Most homeowners, or those who hope to be homeowners in the future may not have paid too much attention to the news earlier this month that Harrisonburg water and sewer connection fees will be increasing. But maybe we all should have taken note . . .

The Change

Example #1: three-quarter-inch water meter --- in this example, the sum of the water and sewer connection fees will soon be $7,000, instead of the existing $2,000. This size would be typical for a single family residence.

Example #2: a six-inch water meter --- in this example, the sum of the water and sewer connection fees will soon be $300,000, instead of the existing $17,500. This size would be typical for a large commercial project.

Peruse the current fee schedule here, and the new schedule here (effective July 1, 2008).

The Effect

As Todd Rhea, of Clark & Bradshaw, commented at last week's Smart Growth Symposium, when builders or developers are faced with new fees, we're fooling ourselves if we think they absorb those costs. They ultimately get passed on to the buyer. With this logic, one could argue that city housing costs will increase universally by $5,000 come July.

Action Item

Builders and developers should note that the fees are charged at the time of obtaining the building permit --- so as long as a lot has a building permit prior to July 1, 2008, you can take advantage of the lower fee schedule.  For a developer of a major residential or commercial project, this could equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings.

I have heard some people talk about development as if in the next few years, or decades, all of Rockingham County will be developed --- with the farm land destroyed, and our history no longer preserved.

Below I'll try to put that thought in the context of actual land use, but for the record --- I don't think many at today's Smart Growth Symposium thought that the above statement is true.  (Lest anyone conclude that I am referring to any of the attendees).



The data above is extracted from the Rockingham County Comprehensive Plan, particularly page 18 of the section on Strategies, Policies and Actions.

Here's the full list of how Rockingham County land is being used:

• Agriculture - 248,000 acres (46%)
• Forest - 50,000 acres (9%)
• Commercial - 4,000 acres (0.7%)
• Industrial - 1,400 acres (0.3%)
• Single Family Residential - 44,000 acres (8.2%)
• Multi-family or Duplex - 175 acres (<0.1%)
• Mobile Home Park - 1,100 acres (0.2%)
• Federal Government - 178,000 acres (33%)
• State Government - 500 acres (0.1%)
• Local Government - 1,700 acres (0.3%)
• Regional Government - 130 acres (<0.1%)
• Charitable/Religious/Education - 2,300 acres (0.4%)
• Other - 7,000 acres (1.8%)

As you can see --- much of Rockingham County will likely never be developed (33% is owned by the government) --- and we still have an extraordinary amount of undeveloped land.

Over the past several years, prices of lots in eastern Rockingham County, particularly in the Peak View school district have increased dramatically.  However, in 2007, the average sales price dropped below the 2006 average sales price. 

2003:  $47,546  (81 sales)

2004:  $55,354  (112 sales)

2005:  $89,112  (98 sales)

2006:  $118,075  (51 sales)

2007:  $110,875  (35 sales)

As you can above, during this same time, demand for lots decreased rather significantly.  This was compounded by the fact that the inventory of available lots increased during the same time --- there are currently 109 lots available in the Peak View school district, as follows:

Subdivision	Lots for Sale	Average List Price
Barrington	3	$112,433
Battlefield Estates	3	$89,500
Bridlewood	2	$106,200
Crossroads Farms	22	$130,482
Givenchy Commons	10	$129,900
Great Oaks	1	$99,900
Highland Park	2	$118,700
Lakewood	1	$109,900
Magnolia Ridge	65	$117,888