News & Info
OMB is Working for You
Each month the Chalk Line includes a Government Affairs Update that tracks the status of all the issues that affect the home building industry throughout our five-county region of Thurston, Lewis, Mason, Twin Harbors and South Pacific.
Often times these issues take several months to several years to be resolved. Recently there have been several issues that have been resolved successfully, due in part to Olympia Master Builders' (OMB) efforts. Below, you can see what the issue was, OMB's efforts to resolve the issue and the results.
| Issues |
OMB's Efforts |
Results |
City of Olympia proposed raising park impact fees from $1800 to $5793. |
Met with city staff and council members to offer alternative financing options to impact fees. |
City of Olympia implemented an interim impact fee of $2896 with a commitment to OMB to take a comprehensive look at funding sources for parks in 2008. |
City of Tumwater proposed raising park impact fees from $580 to $3500. |
Testified at city council meeting expressing Indus try concerns. |
Council sent issue back to General Government Committee for further review. Recent conversations with City staff indicate City open to lowering the fee and phasing in implementation. |
Joint Utility Trenching fees being charged by city of Olympia are a duplicate charge since the developer is already paying Puget Sound Energy for the service. |
Met with Puget Sound Energy and developers and communicated concerns to city of Olympia. |
City of Olympia agreed to no longer charge the fee. |
City of Lacey's Design Review Committee proposed design changes that would affect zoning/code issues as well as vesting. |
Met with elected officials and staff to express concerns including legal issues. |
The zoning/code issues and vesting issues were removed from the proposal |
If you would like more information on Government Affairs issues please contact Will Stakelin, OMB Government Affairs Director at 360-754-0912 or 800-456-6473.
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