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County balks at city's building fees By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune Under Medford's municipal code, the city has no choice but to ask Jackson County to pony up $664,000 in system development charges for its new Juvenile Service Center. Deputy County Administrator Dave Kanner said the city's estimate far exceeds the $226,000 budgeted by the county, and hopes to cut that number significantly. "The reality is that this is (Medford's) code," he said. "This is just part of the process of getting something built." To alter the city's recommendation, the county must conduct a traffic analysis and prove its juvenile center won't generate a high volume of traffic that, in turn, wears down nearby city-maintained streets. Kanner anticipates that the study will be complicated and costly. The unexpected roadblock could possibly delay progress on the $16.5 million project, which is scheduled to be finished in 2004. The project has been further delayed pending final approval by the federal government of an environmental assessment. "I would say this federal process moves at a snail's pace, but that would be an insult to snails everywhere," he added. However, Kanner said at this point crews are still expected to break ground this summer and begin building the Juvenile Service Center on 10th Street between King and Laurel streets. Before that can happen, the county and the city must come to an agreement. System development charges, or fees developers pay, are calculated based on future growth and infrastructure needs, said Cory Crebbin, Medford's director of public works. The city has categorized the county's juvenile facility as a government administration development. System development charges are higher in that category - the code assumes that all government administration buildings generate 55.1 daily vehicle trips per 1,000 square feet of the structure's size, regardless of the actual numbers. Kanner said that breaks down to more than 3,000 vehicle trips per day to and from the 50,405-square-foot juvenile center. There's just no way that the facility's 64 employees and a peak rush of 25 daily visitors could generate that kind of traffic, Kanner said. The building has only 111 parking spaces, he added. Medford's code allows the county to conduct a traffic study that could lower the charges or appeal the categorization of the juvenile center as a government administration building. Kanner said the county will conduct the study. To lower the fee, Kanner said the county must show that the actual traffic generated is at least 25 percent lower than the code assumes. "We don't work with a traffic engineer on a regular basis and we'll probably have to hire one," Kanner said. "I have no idea how much it's going to cost." Kanner said the traffic study requires traffic comparison of five different juvenile centers, similar to Jackson County's. Kanner said it will be difficult to find similarly sized facilities that offer the same services that Jackson County's center will feature. "Each of these facilities is so different," he added. "They're all different sizes and all have different numbers of employees." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.