Impact fees, private property rights, smart growth – these are terms that have been used in the media lately with both positive and negative connotations. The Realtor® Association of Acadiana (RAA), along with the Acadian Home Builders Association (AHBA) and the Acadiana Mortgage Lenders Association (AMLA), decided to be pro-active and address these issues with a commitment to work together, and with other interested parties, to achieve positive outcomes for our community. Here are our statements.

PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT

The Acadian Home Builders Association, the Acadiana Mortgage Lenders Association, and the REALTOR^® Association of Acadiana seek to ensure that government does not arbitrarily violate an individual’s opportunity to possess, develop and transfer real property as supported by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Our organizations believe that private property rights are among the fundamental rights we are guaranteed as American citizens, as well as being the cornerstone of our industries and crucial to continued economic growth and development.

If a proposed development meets all the criteria and rules and regulations, it should be allowed unless there is some highly unusual circumstance that would cause further investigation. The rules should be applied consistently and fairly to everyone.

SMART GROWTH

The Acadian Home Builders Association, the Acadiana Mortgage Lenders Association, and the REALTOR^® Association of Acadiana believe that a plan for “Smart Growth” should be initiated in Lafayette Parish to serve as a blueprint for planning and building an even better Lafayette parish.

Each community defines smart growth for itself, but the three named organizations endorse “Smart Growth” as defined by the following principles:

1. Make a commitment to housing opportunity and choice, a wide range of urban, suburban, and rural homes at all price levels for a diverse population, while planning for strong economic development and growth.
2. Protect environmentally sensitive areas and enhance them, when practical, including properties of historic significance.
3. Plan and construct new infrastructure in a timely manner to keep pace with the current and future demand for housing, using fair and reasonable public sector fiscal measures.
4. Recognize the unique elements of Lafayette Parish and respect our Constitutional rights to freely own, use and transfer private property.

Establishing form-based codes along with a comprehensive community development plan are the first steps to developing a livable “Smart Growth” community.

IMPACT FEES

The Acadian Home Builders Association, the Acadiana Mortgage Lenders Association, and the REALTOR® Association of Acadiana oppose the imposition of impact fees for the following reasons:

• Infrastructure should be funded by broad-based taxes so that all who benefit will pay a fair share.
• Impact fees are not a reliable, efficient, adequate, predictable, fair or dependable source of revenue and therefore, cannot be leveraged for bonds, nor will the fees ultimately guarantee funding for a specific infrastructure project.
• Impact fees drive up the cost of all housing, effectively pricing many lower income households out of the market, for ownership as well as rental.
• Communities which impose impact fees retard the very thing they are trying to promote which is growth.
• Impact fees cause urban sprawl as developers seek political jurisdictions without impact fees.

Funds are needed for infrastructure, but impact fees would only make a minimal difference. We need to work together to find something that would be of benefit to all involved and protect the homeowners.