Florida Counties Alter Development Fees to Encourage Compact, Mixed Uses

According to an article by Rachel Dovey, "in Tampa’s home county, a group of officials is pushing a smart growth-inspired solution, aligning transportation dollars with more compact land-use trends."

Dovey goes on to describe in more detail what is actually a complex policy shift away from a system of "transportation concurrency fees" historically paid by developers that has tended to encourage sprawling development patterns.

Writes Dovey:

"Per an older law, concurrency fees were calculated with cars in mind, using vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to determine how much a developer should pay. Now, Florida allows municipalities to factor other kinds of travel into the fee, including person miles traveled (PMT), 'thereby promoting compact and mixed-use development,' according to the county’s website. These so-called mobility fees can also fund multimodal infrastructure, including roads, transit, bike lanes and sidewalks."