Four months after announcing the settlement of a class-action lawsuit over Naperville’s road-impact fees, city leaders and representatives of a builders group said the agreement has not been finalized.
The two sides had hoped the deal could be sealed by May, but scheduling difficulties and a delay in putting the pact in writing apparently have kept them from completing the agreement.
“There’s no snag. It’s just a matter of getting it done,” said Kent Huffman, executive vice president of the Northern Illinois Home Builders Association, the organization that backed the suit against Naperville. “Things are moving slower than we thought they would, but there’s no problem.”
The delay has forced the Naperville City Council to put off killing a proposed ordinance that would establish a building moratorium in the city.
Before the settlement was announced, Naperville had threatened to stop issuing permits for any development that would carry a fee, whether residential or commercial, in response to the suit.
The council tabled final consideration of the proposed ordinance until September, indicating that removing it from their plate would be a formality once the deal is finalized.
Huffman said the delay in locking down the agreement has not further chilled the relationship between his group and the city, which was icy for much of last year.
“We’re on fine terms,” he said.
The out-of-court settlement was announced as a seven-year arrangement after weeks of negotiations early this year.
The compromise includes a reduction of many fees the city charges developers for future road reconstruction. In exchange, legal action backed by the builders association against Naperville was dropped.
As a result of the deal, the city’s 20-year plan for road work was trimmed to an estimated cost of $50 million, from $75 million. The fees paid by builders will make up 69 percent of the total.
The settlement lowers the impact fees in the most controversial category–residential building. Included will be reductions for each single-family home in a subdivision to $1,800, from $2,645, and for each town home in a development to $1,050, from more than $1,480. The fee for multifamily units will be reduced to $1,050, from more than $1,580.
Builders in March agreed to pay the current fees until the deal becomes final. Fees paid beyond the newly agreed upon amounts, however, are to be refunded back to April 1.
The two sides have said the seven-year period the deal covers should take Naperville through what is considered the town’s final high-growth period.
The suburb’s population has ballooned by about 100,000 residents since 1970, but city leaders have said they expect their town to be running short of vacant land within 10 years.
