Panel: Raise Raleigh impact fees slowly

The City Council will review the recommendation at an upcoming meeting.

Mayor Charles Meeker has pushed for doubling impact fees to generate revenue for growth-related needs. He has said higher fees could provide the city with an extra $8 million to $10 million for roads and parks.

Developers pay a flat fee of $1,200 for each single-family home they build in Raleigh, but a city proposal would split the fee into two segments – one for thoroughfares and one for open space – and devised a formula that would increase the fees for an average-size home to about $2,500.

A sliding scale for the fees would require developers of larger homes to pay more, while those building smaller homes would pay less.

The Planning Commission voted to phase in the increases, with half of it going into effect in July and the rest evenly divided over the next three years.