A contractor works on a new home off East New Road in Greenfield in this photo from Feb. 28, 2023. The city passed new parks and road impact fees last summer, which went into effect Jan. 31 to keep up with the impact of projected growth.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Greenfield’s first-ever road impact fees went into effect last week, which means builders and developers will now pay an extra fee to support the roads impacted by a growing population.
The impact fees went into effect Jan. 31, along with revised park impact fees after the city council approved the fees at its June 28 council meeting.
According to the road impact resolution, the fees were needed in order to “promote and accommodate orderly growth and development … by providing for an equitable program to fund the capital costs of new road infrastructure necessary to serve newly developing areas of the city.”
The fees are designed to the development’s proportionate share of the cost of capital costs of parks and new road infrastructure necessary to serve the new development.
In other words, builders and developers must help foot the bill for the impact their new homes, businesses or factories will make on the city.
Those costs, more than likely, will be passed on to home buyers.
Greenfield’s planning director, Joanie Fitzwater, said the fees only impact new development. Existing businesses and property owners won’t pay impact fees unless they redevelop their property.
The residential road impact fee is based on the average number of trips to and from a location projected within a 24-hour period, she said, while the commercial road impact fee is based on the average number of trips projected for the type of business being permitted.
Indiana cities are required to reassess their impact fees every five years, meaning the city will reassess its fees in 2028.
Greenfield officials started exploring the latest road impact fees in 2021.
At the time, city engineer Jason Koch shared that the fees would be assessed based on a calculation that takes into account “the stress and strain (a development) puts on our existing roads, so that we can make those future improvements to accommodate the residential, the commercial, the industrial that’s coming into town.”
Back in 2021, neighboring communities like Fishers and Westfield were imposing fees of about $200 to $300 per trip generated.
Greenfield’s new impact fees are now slated to increase gradually each year, from $204 in 2024 to $317 in 2033.
Park impact fees are also on the rise. The most recent update increases the fees charged for every new single-family dwelling building permit from $1,522 to $1,680.
Greenfield parks director Ellen Kuker said the fee is recalculated every five years by a complex formula which takes into account the current and projected population, the current and projected housing inventory, as well as the current and projected park amenities in order to predict the need for park services and amenities.
With the rate of inflation and the rate at which the city’s population is growing, the increased fees are meant to keep up with the demand for local parks services, which includes 10 city parks and over 16 miles of trails, among a number of other amenities like the city’s pool, splash pad, senior center and the Riley Home & Museum.
The parks department also hosts summer concerts at Depot Street Park and a number of other programs throughout the year.
Kuker said the city’s park impact fees can only be spent based on needs identified through the parks impact fee update process, which takes place every five years.
A consulting firm — Layman & Layman — determined last year that the areas of greatest need in Greenfield are park land, trails, playgrounds, park shelters and skate parks and bike parks, “so impact fees collected can only be spent on these items,” said Kuker.
