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Greetings!
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors recently approved two ordinances that will allow them to charge impact fees for new construction (both commercial and residential) in unincorporated areas in the county and city.
The Board of Supervisors stated that the reasoning behind the fees is to accommodate the population disbursement and the respective resources - 95 percent of the county's population lives in Tulare County's eight cities and those residents utilize county roads and services - from sheriff's services to criminals being housed in county jails. If the county depended solely on the residents in the unincorporated areas to provide these services, that'd be five percent of the population.
There are already city impact fees in place which means by adding the County's new ordinances we are essentially being double-ended on fees. While I understand the nature of these ordinances, I do not agree with them. The data used to substantiate the fee increase is outdated and in some cases irrelevant. The County has included projects within the nexus of the fee study that are currently under construction or have already been completed (neither of which should have been factored into the study), and therefore, the real fee increase numbers have not been identified.
Furthermore, the construction industry has taken a beating in the last four years and these additional costs will hinder development and will contribute to an even slower economic recovery. Additional fees are not the answer; from an economic development standpoint, we are putting Tulare County at a huge disadvantage because these fees are a deterrent to companies looking at developing, constructing facilities or relocating to Tulare County. Increasing fees and imposing new taxes is always a short term solution to a long term problem and in this particular situation, we are putting the future Tulare County's economic development in jeopardy.
Sincerely,
Matt Seals
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Visalia's St. Charles Parish Center On Track for August Completion
Visalia will soon add another Catholic Church to the Diocese, as the first phase of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church's 17,000-square-foot multi-purpose parish center is slated for completion in early August. Working alongside architect Jack Hayslett, Seals/Biehle has provided general contracting services on the $4.5 million project. The mission-style building boasts eight classrooms, a kitchen, a sacristy, a conference room, a chapel and a hospitality desk. Polished, stained-concrete floors are laid throughout the building with terra-cotta colored tiles in the kitchen.
Phase one was preceded by Seals/Biehle's completion of the on-site utilities, earthwork and site-work construction for Saint Charles Borromeo back in the fall of 2010; and phase II construction will commence after funds are raised for the project.
News of St. Charles' completion recently broke in the Visalia Times Delta (click here to read the complete article.)
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Game Changer: the Green Code
Every once in a while an invention, a technological advancement, or a concept changes the game - it changes the way business is done, it changes the approach, and it changes an industry. For years there has been an emphasis on green building and environmental responsibility, with green building rating systems being the top standard for designing sustainable buildings, but there are speculations to how enforceable these guidelines actually are. Enter the International Green Construction Code...commonly referred to as the "Green Code," it mandates that a building achieve specific and strict sustainable design goals, set by states or municipalities as well as offering options for design of additional measures toward higher levels of performance. Since buildings have been deemed the largest contributors of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the goal of the "Green Code" is to enforce a higher standard in constructing sustainable buildings. The green game has changed and many believe this will finally combine the expertise required for green building with model building codes for safety and health.
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"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
-- Ronald Reagan
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