Higher Traffic Impact Fee Structure Postponed By Clark County Commissioners

VANCOUVER, WA-Clark County Commissioners last week postponed once again a proposal to charge commercial developers higher traffic-impact. This time it was at the behest of county staffers, who want to make sure the increases are reasonable and don’t cause retailer to locate elsewhere.

The fees are charged to offset the infrastructure costs associated with the traffic generated by new strip malls, fast-food restaurants and bank branches. A county-funded report by Economic Resource Associates Inc. concluded that poor access has have a much larger effect on a company’s location than traffic fees. The county is having them take another look.