Westbrook City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XVI
Impact Fees
§ 335-16.1 Authority.
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority of 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3001 and 4354.
§ 335-16.2 Purpose.
The Westbrook City Council has determined that new development creates demands on municipal government to provide new public facilities and to expand or improve existing public facilities. The City Council concludes that to provide an equitable source of funding for such new, expanded, or improved facilities, it is appropriate to establish a program of development impact fees and to charge a proportionate share of the costs of new, expanded, or improved facilities to the developers and/or occupants of the developments which make the new, expanded, or improved infrastructure necessary.
§ 335-16.3 Definitions.
Words and phrases shall be considered to have the same meaning as defined in the Code of the City of Westbrook.
§ 335-16.4 Use of impact fees.
[Amended 12-21-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-153]
A.
Impact fees collected by the City pursuant to this article may be used only for financing facility improvements which the City Council has determined are made necessary by new development. The City Council has determined that fees imposed by schedules published by the City Clerk in accordance with § 335-16.9B of this article are reasonably related to the demands created by new development and are reasonably related to the portion or percentage of existing infrastructure used by new development. Impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be used exclusively for capital improvements, and shall not be used for operational expenses. The City of Westbrook shall expend funds collected from impact fees solely for the purposes for which they were collected.
B.
The following costs may be included in the capital cost of the infrastructure improvement:
(1)
Engineering, surveying, and environmental assessment services directly related to the design, construction, and oversight of the improvement;
(2)
The actual construction of the improvement, including, without limitation, property acquisition costs, demolition costs, clearing and grading of the land, and necessary capital equipment;
(3)
Mitigation costs;
(4)
Legal and administrative costs associated with construction of the improvement, including any borrowing necessary to finance the project;
(5)
Debt service costs, including interest if the City borrows for the construction of the improvement;
(6)
Relocation costs; and
(7)
Similar costs that are directly related to the project.
§ 335-16.5 Segregation of impact fees from general revenues.
Impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be maintained by the City Finance Director in a separate impact fee account and shall be segregated from the City's general revenues. The City Finance Director shall deposit impact fees in special nonlapsing accounts dedicated for funding of the improvements for which the fee is collected.
§ 335-16.6 Collection of impact fees.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall not issue any building permit required under the Code of the City of Westbrook until the applicant has paid any impact fees required by this article. Upon collecting such impact fee, the Code Enforcement Office shall remit the funds to the City Finance Director, who shall deposit the funds as required in § 335-16.5 above. The Code Enforcement Office shall make a record of the name and mailing address of the applicant paying the impact fee, the Tax Map and lot numbers of the property for which the impact fee is collected, the amount collected, and the date the impact fee is received, and shall maintain such record in the files relating to the property for which the impact fee was paid.
§ 335-16.7 Exemption/reduction for off-site improvements.
If a development undertakes improvements off-site from the project site which improve the system that an impact fee is contributing towards, the amount of the off-site improvements may be deducted from the calculated impact fee or may be determined to be equivalent to the impact fee, as determined by the City Planner.
§ 335-16.8 Refund of unused impact fees.
[Amended 12-21-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-153]
Impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be utilized by the City per the schedules published by the City Clerk in accordance with § 335-16.9B of this article for the completion of specific capital improvements, but in no event later than 10 years after the date upon which the impact fee was collected. Any impact fees which are not so utilized and any impact fees collected which exceed the City's actual costs of implementing the infrastructure improvements for which such fees were collected shall be refunded. Refunds shall be paid to the person who paid the impact fee, unless that person has authorized the payment to the current owner of the property or some other person.
§ 335-16.9 Amendment of fees.
[Amended 7-7-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-93]
The impact fees established in this article are based upon the City Council's best estimates of the costs of the construction of the facilities for which the fees are collected and, where appropriate, upon estimates of state and/or federal funding contributions. The Council may, by amendments to this article, change the amounts of the impact fees from time to time as warranted by new information or changed circumstances.
A.
