Page 66 - Florence County, SC Florence County 2032: Connecting Our Past, Defining Our Future

entire area should be established. The IMPACT FEES
2015 Comprehensive Plan is the most
important directive in the Plan in that it
The question of how to pay for infrastructure in a
envisions a true capital improvement plan
county as geographically large as Pottawatomie
for all infrastructure needed to support
County and with a wide range of development
the urban development of Blue Township.
and community character, from rural to suburban
The sanitary sewer system is the first one and auto-oriented urban, and the differing levels
to be developed.” As the Green Valley Area
of services needed in these areas, has been a
Plan is completed it should build off the
consistent issue in Pottawatomie County in
recommendations contained within the recent years.
Sewer Master Plan.
Impact fees are a simple concept (a fee to have
• Complete county-wide master infrastructure
those generating the need for the infrastructure
plan (including roadways, bridges, stormwater
or other investment pay for some or all of it
drainage, County facilities, etc.) Building through a fee) but can be complicated in how
off of the Blue Township Sewer Master Plan
they are structured. An impact fee study would
recommendations, develop an infrastructure
examine which model of impact fee makes the
plan for the County that will include future
most sense (if any) for the County to pursue.
infrastructure needs based on the Comprehensive
Plan’s Future Land Use Map. Generally, the jurisdiction imposing the fee must:
› Infrastructure plan should include funding • Clearly identify the purpose of the fee;
mechanisms and updated fee structure • Identify how the fee will be used;
policies for all areas of the County, varied
• Demonstrate a reasonable relationship
depending on the development type.
between how the fee will be used and the
The infrastructure plan should be phased
type of project it will be leveraged on; and
looking out to at least the year 2040. The
plan should coordinate infrastructure • Only use the fees on the stated purposes and
needs and recommendations with utility be able to account for the fees.
providers in the County, such as the Rural
Prior to assessing impact fees, the County must
Water Districts. Water supply should be
determine the costs of capital improvements
specifically addressed as a component of
related to development and determine how
the infrastructure plan.
to allocate those costs to development in a
› For county-supplied utilities specific to proportionate and equitable manner.
Green Valley area, prepare utility master
plans (including for water and drainage.) An impact fee study would help define the
relationship between the need for capital
› GIS-based utility systems mapping should
improvements (infrastructure) and development
be accomplished through the master plans.
and explore methods such as a plan-based
› The utility master plans and phased capital impact fee calculation, cost recovery
infrastructure plan should inform a formal impact fee calculation, and an incremental
Capital Improvements Program (CIP) expansion impact fee calculation.
process and associated capital budgeting.
Wastewater treatment and collection system

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Adopted - August 19, 2019 The Future County 4 | Growth Capacity | 59