Holden considers road maintenance impact fees

HOLDEN – Community leaders are considering new townwide impact fees that would require developers and those on private roads to pay for improvement projects or equipment needed to maintain those roadways before they are accepted as town property.

A public hearing on the proposed road maintenance impact fee ordinance, and supplemental capital equipment financing plan, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the town office.

Town councilors will consider adopting the new ordinance and financing plan later in the meeting.

The impact fees would require “owners of private roads to pay impact fees proportional to their share of the costs for new capital equipment and associated expenses before their roads are accepted by the town as public ways, in order to provide four-season maintenance of the new roads without degrading maintenance services on the rest of the public road inventory,” the proposed ordinance states.

Part of the new ordinance includes creation of a capital equipment financing plan.

The proposed financing plan lists three subdivisions already approved by the planning board and now under way – Barrett Lane (with 0.8 lane miles of roads), Brookfield Estates (1 lane mile) and Holden Hills (0.9 lane miles) – and predicts an additional 2.5 lane miles of new roadway will be created over the next decade for a total of 5.2 lane miles. A lane mile means a mile of single-lane road.

The town estimates that one 1-ton truck and equipment, with an estimated cost of $58,000, will be needed to maintain the new roads and so would require the developers to pay impact fees of $11,154 per 1-lane mile, under the proposal.

The ordinance also allows for creation of two or more concurrent capital equipment financing plans, but states private road owners can be assessed only one time.

All impact fees must be paid before the Town Council considers accepting the road as a public way, the proposed ordinance states.

Roads that provide access to affordable housing and developers who invest in creating public amenities may qualify for a waiver or partial waiver.

“The development of a public trail system for walking or bicycling, the establishment of recreational facilities and attractive open spaces with public access points, or the permanent conservation of a large habitat blocks in Holden for wildlife protection,” could lead to a waiver, the proposed ordinance states.

During Monday’s meeting, town councilors also will hold a public hearing on changing general assistance amounts, will consider making those changes, will review town-owned property and will hold a closed-door meeting on acquiring property for the conservation commission.