St. Lucie County officials are hoping to avoid litigation with the city of Port St. Lucie over a new plan to impose developer fees to offset the transportation effects of regional growth.
The City Council voted to adopt a mobility fee ordinance on Oct. 4. The measure calls on the city to stop collecting both city and county road impact fees on new developments within the city boundaries.
Instead, the city would put in place a mobility fee system, allowing the revenues collected to be used on different kinds of transit projects, including walkways, bike routes and updated transportation technology, according to a text of the ordinance. In contrast, the city’s current road impact fees paid by developers can only be spent on road improvements.
The county’s administrator, Howard Tipton, has said in correspondence with city officials that a city adoption of the mobility fee system before resolving county concerns could indicate bad faith on the City Council’s part. The county argues the city can’t collect fees to offset transportation impacts on county roads without the county’s permission.
A county spokesman, however, said officials are hopeful that the issue can be resolved without legal action.
“We are working to schedule a joint meeting with both elected bodies from the city of Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County, where we hope to reach a compromise that is agreeable to both entities,” county spokesman Erick Gill said in an email to the Florida Record.
The city maintains that its broad home-rule authority and the need to manage increasing growth pressures due to development argue for a more flexible fee system to better manage mobility in the city.
“The road impact fee and transportation concurrency system is principally focused on vehicular mobility, and in contrast, a mobility plan and mobility fee system takes a comprehensive view on the provision of mobility through walking, biking, transit, motor vehicles and new personal and shared mobility technology,” the recently passed city ordinance states.