During the late ’90s and the first part of the new millennium, development was in overdrive in Kane County, and impact fees were the story of the day.

The questions at that time were many and varied. How do you pay for roads that will be needed to support all that new housing? How much should developers be expected to chip in? Where’s the sweet spot between encouraging quality development and not having too much of the burden land in taxpayers’ laps?

While development isn’t in the same place it was in those days, there are signs that the housing industry is beginning to pick up. Updating the county’s Comprehensive Road Improvement Plan and the Roadway Impact Fee Schedule and Ordinance are part of a scheduled routine, but there may be no better time than now to make plans for Kane County’s future.

A public hearing will be held to consider the proposed Land Use Assumptions for these efforts from from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, 2016, in the Auditorium of Building A, Kane County Government Center. The public is invited to attend to view documents and exhibits and provide comments on the proposed Land Use Assumptions.

The ongoing update of the Five-Year Comprehensive Road Improvement Plan and Impact Fee Ordinance outlines how road improvement impact fees are to be collected and spent over the next five years. These fees are charged to new development and are designed to supplement other funding sources so that the burden of paying for road improvements associated with growth can be allocated in a fair and equitable manner.

The public hearing will focus on the land use assumptions, which include future housing and employment projections out to the year 2026. Those assumptions will feed into a detailed transportation modeling process that will provide traffic projections and highlight deficiencies in the system where improvements will be needed.

Deficiencies on the county highway system will then be addressed in the CRIP with an associated roadway capacity improvement project, such as adding turn lanes at an intersection, or through lanes along a county highway.

Recently-constructed county projects that were in part funded with Road Improvement impact fees include the Stearns Road bridge corridor, Anderson Road overpass and extension, Orchard Road widening, Plank Road Realignment, intersection improvements at Burlington Road and Corron Road and more.

More information can be found on this page of the county’s website and an additional public hearing will be held later in year to review the proposed projects in the CRIP and a proposed Fee Schedule.

The county plans on wrapping up these efforts early in 2017.

SOURCE: Kane County Division of Transportation

• FEATURE PHOTO CAPTION: The Anderson Road overpass and extension is an example of a project that was funded in small part by Kane County Road Improvement impact fees.

More Info From the KDOT Website

• Fee Payment Location and Contact Information Sheet
• Fillable Impact Fee Application *
• Public Hearing Agenda 041916
• Fee Schedule Extension by County Board March 15, 2016
• Fee Schedule Extension By County Board May 12, 2015