HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hendersonville is experiencing rapid growth, and city leaders are looking for new ways to fund the infrastructure needed to support an expanding population.
Mayor James Clary is proposing impact fees on new residential construction to help pay for improvements to roads, parks and city services.
"Impact fees on new residences are important because it's the new residents that are causing the need for improved infrastructure in transportation and parks," Clary said.
The proposed one-time fees would be $3,500 for single-family homes and $2,500 for new high-density units like apartments.
Developers would be responsible for paying most of these fees, though the costs could potentially be passed on to new homeowners or renters through higher home prices or rent.
Kerry Muse, who enjoys Memorial Park in Hendersonville with her son Ashton, has witnessed the city's transformation firsthand.
"They know that this is a place that a lot of people are going to want to live and houses and apartments are coming up everywhere," Muse said.
Commercial developments would be exempt from the impact fees for now because they already generate significant tax revenue for the city.
"For single family homes we're going to start at $3,500 per house for new high density units it's going to be $2,500," Clary said.
"It didn't make sense to go after a couple hundred thousand dollar and lose a couple million every year," Clary said.
The fees still require final approval from the city council. If passed, they would only apply to new construction moving forward.
Want to learn more about how Hendersonville's growth is affecting your neighborhood? Watch our full video report and share your thoughts on the proposed impact fees. Have you noticed changes in your area due to new construction? Email reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com with your experiences.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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