Builders and subdividers beginning construction in Oak Harbor will now have to pay more than double and triple in park impact fees, the city council decided Tuesday night.

Council members voted 4-2 in favor of accepting an ordinance that will increase the impact fees from $669 to $1,673 for a single family residence lot and from $431 to $1,344 for a multi-family unit. Each sum is a combination of community and neighborhood park impact fees.

At the request of the council in September, city staff drafted the ordinance after conducting a study to determine an updated impact fee adequately reflecting the rising cost in land and construction. The study indicated that the approximately seven acres of neighborhood parks and 19 acres of community parks are needed to serve the additional 5,000 people that will be living in Oak Harbor over the next decade.

With the land value at approximately $100,000 an acre, the results of the studies suggested the impact fee could be increased to $2,678 for a single family residential unit and $2,257 for a multi-family unit.

The approved increase in fees was a midpoint between the current impact fees collected — $669 for a single family unit and $431 for a multi-family lot — and the study’s findings.

The new impact fees will be an interim charge, as the city will undertake a major update to the Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Plan in 2007.

“The long and the short of it is that it’s highly possible that the new study will reveal a different park impact fee,” said Mike Powers, director of development services.

He said they reviewed the model that was used to calculate the impact fees adopted in 1996. The fees have not been increased since the city council authorized the collection 10 years ago.

“It’s important for me to stress that we did not change that model,” Powers said.

Park impact fees collected by other communities were included in the study. In a pool of nine neighboring communities, including Coupeville, Mount Vernon, Burlington, Mukilteo, and La Conner, Oak Harbor will now have the fourth highest park impact fees.

“It’s difficult to draw an apples-to-apples comparison with this information, and frankly I would caution you not to do that,” he said. “We don’t know when we just look at the fund what they’re trying to fund.”

During the study, the city sent out 50 surveys, asking the development community for feedback on how long it would take the respective builder or company to adapt to an increase in the park impact fee, and if a gradual yearly increase for five years or a static fee for a period of five years and then a significant increase would be preferable.

“We received four responses,” Powers said. “Three of those indicated they prefer a gradual increase as opposed to a flat fee and seeing an increase every five years. And all of them indicated that they felt they could either absorb an increase in three to six months, or that increase did not matter to them.”

The survey did not generate an overwhelming response, the development services director said.

Council member Jim Campbell asked if the funds generated by the impact fees could be used exclusively for a single park project. The money can only fund a proportionate share, Powers replied.

“We don’t use impact fees to fund 100 percent of any particular project …” he said. “I think we need to make sure we have a mix of other funds in that project.”

Senior housing and affordable housing in general has been a growing concern for the city. Given the four years of focusing on economic development, council member Sheilah Crider cautioned the council to consider negative impacts before making a final decision.

“We struggle with affordable housing now,” Crider said. “Before we determine that everything is a go on anything, there needs to be a balance with everything we do.”

Steve Waldron, president of Waldron Construction in Oak Harbor, said the fee hike did not come as a surprise. He said the council has been proactive in informing contractors about possible changes, especially changes of the financial ilk. He added that construction costs have gone up across the board, whether it be steel or fuel.

“I’ve had to pass those costs on,” he said. “It all adds up. The impact fees are just one more thing.”

Waldron estimated that his company sees 90 percent of its work done in the city. The construction firm is currently building a total of 72 condominium units — six, 12-plexes — on SW Mulberry Place off of Fort Nugent Road. An approximately 1,000 square foot unit starts at $172,500. The company president said the project will provide more affordable housing within the city, which, as Crider said, has been an issue in Oak Harbor.

“My big thing in this town is the lack of affordable housing,” Waldron said. “We’re having so much growth. We’re trying to provide that.”

Council member Sue Karahalios called attention to the drastic increase in the impact fees, adding that she did not want to reach the $2,600 estimate in the near future.

“I have concerns when three of them are doubling and four of them are tripling,” she said of the impact fees broken down into community and neighborhood parks. “That’s a big impact difference.”

Karahalios and Crider were the two dissenting votes in the vote.

Council member Paul Brewer strongly supported the interim impact fees as a means of accommodating city growth and amenities needs.

“As the population grows by leaps and bounds, we need more parks,” he said.

He later asked Powers if the city could afford to build another Fort Nugent Park in five years if the impact fees were left at the current levels. Since impact fees are only a portion of the funding used, Powers could not speculate on what other funding sources the council would make available to pay for a park in the future. He did, however, say that current fees would not be enough to fund the proportionate share of a project.

“It’s not adequate today,” Powers said.

Council member Eric Gerber said more important are the housing prices, not the impact fees.

“That’s what people moving here are going to be looking at, the bottom line of the house, not necessarily the cost of the impact fee,” he said.

Gerber said contractors have been given a break over the years because the impact fees have remained static. He proposed increasing the fees to $2,000 for a single-family residence.

Only applications for new construction will be imposed the park impact fees. Annexed properties will not be included.

“Building permits only,” said Mayor Patty Cohen.

Development services is posting signs on the service counters informing the public about the new interim fees, as well as mailing letters to builders with projects in the pipeline.

The full ordinance will be published in the legals section of the News-Times on Wednesday. The fees will be effective five days after publication.