan Review or Article IX Subdivision Review or a person who has otherwise applied for a building permit for any activity described herein.

Gross Floor Area. Includes the entire floor area of each floor measured from the outside of exterior walls, and shall include all interior partitions and spaces whether finished or not, but shall exclude basements, garages intended for the storage of automobiles, unheated porches and any portion of a room or attic with sloping ceilings measuring less than five feet from floor to ceiling.

Impact Fees. Charges or assessments imposed by the Town of Boothbay Harbor against structures described in §170-117 to help with the acquisition and development of recreation lands and facilities and for the acquisition and preservation of open space for the future use and enjoyment of the Town's year-round and seasonal residents and visitors.

Pedestrian Facilities. Includes sidewalks and pedestrian paths open to the public.

§170-119 Collection of fees.

The Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) shall collect the impact fee prior to the issuance of any building permit for residential construction that is subject to the fee. The amount of the fee shall be based upon the procedure set out in §170-24 below.

§170-120 Impact fee account.

All impact fees collected under the provisions of this article shall be segregated from the Town's general fund revenue and be accounted for in a separate impact fee account.

§170-121 Use of impact fees.

Impact fees collected under the provisions of this article shall only be used to pay for site acquisition and capital improvements for the creation or expansion of recreational facilities, for the acquisition and related improvements of open space, and the creation of pedestrian facilities within the Atlantic Avenue Mixed Maritime/Water Dependent District, or to enhance harbor access for boaters and pedestrians from the Pedestrian Footbridge or to protect and enhance existing and future working waterfront facilities. No portion of the fee shall be used for routine maintenance or operation activities.

The following costs are examples of, but are not intended to limit, capital improvements:
Acquisition of land or easements, including conservation easements and development rights.
Engineering, surveying and environmental assessment services directly related to the acquisition, design, construction and continued upgrading of the improvement.

The actual construction of the improvement, including, without limitation, demolition costs, clearing and grading of land, and necessary capital equipment dedicated to the site.
Mitigation costs.
Legal and administrative costs associated with construction of the improvement, including any borrowing necessary to finance the project.
Debt service costs, including interest if the Town borrows for the acquisition or construction of the improvement.
Relocation                                                                                                                                       costs. (8) Matching funds for grants awarded by regional, state or federal agencies or non-profit entities
for activities described in §170-21.A.
(9) Similar costs that are directly related to the improvement project.

§170-122 Refunds.

If a building permit or other relevant permit is surrendered or expires without commencement of construction, the developer shall be entitled to a refund, without interest, of the impact fee paid as a condition of its issuance. A request for a refund shall be made in writing to the CEO and shall occur within 90 days of the expiration of the permit.

If the funds collected annually are not expended or obligated by contract for their intended purpose by the end of the calendar quarter immediately following 10 years from the date the fee was paid, the prorated share of the funds shall be returned to the current owner of the property for which the fee was paid, provided that a request is made in writing to the CEO within 180 days of the expiration of the ten-year period.

§170-123 Waiver of impact fee.

The Board of Selectmen may, by formal vote following a public hearing, waive the payment of a required impact fee, in whole or in part, if it finds that:

The developer or property owner who would otherwise be responsible for the payment of the impact fee voluntarily agrees to construct an improvement for which the impact fee would be collected or an equivalent improvement approved by the Board of Selectmen.

The developer of a subdivision offers to dedicate and/or improve public lands or recreational amenities and the Board of Selectmen finds these public lands or recreational amenities to be of Town-wide benefit.

§170-124 Calculation of fee.

The recreational and pedestrian facilities and open space impact fee shall 5% of construction costs of the structures and associated facilities described in §170-117. The total amount of the impact fee due for each project shall be determined by the developer, subject to the approval of the CEO, using the impact fee calculation worksheet provided by the CEO. The Board of Selectmen may vote pursuant to a public hearing to incur one of more of the costs identified in §170-121, including construction of a sidewalk on the westerly side of Atlantic Avenue, before sufficient impact fees have been paid into the impact fee account, in which case the town shall be reimbursed for such costs as impact fees are subsequently collected.

§170-125 Effect on other regulations.

Should any section, phrase, sentence or portion of this article be found to be in conflict with other local, state or federal ordinances or regulations, the more stringent section or provision shall prevail. Existing provisions for building permit fees are to be held separate from the impact fees described herein and are not affected by this article.

§170-126 Periodic review; amendments.

The Board of Selectmen shall periodically review each impact fee established under this article. If the Board finds that the anticipated cost of the improvement has changed or that the identification of development subject to the fee is no longer appropriate, the Board may adopt changes to the impact fee. Any changes adopted as a result of such review shall apply to all future development but shall not apply retroactively to projects that have already paid an impact fee. A public hearing shall be held prior to the adoption of any amendment. Notice of such public hearing shall be in accordance with state and local requirements.

§170-127 Appeals.

A developer may appeal the determination of the CEO as to either the applicability of the impact fee to  a particular project or the amount of the fee to be paid. Appeals shall be made in writing to the CEO within 10 days of the CEO's initial determination of the amount of the impact fee due for a particular residential structure. The Board of Appeals shall consider such appeal at its next regularly scheduled meeting and shall issue a determination either upholding the CEO's decision or modifying the CEO's decision within seven days of the date of the hearing at which the appeal was heard.