Montgomery County OKs planning commission fee increases

NORRISTOWN – Residential and commercial developers will soon have to pay higher fees for representatives of the Montgomery County Planning Commission to review projects.

Fees are applied for the “advisory review of subdivisions and land developments,” according to the resolution passed during last week’s Montgomery County Commissioners meeting.

France clarified the “fees are paid by developers or property owners looking to transform their lots through added residential units or nonresidential square footage.” He added that municipal governments, school districts and other public facilities are exempt from paying the fee.

The update, which is anticipated to generate an additional 20 percent in revenue, is slated to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, according to Scott France, Montgomery County’s director of planning.

“I want to stress this (is) not applicable to most homeowners as they might be adding onto their house or converting their garage. Those are local permit processes.” France said. “These are for only a new unit that’s created or nonresidential square footage added.”

The last fee revision took place in 2014, according to Scott, who said the planning commission guidance will then go back to the local municipality where the project is being considered.

“We take this very seriously,” France said. “This is our responsibility and when development applications come through the county to the municipalities that’s how our local environment gets created.”

France said the planning commission employed a “tiered” style approach to fee raises.

On the residential side, fees are set based on units, which range from five units up to 300. The fees from five-unit buildings increased from $295 to $340. Twenty-unit buildings were changed from $640 to $950. Mid-sized building fees were raised from $1,500 to $1,900 for 30-units and $2,025 to $2,075 for 75 units. Larger scale structures would remain unchanged at $4,060 for 150 units and $7,600 for 300 units.

France maintained the increases were comparable to what neighboring Bucks and Chester counties charge. For instance, residential rates for a 20-unit building were set at $1,130 in Bucks County and $755 in Chester County, France said. Fifty-unit buildings were listed at $2,445 in Bucks County and $1,575 in Chester County.

“We felt we were already at the upper end and justified keeping it at that same level rather than increas(ing),” France said. “But at the lower level we found we were behind in some cases dramatically so what neighbors were charging.”

On the nonresidential side, fees were set in a tiered system based on square footage. Thus 2,500 square feet would change from $220 to $300. Bucks and Chester counties charge $440 and $598, respectively. In Montgomery County, a 250,000-square-foot space would require $8,830 as opposed to $6,630. Bucks and Chester counties’ rates are set at $6,500 and $8,685, respectively.

“The hierarchy and tiers of charges have been modified to result in better correlation between subdivision and land development scale and the typical costs associated with that review,” the resolution states.

The resolution passed in a 2-1 vote with Commissioner Joe Gale dissenting.