Inflation adjustment. The impact fees established by the City Council in this article shall be adjusted annually by the City Finance Director to account for inflation. Each year on February 1, the Finance Director shall increase each impact fee by the dollar amount (rounded to the nearest whole-dollar increment) obtained by multiplying the amount of the fee then in effect by the inflation rate. As used in this subsection, the term "inflation rate" means the percentage increase, if any, during the previous calendar year in the Consumer Price Index - All Urban Consumers, Northeast Urban Area, All Items (1982-84 = 100 base) (not seasonally adjusted) published by the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. If there has been no such increase, there shall be no adjustment under this subsection.
B.
Each year on February 1, the City Clerk shall publish a schedule of impact fees adjusted pursuant to this section (the "adjusted impact fees") and provide a copy of such schedule to the Code Enforcement Officer. The adjusted impact fees shall apply to all building permits issued on or after February 1 of each calendar year, whether or not the applications for building permits were filed prior to such dates.
§ 335-16.10 Impact fee not required for replacement dwelling units.
[Amended 7-7-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-93]
An impact fee shall not be required for the following units, provided that the number of bedrooms constructed in the new structure is equal to or less than number of bedrooms in the structure being replaced:
A.
The placement or construction on a lot of a dwelling unit which replaces a dwelling unit which was located on the same lot at any time before the effective date of the specific impact fee;
B.
The placement on a mobile home park site of a mobile home which replaces a mobile home which was located on the same site at any time before the effective date of the specific impact fee;
C.
The placement or construction on a lot of a dwelling unit which replaces a dwelling unit which is or was located on the same lot and for which an impact fee has already been paid under this article; or
D.
The placement on a mobile home park site of a mobile home which replaces an existing mobile home which is or was located on the same site and for which an impact fee has already been paid under this article.
§ 335-16.11 Sewer impact fee.
[Added 7-7-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-93]
A.
Purpose. The fees collected under this section shall be used to increase capacity in Westbrook's sanitary sewer treatment plant in conjunction with the growing population of the City to maintain current standards and incorporate new developments in the sanitary sewer system.
B.
Applicability. This impact fee is applicable to all permits issued where new sanitary sewer flow is generated by the use. This includes:
C.
Definitions. Words and phrases shall be considered to have the same meanings as defined in the Code of Ordinances under Chapter 260, Sewers and Wastewater Treatment.
D.
Calculation of fee. The calculation of the fee is based on the 2011 Woodard and Curran study that developed a monetary cost to upgrade the current wastewater treatment facility by 700,000 gallons per day (gpd). That cost was adjusted to a 2024 value using construction cost indices from the Engineering News-Record, which is industry standard and Construction Analytics. This cost will be a one-time fee. The Westbrook Sewer Impact Fee Methodology dated May 30, 2025, a copy of which is available in the Planning and Codes Enforcement Department, establishes the calculations.
Upgrade capacity to be constructed | 700,000 gpd |
Sewer impact fee | $6.46 gpd |
E.
Payment of fee.
(1)
The application for a permit shall indicate projected sanitary sewer flows along with calculations. The City Engineer, or their designee, shall review and approve the projected flows accompanying the application. Sanitary sewer flows rates are based on either the State of Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal rules (last amended version), or by an approved methodology through a national/international recognized organization.
(2)
The City Engineer shall inform the applicant of the projected flow that is assigned to the permit, and the impact fee will be assessed and paid prior to the issuance of a building permit. If the plans should change during construction and additional flow is expected, the Code Enforcement Officer will not issue a certificate of occupancy until the appropriate impact fee is paid in full.
F.
Exemptions. The following exemptions to this impact fee:
(1)
If the development is constructing an upgrade to the City's sanitary sewer system that offsets the impact fee and that is part of the sewer upgrade project identified in the Westbrook Sewer Impact Fee Methodology dated May 30 2025, the impact fee will be reduced by the cost of the improvements as reviewed and approved by the City Engineer.
G.
Effective date. The provisions of these regulations shall apply to all new developments or developments approved prior to the enactment of this section where a building permit or certificate of occupancy for a change of use has not been issued as of December 31, 2025, and where new sanitary sewer flow is generated by the new, expanded or changed use.