Right Purpose, Right Place, Right Time
Park Impact Fees are charged by a municipality when a residential developer pulls a construction permit. For every single family residence, a developer is required to dedicate land of up to 2000 square feet of park space. If they can’t reach that goal, they can pay a park impact fee so the municipality can later buy land for a park. In addition, Park Improvement Fees for each residential unit are required for building playgrounds, pools or other recreational improvements.
Over time a municipality can build up Park Impact and Improvement fees. Fast growing communities often collect significant fees which go unused for a long time. A municipality has to find the time to invest in the process of identifying, buying and building a park. In addition, the state requires that the fees be used within 10 years of collection, so municipalities are under pressure to act.
If you find yourself in the position of needing to identify land for parks (or other municipal needs such as water towers, retention ponds, detention ponds, etc.), be sure to find a consultant who has expertise in both real estate AND municipal planning. Consider the following projects:
School/Park Project: We identified a school site adjacent to a park site and was able to leverage the park impact and improvement fees to pay for the park and the playground equipment. The park served the community and the school, so the combined approach benefitted both beneficiaries.
Abundance of Park Fees: We created a process for a municipality that outlined how to budget over time for a critical acquisition of land and time a grant request to coincide with the purchase of a parcel of land. This helped them to combine funding vehicles. We then identified the best parcels of land to fit community needs and negotiated the purchase price so the resulting land added real value to the community at the best possible price.
Bridging Planning and Real Estate
As real estate professionals who are not driven by commission, we can identify possible real estate parcels and consider each option with a strong understanding of the community’s Comprehensive Plan and Vision.
We have a background in municipal planning, including budgets, grants and zoning. Using this knowledge, we can determine park radiuses and we can tell you where to put a park so it meets community objectives at the same time that it meets your financial objectives.
For parks and other municipal land needs, you need to consider the right purpose, the right place and the right time. This requires expertise in planning AND real estate. Contact TP3 and get the best of both worlds.