Correcting The Daily Times, again!
Today’s article about Salisbury’s “capacity fee” dispute with the Oasis Car Wash states that the fee is paid “by businesses”. Actually, that is correct, but very misleading because it clearly implies that the fee does not apply to residential development.
The capacity fee, which was imposed five or so years ago to obtain money to upgrade the sewer and water systems, is paid for both residential and commercial development that adds to the demand for that infrastructure. At present, the fee to build a new home is $8,500; although paid by the developer, it is passed on, driving up the cost of housing in the City as opposed to homes in the County.
Obviously, the capacity fee tends to reduce both residential and commercial development in the City. The capacity fee was a major reason why the microbrewery that wanted to locate in the old train station decided to go to Delmar instead.
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Breweries also create BOD, which is a major strain on wastewater plants. The Micro-brewery was going to have to pre-treat their waste before releasing it into the sewer system and this would have driven up their start up costs.
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