WASILLA -- A proposal by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to have developers pay a fee for new buildings has some in the development community up in arms.

The fees, aimed at fixing road problems that stem from growth, could average $2,176 for a single-family house. Commercial buildings, because of their greater traffic, would be charged more; the developer of a 6,000-square-foot office would pay $10,385.

Members of the Mat-Su Home Builders Committee and Valley Board of Realtors say the impact fees are a bad idea and could slow growth at a time when the industry is already ailing.

"We certainly don't want fees to go just to one industry. And with the change in the economy, the timing was kind of unfortunate," said Paddy Coan, the managing broker for Prudential Jack White Vista, a real estate firm. Coan also serves on the Valley Board of Realtors' legislative committee, a group that is meeting with Mat-Su Borough officials to find a more palatable solution to the problem.

But others, including former Assemblywoman Mary Kvalheim, who initially asked borough officials to draw up impact-fee legislation, say the fees would make new development pay its fair share for adding to traffic and wear on local roads.

Lauren Kruer, the planner at the Mat-Su Borough overseeing the impact-fee legislation, said the concept is a simple one: "growth paying for itself."

Say you live on a quiet lane that serves five homes, and a landowner at the end of the road builds a subdivision with 100 lots. The road, which might have held up indefinitely with five homeowners, now needs repairs and improvements. But the question, Kruer said, is who pays for the repairs?

The impact fees, based on how much traffic the new building would cause, would apply to new houses and commercial structures. Money collected would go to the road service area that plows and maintains roads in the district the new building is in. If it's not spent in six years, the money would be returned to the property owner, Kruer said.

The fee proposal is still being developed and a lot of details are in play, such as whether someone building in Trapper Creek should have to pay the actual cost of building or repairing roads there -- a much higher amount than fixing roads in the borough's core area -- or if everyone should pay an average cost.

Kruer said because those details are still in flux, she didn't know yet how much money the fee would generate. Borough Assessor Dave Dunivan counted 302 houses built last year, plus seven duplexes, three multifamily homes and about 70 commercial buildings. Counted conservatively, the fees would have brought in more than $1.4 million last year.

The idea is controversial and Kruer spent a lot of time early this year talking with critics and debunking rumors that the fees were on a fast track to the Assembly. Now, the Web site where the impact fees are posted for review contains warnings in bold, underlined and sometimes capitalized letters: "This is a CONCEPT, nothing is final. There is NO FAST TRACK."

The Valley may have grown and matured, but big-government rules still don't fly far. More than a decade ago, people were hung in effigy for proposing zoning and other land-use laws.

Kruer said the impact fees aren't scheduled for consideration by the Mat-Su Assembly any time soon. Her plan is to toss the idea out there and see whether people like it, hate it or have a better idea. She hopes to continue shaping it, then shop it around at open house meetings in the spring or early summer.

"It's a concept. It's out for discussion," Kruer said. "This isn't something to be tinkered with until it's palatable, but at the same time, are there other ideas? Better ideas?"

That's where groups like the Valley Board of Realtors and Mat-Su Home Builders come in. They're pitching alternatives in hopes that road repairs can be paid for some other way.

Coan said the group isn't backing one alternative in particular yet. But they're taking active part in discussions about the proposal.

"We recognize what they're trying to do and we want to be at the table with them, talking about it," Coan said.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.

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