City Approves Development Fee

MARTINSBURG - Future residential developers will soon have a new cost to contend with after the Martinsburg City Council approved a new community development fee during its Monday meeting.

A public hearing on the ordinance for the proposed fee was held during the meeting, after which the ordinance was given its third and final reading and was approved by the council. As a result of its approval, the fee will take effect Sept. 1 but will not apply to any building permit that was filed with the city of Martinsburg on or before Aug. 31.

The community development fee is a fee authorized for municipalities under the state code to be collected, said City Manager Mark Baldwin. The proposed fee will be charged to assist with the cost of essential municipal services related to residential development, according to an ordinance read into the public record by city attorney Kin Sayre during the meeting. Once the community development fee takes effect, a fee of $1.50 per square foot for each new housing or dwelling unit in the city will be charged.

The ordinance defines a housing or dwelling unit as one or more rooms in a residential or mixed use building which are arranged, designed, used or intended for use by one or more persons living together and maintaining a common household. A housing or dwelling unit also includes lawful cooking space and lawful sanitary facilities reserved for the occupants, the ordinance said.

Baldwin said funds generated from the fees will go toward public works improvements, giving construction of a new fire or police station or the purchase of a new street sweeper as examples. The funds will not be used to purchase any supplies or pay any city employee's salary.

The fee will be collected when the city's planning department issues a use and occupancy permit, Baldwin said. Martinsburg Mayor George Karos said the fee is something the city needed to do.

"We have to keep up with the changing times," he said.