HB 546 - AS INTRODUCED
2015 SESSION
15-0327
03/05
HOUSE BILL 546
AN ACT relative to exactions for improvements related to innovative land use controls.
SPONSORS: Rep. Abramson, Rock 20; Rep. Leeman, Straf 23; Rep. C. McGuire, Merr 29; Rep.?Spillane, Rock 2; Rep. Itse, Rock 10
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill authorizes the assessment of exactions for improvements according to a fee schedule under the innovative land use controls law and authorizes a municipality to establish an advisory committee for such purposes.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
15-0327
03/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen
AN ACT relative to exactions for improvements related to innovative land use controls.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Impact Fees. Amend RSA 674:21, V(e)-(f) to read as follows:
(e) The ordinance shall establish reasonable times after which any portion of an impact fee which has not become encumbered or otherwise legally bound to be spent for the purpose for which it was collected shall be refunded, with any accrued interest. Whenever the calculation of an impact fee has been predicated upon some portion of capital improvement costs being borne by the municipality, a refund shall be made to the payor or payor’s successor in interest upon the failure of the legislative body to appropriate the municipality’s share of the capital improvement costs within a reasonable time. The maximum time which shall be considered reasonable hereunder shall be 6 years.
(f) Unless otherwise specified in the ordinance, any decision under an impact fee ordinance may be appealed in the same manner provided by statute for appeals from the officer or board making that decision, to the advisory committee of a municipality which has one, then as set forth in RSA 676:5, RSA 677:2-14, or RSA 677:15, respectively.
2 Impact Fees. Amend RSA 674:21, V(j) to read as follows:
(j)(1) The failure to adopt an impact fee ordinance shall not preclude a municipality from requiring developers to pay an exaction for the cost of off-site improvement needs determined by the planning board to be necessary for the occupancy of any portion of a development. For the purposes of this subparagraph, “off-site improvements” means those improvements that are necessitated by a development but which are located outside the boundaries of the property that is subject to a subdivision plat or site plan approval by the planning board. Such off-site improvements shall be limited to any necessary highway, drainage, and sewer and water upgrades pertinent to that development. The amount of any such exaction shall be a proportional share of municipal improvement costs not previously assessed against other developments, which is necessitated by the development, and which is reasonably related to the benefits accruing to the development from the improvements financed by the exaction. As an alternative to paying an exaction, the developer may elect to construct the necessary improvements, subject to bonding and timing conditions as may be reasonably required by the planning board. Any exaction imposed pursuant to this section shall be assessed at the time of planning board approval of the development necessitating an off-site improvement. Whenever the calculation of an exaction for an off-site improvement has been predicated upon some portion of the cost of that improvement being borne by the municipality, a refund of any collected exaction and accrued interest shall be made to the payor or payor’s successor in interest upon the failure of the local legislative body to appropriate the municipality’s share of that cost within [6] 10 years from the date of collection. For the purposes of this subparagraph, failure of local legislative body to appropriate such funding or to construct any necessary off-site improvement shall not operate to prohibit an otherwise approved development.
(2) Alternately, a municipality which collects exactions according to a fee schedule, reviewed by an advisory committee, used to maintain levels of service, and updated annually, may also assess fees for paved and improved pedestrian paths; traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures; and firefighting vehicles or equipment; and to recoup the development’s proportional share of the capital facilities owned or operated by the town, school district, or capital facilities of a cooperative or regional school district or mutual aid district of which the municipality is a member. The advisory committee shall consist of at least 5 members, at least 1/2 of whom have been active in the business of development, construction, or real estate in the previous 5 years, which shall not include current members nor alternates of the municipality’s planning board, school board, governing body, nor employees of the town or a school district or mutual aid district of which the municipality is a member. A zoning board of adjustment, whether appointed or elected, may be used as the advisory committee if at least 1/2 of its members meet these criteria. An advisory committee shall report annually on its opinion of the deficiencies and inequities of development fees collected, master plan, and capital improvement plans for the municipality and public schools and ensure that no development is being charged more than once for any public facilities.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.