Winter Haven considers significantly raising impact fees on new development

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Winter Haven city leaders are considering potential plans to significantly raise impact fees.

If approved, it would be the first increase in nearly 20 years.

As more people move to Winter Haven, city leaders say raising impact fees will help meet growing infrastructure demands — including funding for libraries, fire services, and parks and recreation. Helping to preserve and enhance the city’s outdoor spaces has been Marian Ryan’s life’s work. Before becoming president of the nonprofit Friends of the Parks, Ryan says her fondest childhood memories were made in green spaces.

“The places that I hung out was what is now Rotary Park in Lake Martha, also down at Lake Albert, here at Lake Silver where I learned how to swim,” Ryan said.

Ryan says each park has grown over the years, but there’s still more work to be done.

“You really should have a certain number of parks or actually open space acres per resident, and so that number is hard to keep up with, especially when you have really rapid development like we’ve been experiencing. So it’s really neat to have it come to fruition now… hopefully.”

Winter Haven city leaders are looking to raise impact fees on new development by 139%. City Manager Michael Stavres says the fee for a single-family home would increase from just over $2,400 to $5,820. He says the proposed hike follows an “extraordinary circumstances” study conducted by the city.

“When we look at what it costs to expand infrastructure in 2025 and over the next 10 years, and how we’re expected to grow over that same 10 years, it’s a very different scenario than it was in 2006,” he said. “It’s a community that grew from about 26,000 people in 2006 to over 60,000 people today. And we anticipate close to 10,000 new single-family homes in the next 10 years.”

So far, Stavres says city leaders haven’t heard from developers about the potential fees. However, he says residents he’s spoken to are on board with the idea of what he calls “growth paying for growth.”

As for Ryan, she’s looking forward to seeing funding go toward expanding the city’s parks.

“I always like to see open trails and space first,” she said — just one more way to help preserve the quality of life for those who call the city home.

If approved, the fees will take effect on Oct. 1.