On second go, Gig Harbor council votes to more than double transportation impact fee

A divided Gig Harbor City Council voted Monday to more than double a transportation impact fee it approved two weeks earlier and return two road projects to a list of projects paid for with money raised from the fee.

The vote was set up after Mayor Kit Kuhn vetoed the council’s decision Nov. 26 to increase the fee to $2,896 from its current $2,102 per vehicle trip during the evening peak hour.

The fee is charged to developers as a way to offset the traffic impacts of new building projects. Raising the fee has been controversial in the development community, with some builders complaining raising it too much would hurt their ability to complete projects.

Kuhn argued the original hike wasn’t high enough to meaningfully address the city’s growing transportation problems. As part of his veto, he suggested the fee be raised to $5,071 and that two improvement projects be reinstated to the project list — Vernhardson Street and 38th Avenue Northwest.

In a 4-3 vote, the council agreed. Council members Jeni Woock, Ken Malich, Spencer Abersold and Jim Franich sided with the mayor. Members Michael Perrow, Spencer Hutchins and Bob Himes voted against Kuhn’s proposal.