JMRPWG agenda 032499 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Draft 3/24/99 (from Carrboro ) ♦ Dedication and Payment Provisions Population growth over the past thirty years has forced a reassessment of the traditional means of acquiring public park and recreation areas . Increasing pressures on funds generated from traditional property tax levy and bond referendums have challenged fundamental ideas on paying for parks and recreation , encouraging public officials to consider alternatives to the negotiated purchase of park land and solely relying on the property tax base and bond funds . The Work Group has recognized that all local government jurisdictions in Orange County have recreation requirements in their Subdivision or Land Use Ordinances which mandate that land be dedicated , private recreation facilities provided or combination thereof under their statutory regulatory/ police authority to . protect the health , safety and welfare of their communities . These recreation requirements are legally acceptable under this authority the same as roads , utilities and other public improvements required as conditions for subdivision approval . The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed this authority in Messer v . Town of Chapel Hill , 297 S . E . 2d 632 ( 1982 ) , in sustaining that the Town ordinance , within the statutory powers given to a city , could exact recreation land or facilities and even require the particular site within the subdivision . A more recent tool has been the inclusion of a payment in lieu of process under this same general statutory power. The payment in lieu of process has been confused with impact fees . The payment in lieu of process is just that , payment in lieu of providing private recreation facilities or required dedication of land as discussed above . If the developer is provided the option to meet the particular jurisdictionAs requirements or make some commiserate payment in lieu of doing so , the jurisdiction is empowered to accept the payment under its existing statutory powers . All jurisdictions lieu on a similar, if not exact, basis . An impact fee is a accept payment in l cash payment based on the impact created by a development to a particular service and requires special enabling legislation . There must be exhibited a strong correlation showing the ( 1 ) actual need created by the impact of the development and ( 2 ) benefits provided to the particular subdivision . Orange County presently has a School Impact Fee , but no other impact fee exists in the county for any other services . An option remaining is to request special enabling legislation for %oRecreation Facilities FeeA . Given authority to collect such a fee would result in a general tax to provide funding for park land and facilities , much in the manner of a general tax levy . This would be collected for a specific 23