PASCO, Wash. -- Some home builders aren't happy about new impact fees and are taking action.
Many expected to see an increase in the number of building permit applications before the new law takes effect. But the latest numbers from March shocked a lot of people.
According to the city planning department, 131 applications were requested in the first two weeks in March.
Department managers say they would normally see that many new applications over a span of four months, not two weeks.
The department says they usually get between 25 to 40 requests in a month. "We anticipated a little bit of it, not that much though. We know we had a lot of sub divisions out there pending development, we didn't anticipate quite as many applications as we received," explains Mitch Nickolds, Inspection Services Manager for the city of Pasco.
The impact fee for new home and apartment development will cost builders $4,700.
The fee goes into effect April 16th. According to Nickolds, the run on permit requests hasn't slowed down. He says the office has received another 20 applications in the last few weeks.
