West Linn, Home Builders Assn. await SDC ruling

It stands or it does not. That's the answer that the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland and the city of West Linn are eagerly waiting to find out.

The highly anticipated answer will resolve a dispute between the HBAMP and West Linn regarding a decision last year by the

The decision brought the two sides before Clackamas County Circuit Judge John Lowe last week after the HBAMP, along with two construction companies, filed a lawsuit against the city. The suit, which is technically a petition for a writ of review, is asking the court to overturn the increased fees.

The fees, which are known as system development charges, are used by growing cities to pay for the added burden that new homes and other developments place on roads, electricity and other essential services.

West Linn City Council voted unanimously last summer to raise the parks SDC to $8,228 for a single-family home and $5,817 for an apartment unit. With the decision, park fees were nearly doubled and the city's total SDC package was raised to about $18,000 for a single-family home, which is the highest SDC package in the state.

According to city officials the increased fees are necessary to cover the cost of providing recreational facilities to new residents, but the HBAMP says that the city exceeded its authority when it doubled the park fees.

"They are trying to raise the level of service for the entire city with this SDC," said Kevin Curry, spokesman for the HBAMP. "That is not fair."

According to Curry, by law the money collected from SDCs can only be used for the effects that a particular development or house would have on the city. In this case Curry believes that West Linn is using the money for more than just keeping up with new home construction.

"You can't use the money to make existing parks bigger and better," Curry said. "It can only be used to create facilities for new developments."

Curry also believes the fee is driving up home prices in West Linn and is restricting the ability of people to afford homes.

"West Linn is raising the price of housing in the city, and is giving less opportunity for people to be able to buy a house," Curry said.

The HBAMP, along with Stone Castle Homes of West Linn and Matrix Development Corp. of Tigard, filed the lawsuit last summer.

However, West Linn Mayor David Dodds maintains the city needs the funds from the fee increase in order to cope with the cost of new home construction.

"This is as close as we can get to 100 percent cost recovery for new development," Dodds said. "If we didn't collect the full cost either everyone else in the city would have to pay for the service, or we would have to accept service at a lower level."

According to Dodds, other cities in the Portland metro area collect SDCs at a level below the actual cost of what new construction costs the cities. West Linn, however, is committed to full cost recovery, Dodds explained.

"All we are trying to do here is to put the cost of the impacts where they belong," Dodds said. "One of the measures of livability for a city is the attitude it takes towards its parks."

Lowe is expected to rule on the issue within the next two months.