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Builders press city to avoid new fees By Jessica Smith With more than 43 applications awaiting approval, Medford�s planning department is making no promises to developers hoping to avoid paying higher city fees. "We�ll do the very best we can to process these applications," said Rob Scott, city planning director. "That�s a tough challenge." Since the Medford City Council adopted a 120 percent increase to the street development fee charged to new development, builders have been pressing the city to accelerate its review of their projects. The increases go into effect Jan. 1 The fee increases have builders thinking about the financial health of their projects, says Bruce Abeloe, a Medford architect who designed an assisted living facility scheduled for the Site Plan and Architectural Commission�s review at a special meeting Nov. 30 Development fees will go up in January to $6,362 for a single-family home, about a 33 percent increase. The fees will be even steeper for apartments and commercial buildings and those costs may be a deal-breaker on some projects. "As we say in the trades, it may not pencil," Abeloe said. "If it doesn�t, there�s no reason to go ahead." The Medford City Council in September approved an increase in development fees that pays for street projects. Earlier in the year, the council adopted higher fees to pay for parks. But the council pushed back the date the street fee increase goes into effect to accommodate developers who had planned their projects under the existing fee structure. The council gave developers a four-month grace period, allowing developers who apply for building permits by Dec. 31 to avoid paying the higher fees. According to Jim Maize, senior planner, it�s unclear just how many of the current planning applications were submitted because of (We apologize that, due to a technical issue, this truncated version of the story is all that was available for the Internet.) Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.