
DATE: Monday, October 13, 1997              TAG: 9710130048

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: DECISION 97

SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT and KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:  127 lines

GROWTH IS FUELING DONATIONS TO LOCAL ASSEMBLY CAMPAIGNS

Builders and developers are giving mightily to General Assembly candidates in Hampton Roads, where cities are battling growth issues such as congested roads and overcrowded schools.

Candidates here have captured 40 percent of the statewide pot supplied by developers, contractors, builders and real estate workers, according to an analysis of campaign contribution data through Sept. 1.

Such donors contributed $415,000 statewide, with $168,500 winding up with candidates in Hampton Roads. Nearly $45,000 went to local candidates who had no opponents.

And much of the money has gone to candidates in Chesapeake and Suffolk, which are struggling to find ways to manage growth and have sought state permission to impose fees on developers.

First-time General Assembly candidate S. Chris Jones, a councilman and former mayor in Suffolk, received more than $16,500 from Realtors, developers, builders and contractors in his race in Suffolk and Chesapeake's 76th District.

Robert Bain, president of the Hampton Roads Realtor Association, said his group is against a number of devices that would shift the cost of development onto builders.

Bain said they have endorsed Jones because they feel he ``could represent needs of the local real estate community.''

``Of the candidates we've endorsed, all of them don't agree with us 100 percent, but we feel they have an open-door policy and they will ask us our opinion,'' Bain said.

Jones is running against Democrat Michelle Degnan, a Chesapeake teacher.

Degnan hadn't received any development donations as of Sept. 1 and had raised a total of $7,750.

``When you talk about how to pay for growth, one problem is that that tends to be by singling out landowners to carry the brunt of it,'' Bain said. ``Taxation should be broader-based.''

Jones said he will be open-minded but hasn't given up on making developers pay for growth.

``I have been very forthcoming with parties who have asked me about the need for assistance for communities, and of course I have not ruled out impact fees, proffers, or recordation fees,'' Jones said. ``These are the type things that must be looked at for your faster-growing communities.''

Developers and builders have said they want a voice in growth management discussions, especially when it comes to proposed fees on their industry. They have even won a seat on a state committee assigned to study impact fees and other ways to pay for growth.

In the last legislative session, developers won a measure to stop cities from charging more than the actual cost of hooking up to water and sewer lines, even though most cities opposed the bill.

Fred Napolitano II, vice president of Napolitano Homes and president of Tidewater Builders Association, said builders and developers are helping the General Assembly come up with more ``broad-based solutions'' to the cost of growth.

``I think that legislators have recognized the pitfalls of impact fees,'' Napolitano said. ``That's why they have historically not embraced the whole concept.''

Franklin P. Hall, chairman of the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee, said his committee has spent a lot of time studying impact fees.

``Traditionally, the housing industry has opposed those kinds of fees because it drives the cost of housing up so high,'' Hall said. ``They (localities) have to find a way to build schools and roads and increase public safety. They have to find ways to support that new growth.''

Suffolk and Chesapeake have unsuccessfully asked the state to allow them to impose impact fees on developers.

The fees are charges assessed to developers to help offset the cost of infrastructure to support the new development.

Cities say they need such tools to pay for school construction, new roads and more police and fire protection - the things a growing population demands. But the real estate and development communities have lobbied against such fees, calling them an unfair burden.

``The city over the last several years has requested impact fees, and that hasn't occurred,'' said Brent Nielson, planning director in Chesapeake. ``Last year the request was to limit it to $3,000 per unit.''

But the bill was not introduced in 1996. The last time it was introduced at all was in 1995.

``We put the bill in, but we couldn't get it out of the Committee on Counties, Cities,'' said Del. J. Randy Forbes.

``They are so against the bill, it's fruitless to do it again.''

Forbes is unopposed in Chesapeake's 78th House District but received $10,500 in contributions from builders, Realtors, developers and contractors. He said he was ``surprised'' developers were giving him any money.

While Forbes said he is not an avid supporter of impact fees, he said he is working with the city to make sure ``they have the tools and vehicles they need to deal with growth issues.''

``Impact fees are not a panacea,'' he said.

Forbes said he has tried to get lottery money designated for school construction and not just for operating expenses. One of his bills that did pass changed the way Chesapeake finances and builds public schools. It cuts the time it takes to build a school in half, he said.

Chairman Hall said developers in Northern Virginia finally realized the myriad problems growth was causing in that region and agreed not to fight the impact fees.

``That's why it was passed in Northern Virginia,'' Hall said. ``They have recognized the need to find ways to finance the rapid growth - both the communities themselves and the building community.''

After Northern Virginia won the right to assess impact fees in that area, other localities lost their momentum in the fight to assess the fees.

Hall, who received about $4,500 from Realtors and builders for his uncontested race, said impact fees are unlikely to pass elsewhere in the state unless the industry agrees to them.

``The chances of any sort of fee increases being authorized is a whole lot better when the interested parties come in with an agreement,'' Hall said.

Hall has created an ad hoc committee to study impact fees and other solutions to paying for growth. That committee includes a member from the Tidewater Builders Association, the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of Realtors, and the Virginia Builders Association.

``I think we'll see some new and interesting ways to fund infrastructure,'' TBA president Napolitano said. ``This is the first time a group has gotten together to discuss these issues. We're going to be monitoring the suggestions of this committee very closely.'' ILLUSTRATION: DONATIONS

Candidates in Hampton Roads have received 40 percent of statewide

donations from developers, contractors, builders and real estate

workers.

Much of the money has gone to candidates in Chesapeake and

Suffolk, which are trying to manage growth and want to impose fees

on developers.

THE CONTRIBUTIONS

The Virginian-Pilot

SOURCE: Virginian-Pilot analysis/Virginia Public Access Project KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCE CONTRIBUTIONS