8-30 Employee Housing Impact Fee

(a) The purpose of the employee housing impact fee is to require the applicable development to pay to mitigate the impacts of development and land use to the employee housing stock managed or controlled by Pitkin County or its housing designee, the Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA). All provisions of this Chapter are self-executing and severable.

(b) The employee housing impact fee constitutes a law of general applicability of Pitkin County and as such shall be applicable to all property in unincorporated Pitkin County.

The impact fee shall be applicable to the following classifications of development and land use in the following manner:

1. Residential Development and Land Use
   • Structures with five thousand seven hundred fifty (5,750) square feet or less of interior space, as measured by the International Building Code (IBC), shall not be assessed an impact fee. For residential structures over five thousand seven hundred fifty (5,750) square feet, one hundred (100) percent of the impact shall be mitigated for the full size of the structure. Multiple residential structures on one property shall be considered as one structure.
2. Commercial Development and Land Use
   • One hundred percent (100%) of the impact fee shall be mitigated for the full size of commercial construction.
3. Tourist/Lodge Accommodation Development and Land Use
   • (a) Standard Rooms
     • One hundred percent (100%) of the impact shall be mitigated for all rooms in excess of four (4).
   • (b) Luxury Tourist/Lodge Rooms
     • One hundred percent (100%) of the impact and use shall be mitigated for all rooms.
4. Unclassified Development or Land Use
   • Development or land use not fitting into the above described development or land use shall be subject to the employee housing impact fee pursuant to Sec. 8-30-60.

Procedures for payment of the Employee Housing Impact Fee are set forth in Chapter 2. Impact Fee for Residential Development and Land Use.

(a) Impact Fee Formulas

The impact fee for residential development or land use will vary based upon the size of the residential development. In no case shall an impact fee apply to properties improved with less than five thousand seven hundred fifty (5,750) square feet of interior floor area as measured by the IBC. The fee collected for residential construction shall reflect mitigation for second-home use unless a covenant is recorded on the property restricting it to Pitkin County resident occupancy. The formula to determine the fee amount for each specific residential development is as follows:

1. For residential development of 9,000 square feet or less:
   • (a) Construction Employment for all Units = {[0.547 * ( Unit FT² * .001)] \ 40}
   • (b) Post-Construction Employment – Locally Occupied Unit = Exponent [ -4.67138 + (0.000328 * Unit FT² )]
   • (c) Post-Construction Employment – Second/Vacation Home = Exponent [ -4.67138 + (0.000328 * Unit FT² ) + 2.00514]
   • (d) Total Employees = Construction Employment + Post- Construction Employment
   • (e) Impact Fee = Total Employees * $34,173
2. For Units over 9,000 square feet:
   • (a) Add $1,141.67 per 1,000 square feet for locally occupied units
   • (b) Add $5,515.00 per 1,000 square feet for second/vacation homes

(b) Examples

• Even though it will be necessary to calculate the impact fee for each individual residential development since each will vary in size, a schedule for specific sizes of residential development that demonstrates employees generated, the affordable housing units needed and the impact fee is set down in Table 8.2.

The impact fee for commercial development or land use will vary based on size and type of commercial development. The formula to determine the fee amount is:

(a) Number of Employees = Unit Size x Employee Generation

(b) Fee = Number of Employees x $34,173

(c) Employee Generation = Employee Generation Rate from Table 8-3 (Employee Generation for Commercial Development).

In order to mitigate the impacts of development upon the employee housing capital facilities, a developer or property owner may be allowed to avoid full payment of the scheduled impact fee through one or a combination of the following events. These events shall include and be limited to the construction of deed restricted employee housing, the acquisition and deed restriction of existing residential housing units, or the dedication of real property to Pitkin County that will be used for the construction of employee housing. In no event shall the exercise of any of these three options cause a developer or property owner to exceed the impact fee schedule with the value of any construction, acquisition or dedication. The decision of whether or not to accept an offered alternative to full payment of the impact fee is a discretionary decision of the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners may accept or reject such offer based upon any reasonable consideration including, but not limited to any of the following: The type and location of the development to be mitigated; location of the property that is offered; the physical condition of the offered property; the ability to utilize the property in the employee housing program; the need for the type of property offered:

(a) Construction Requirements for Employee Housing Units

• Any employee housing units developed in lieu of payment of a full impact fee shall meet the following guidelines:
  1. All construction must comply with all regulations and required permits of the Pitkin County Code.
  2. Size and materials used in the construction of employee housing shall be specifically approved by either the Board of County Commissioners or its housing designee, the Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority. All employee housing units constructed shall be ready for occupancy prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the free-market development for which the deed restricted housing is in mitigation.
  3. A deed restriction to be recorded against the property shall be reviewed and accepted by the Board of County Commissioners and its County Attorney prior to acceptance of the unit for mitigation of development impacts and/or prior to issuance of a building permit for the unit.

(b) Requirements for Converted/Deed Restricted Units

• Free-market units acquired in lieu of full payment of the scheduled impact fee shall meet the following requirements:
  1. All units must be specifically approved for mitigation by the Board of County Commissioners or its housing designee, the Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority. The grant of this acceptance will be based upon the location of the units and the physical quality of the housing units.
  2. The acquired and restricted units shall be ready for occupancy before the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the constructed free-market development whose impact the deed restricted units mitigate.
  3. Prior to acceptance, the deed restriction recorded against the converted units shall be approved by the Board of County Commissioners or its County Attorney.

(a) Exemptions from Payment of Scheduled Impact Fees

1. Employee Housing
   • No employee housing impact fee shall be imposed on the construction of deed restricted employee housing as defined from time to time by the Board of County Commissioners or its housing designee, the Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority.
2. Replacement, Restoration or Remodel of Existing Units
   • No employee housing impact fee shall be charged for replacement or restoration for an improvement that was lost or damaged through fire, age or other event not precipitated by the owner of the property. This exemption shall extend only so far as replacement or restoration for the unit lost is being sought in its same location and at the same size and configuration. No employee housing impact fee shall be charged for remodel construction that does not increase the size of the residential structure. No exemption shall be recognized for expansion of an existing structure.