§ 2-24.9 - Fees imposed; time of payment; fees adjusted by city council based upon evidence presented by applicant.
(a) Any person who, after the effective date of this division, seeks to develop land by applying for issuance of a building permit for a residential dwelling unit or non-residential use, as defined by this division, shall be required to pay public safety impact fees prior to the issuance of a building permit, or any other development permit for the construction or substantial reconstruction of any structure to be used for a residential dwelling unit or non-residential use. The public safety impact fees shall consist of three separate fees: a fire and rescue impact fee, a police protection impact fee, and an ALS (advanced life support) impact fee. The following fee tables shall be used to determine the amount due for each type of fee.
(1) The amount of the fire and rescue impact fees shall be determined according to the following tables. For structures that contain both residential and non-residential uses, the amount of the fees shall be apportioned between the residential and non-residential uses.
Fire and Rescue | Unit of Measure (UM) | July 1, 2026 Impact Fee | July 1, 2027 Impact Fee | July 1, 2028 Impact Fee | July 1, 2029 Impact Fee
Residential Dwelling Unit < 30,000 square feet | Unit | $646.83 | $718.70 | $790.57 | $862.44
Residential Dwelling Unit > 30,000 square feet | Unit | $665.53 | $739.48 | $813.42 | $887.37
Non-Residential < 30,000 square feet | Square Foot | $0.1676 | $0.1863 | $0.2049 | $0.2235
Non-Residential > 30,000 square feet | Square Foot | $0.1721 | $0.1913 | $0.2104 | $0.2295
(2) The amount of the police protection impact fee shall be determined according to the following table.
Police Protection | Unit of Measure (UM) | July 1, 2026 Impact Fee | July 1, 2027 Impact Fee | July 1, 2028 Impact Fee | July 1, 2029 Impact Fee
Residential Dwelling Unit | Unit | $671.12 | $745.69 | $820.26 | $894.83
Non-Residential | Square Foot | $0.1736 | $0.1929 | $0.2122 | $0.2315
(3) The amount of the ALS impact fee shall be determined according to the following table.
Advanced Life Support (ALS) Impact Fee | Unit of Measure (UM) | July 1, 2026 Impact Fee | July 1, 2027 Impact Fee | July 1, 2028 Impact Fee | July 1, 2029 Impact Fee
Residential Dwelling Unit | Unit | $39.54 | $43.94 | $43.94 | $43.94
Non-Residential | Square Foot | $0.0102 | $0.0114 | $0.0125 | $0.0137
(b) The fees imposed are a result of the city's fee calculation studies to insure that the impact fees imposed are rationally related to the impact of new growth on public safety activities.
(c) In lieu of the payment of any public safety impact fees set forth herein, and at the option of the city, the fee payer may donate real property, vehicles, and/or capital improvements to the city. Fee payers shall receive credit for any public safety impact fees due under this division equal to the value of the real property, vehicles, or capital improvements offered and exchanged for payment of the public safety impact fees due under this division. Prior to acceptance of any real property, equipment or capital improvements in lieu of public safety impact fees, the City Manager or his or her designee shall obtain an appraisal to establish the credit for real property, equipment or capital improvements presented in lieu of public safety impact fees.
(d) (1)
Real property, equipment or capital improvements proposed to be exchanged in lieu of a payment of any public safety impact fees shall be real property, vehicles or capital improvements needed for public safety facilities as contemplated by this division or in the case of platted lots located in the city's urban services reserve area zoned as commercial or professional use prior to February 13, 1989, that are rezoned by the Cape Coral Comprehensive Plan for residential use, may be exchanged for public safety impact fees if the platted lots are below the minimum size for residential use, and adjoin city-owned property.
(2) Property conveyed to the city for an impact fee credit shall receive a credit equal to its fair market value at the time of the conveyance, or in the case of property located within the city's urban services reserve area, its fair market value based upon the property's commercial or professional zoning prior to the adoption of the Cape Coral Comprehensive Plan on February 13, 1989.
(3) All of the real property acquired by the city in exchange for impact fees contemplated by this division shall be either used for capital improvements contemplated by this article or sold within a reasonable time by the city and all of the proceeds from the sale shall be deposited into the specific impact fee fund for which the property was acquired, pursuant to § 2-24.11 below and used for those specific public safety facilities.
(e) Any fee payor applying for issuance of a building permit, may, at his or her option, submit evidence to the Development Services Director indicating that the impact fees set by this division are not applicable to his or her particular case. Based upon clear and convincing evidence, the Development Services Director may adjust the fees as appropriate for the particular property.
(f) That the city hereby adopts by reference as if fully set forth herein the 2026 City of Cape Coral Development Impact Fee Justification Study prepared by DTA Public Finance, Inc., identifying all real property in the city and the impact fees due for each parcel. A copy of the 2026 City of Cape Coral Development Impact Fee Justification Study is available for public inspection upon request.
(g) Residential construction is exempt from the payment of public safety impact fees for additions to existing residential structures not creating another dwelling unit. Residential construction is exempt from the payment of the fees for the replacement of a residential structure with a new residential structure not creating an additional dwelling unit.
(h) When a structure is moved from one location to another, public safety impact fees will be collected for the new location if the structure constitutes one of the land development uses listed in this section, regardless of whether public safety impact fees have been paid at the old location, unless the use at the new location is a replacement of an equivalent use. If the structure moved is replaced by an equivalent use, no public safety impact fee are owed for the replacement use. In every case, the burden of providing past payment of public safety impact fees or equivalency of use rests with the feepayer.
(i) The city may grant fire and rescue impact fee credits to a developer or property owner in exchange for the construction and transfer, to the city, of permanent utility facilities related to the city's existing potable water transmission/distribution system that are enlarged (up-sized) to provide fire protection to a developer or property owner's property. The city shall utilize an engineer's estimate of probable cost or actual cost of the donated facility to determine the amount of the fire and rescue impact fee credit. The hydraulic share of the existing potable water main shall be deducted from the enlarged (up-sized) potable water main cost when determining the amount of the fire and rescue impact fee credit. Fire and rescue impact fee credits shall be provided for commercial buildings or multi-family dwellings that utilize the increased hydraulic share for fire suppression purposes. Fire and rescue impact fee credits shall not be provided for single-family dwellings or duplexes. The amount of fire and rescue impact fee credits granted for any property shall not exceed the anticipated fire and rescue impact fees to be collected from that property. For properties not obtaining building permits at the time the transfer of the enlarged (up-sized) potable water main is made, estimates of anticipated fire and rescue impact fees shall be used to determine the amount of the credit. The method by which the credits were determined shall be contained in the development agreement or PDP development order applicable to the property.
(Ord. 39-89, 8-21-1989; Ord. 99-89, 1-22-1990; Ord. 81-01, 10-9-2001; Ord. 69-02, 7-29-2002; Ord. 77-02, 8-12-2002; Ord. 75-04, 6-14-2004; Ord. 47-06, 6-5-2006; Ord. 87-05; 6-13-2005; Ord. 47-06, 6-5-2006; Ord. 16-87, 5-27-1987; Ord. 83-87, 10-19-1987; Ord. 34-17, § 1, 10-16-2017; Ord. 12-26, § 1, 3-25-2026, eff. 7-1-2026)
