Senate panel approves proffer restrictions after proposal is tweaked

By CHELYEN DAVIS

Date published: 2/22/2005

Local government officials pleased with the changes made to measure

RICHMOND--A Senate committee yesterday approved a bill restricting the timeline for developers to pay proffers to local governments.

However, the bill was amended in such a way as to make it much more palatable to local governments.

The bill, introduced by Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, originally would have prevented local governments from requiring developers to pay proffers at the time the developers request a rezoning for a future development.

Proffers are cash or other incentives developers offer to localities to encourage officials to rezone property so the developer can build on it. Proffers don't come into play when developers want to build on land already zoned for what they want.

Localities can use proffers to pay for infrastructure, such as roads, schools or water systems, that the new development will need.

Local government officials opposed the original bill, saying it denied them the flexibility they need to plan for new development and infrastructure.

But the amended bill--a compromise between developers and local officials--simply says that while localities cannot require developers to pay proffers at the time of rezoning, the locality and the developer can work out an agreement on the payment of proffers between themselves.

The amendment "gives us more flexibility to negotiate with developers, which is what we wanted all along," Spotsylvania County Supervisor Hap Conners said.

Stafford County Supervisor Pete Fields said it was a victory for the Coalition on Local Government, which helped take a "destructive" bill and make it "relatively benign.

The amendment "really takes away virtually all the problems we had with it," Fields said. "It replicates essentially what has been existing law all along."

The Senate Local Government committee passed the amended bill unanimously yesterday. However, Sen. Bill Mims, R-Loudon County, said there are some minor changes that still need to be worked out when the bill gets to the Senate floor.

"We did have peace in the valley, we were all singing 'Kumbaya.' Since then we've all gotten a bit hoarse," Mims said. "There's a consensus that we should move forward with the language that we've got, and we continue the discussions after this committee rises."

The committee also unanimously approved a bill from Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, that says that if proffer money isn't used within seven years, it reverts to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for use in the locality's transportation district.

To reach CHELYEN DAVIS: 804/782-9362 cdavis@freelancestar.com

Date published: 2/22/2005