There is a political movement in College Station, Texas.... that says new construction must pay for itself. I haven't quite yet figured what that means, but for the sake of fairness I will remain open minded. My companies are involved in all phases of real estate including sales, home building and developing. We are not the biggest but we have helped create a lot of jobs for citizens, and a whole lot of taxes for the city. What is occurring is that some fear we are growing too fast for our own financial good, that the infrastructure cannot keep up with servicing the growth of the city and that property taxes generated by these new residential developments are not enough to support that servicing. Additionally there are some that fear we need to spend way more on our parks systems and the servicing of those systems and that we need to create more green space and put the brakes on development. They say they just want to "control" it more. That's fine . They actually admit it truly is about control. My question is who really benefits from more control? These and many other questions are now rising to the surface in our communities. The builders, developers, and agents are asking questions. Soon citizens will be asking more questions.
The impact of "impact fees" will ultimately "impact" the consumer the most. This is how the council proposes to control things, and generate more $$$ to take care of servicing. I urge everyone to pay close attention over the next months and year. Ask questions about where it is all headed. The council wants to charge much larger "impact fees" on Developers than is necessary.
The Senior Economist for the National Association of Home Builders, will be speaking on the results of his study on the economic impact of residential construction on the Bryan-College Station area at a meeting for the local Chamber of Commerce on 7-24-2008. The Chamber's # is 979-260-5200 to make a reservation . Do it!
I will keep an open mind but hope the results of his study will bear out that you can not tax developers and builders out of business without "impacting " a community negatively.
Have a prosperous Week!
www.treythurmond.com
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Trey, you probably know that this is one of my "most favorite subjects" currently. You state the situation very well. We have to educate the public. This seems only fair since 3 out of 4 of the new Planning & Zoning Commissioners work in Academic departments at Texas A&M: Wildlife, fisheries, horticulture, architecture.....I'm typing this list from memory so I may be slightly off. Notice, they do not have experience on the Administrative side of the University.... Well, the horticulture guy was a computer person. The forth person is a builder that is a green builder.
Trying to look at this from a positive perspective, we have a great opportunity to get to know our new leadership. Under Dr. Crompton's leadership, city councilman, TAMU faculty member, who is a champion of the parks; parks and green space are certainly the priority. Our city will be pretty........................................... I like your post and the title. We've got a lot of work ahead of us.