Gunnison County increasing development project fees

Public hearing on building fee updates May 20

By Katherine Nettles

Gunnison County will consider its second fee increases of the year next week for its community and economic development department; a public hearing on Tuesday, May 20 will address its building permit fee schedule. In mid-April, county commissioners voted unanimously to increase land-use permit fees, and in some cases institute fees where there were formerly none. The goal is to recover more of the costs associated with processing permits and performing inspections on new projects. The latest fee recommended by staff would institute a 1% flat fee to all building project permits. 

The community development department has four areas of focus: development review, codes and regulations, oil and gas and long-range planning. Addressing development this spring, commissioners adopted a resolution last month to amend land use fee schedules. The most drastic of those increases is for appeals to the Board of Adjustments, from $250 to $3,132; further fee schedule updates may be coming next as commissioners hold a public hearing to consider staff recommendations amending building permit fees next week.

 In a memo from Cathie Pagano, assistant county manager for community and economic development, and Crystal Lambert, Gunnison County building and health official, which accompanied the April 15 meeting, staff recommendations addressed both land use permits and building permits. However, commissioners could only vote on land-use permits as building permits require a public hearing, which will occur next Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the commissioners meeting room at the county courthouse.

Land use fee hikes

The land use fee increases this year, as recommended by county staff, were to update oil and gas fees annually beginning in 2025. The fees have not been revised since 2011, and are now set at $1,200 for no significant impact, $3,000 for minor impact and $5,000 for major impact. 

Appeal submissions to the county’s Board of Adjustment are $250, and staff recommended that this be increased significantly to $3,132 because appeals require staff time from several different departments. 

“Previously the board had chosen to keep the appeal fee artificially low so as not to prevent any individual from submitting an appeal,” noted the memo, and commissioners Liz Smith and Laura Puckett Daniels discussed their own struggle with making such appeals cost-prohibitive. 

Pagano and county attorney Matthew Hoyt confirmed that appellants could establish a case to appeal if they do not have the financial means, and commissioner Jonathan Houck suggested that fees could be lowered if appeals were straightforward but not increased if they were more complex. Last, there have not previously been fees for a variance, floodplain development and emergency exemptions, and staff recommended that these be enacted as well. 

A variance fee will now be $1,182; floodplain development applications will be $300; and emergency exemption fees are now $234. All community development department fees will be reviewed every three years to ensure that fees schedules are adequately compensating for costs. Fees will be adjusted annually for Gunnison Sage-Grouse permits, oil and gas operations and Gold Basin Industrial Park permits in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.

Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the changes. 

Building permit changes coming next?

The county continues pursuing fees that reflect the realities of departmental costs and in some cases, involve other departments such as the county attorney’s office.

The county’s annual cost of performing development reviews was determined to be an annual total average of $237,800 for the county from 2016 to 2022, however that average has increased to a projected expense in 2025 of $1.118 million. After many years of stagnant fee schedules, the county revised its building permit fees in 2022 to better represent the higher costs of staff reviewing and processing development proposals. 

Since the 2022 updates, Pagano noted that the department has added three positions: a building inspector, a planner and a planning director. She said this has helped meet the goal of reviewing permit applications within three weeks of receiving them, and has also helped meet the goal of scheduling building inspections within 48 hours of a request. 

Staff analysis also concluded that the highest valuation projects paid a regressive fee and recommended moving to a flat rate of 1% of total estimated project valuation, for residential or commercial buildings. So, for example a home or commercial project estimated to be valued at $1 million would be charged 1% or $10,000 for the building permit under the new proposal. According to Lambert, the current cost of a building permit for a $1 million home is $8,225 and for a $1 million commercial building is $10,440. The memo notes that “the amount of time to review and inspect modern, larger valuation projects does not decline as the current permit fee schedule anticipates, the demand for staff resources increases.” This includes custom designs with complex details and larger floor plans.

Commissioners will have a chance to vote on the latest rate hikes after the public hearing next Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse.