City Settles Lawsuit over Impact Fees

November 16, 2012

CEDAR HILLS – On November 15, 2012, the Cedar Hills City Council unanimously agreed to approve asettlement agreement to resolve a lawsuit with the Utah Valley Homebuilders Association. In April, theAssociation filed an action against the City regarding the collection and use of impact fees for recreationfacilities.Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the parties agree that no liability has been established andthat by settling, the City does not admit to any wrongdoing. The City agreed to pay $175,000, which isapproximately the amount of recreation impact fees that had not yet been spent, and reimburse attorney’sfees in the amount of $15,000. Additionally, the City has adopted an ordinance to repeal the recreationfacilities component of the park impact fee previously assessed and collected by the City. The City willcontinue to collect the park land and park development portion of the park impact fee as provided in theCity’s fee schedule.“We are pleased to have come to a mutually agreeable settlement with the Utah Valley HomebuildersAssociation,” stated Mayor Gary Gygi. “We appreciate the partnerships we’ve had with many developersas our city has grown, and we are looking to the future as we work to expand our commercial district.”Rich Lewis of R. J. Lewis, Inc., the President of the Utah Valley Home Builders, added, “As a homebuilders association, we appreciate working with Cedar Hills to come to a mutual agreement in thismatter. We recognize the need to pay reasonable fees that support city infrastructure and services, and arehappy to be an advocate for the consumer and our industry in helping to control these costs. We feel aresponsibility to work together with municipalities to build beautiful communities, and look forward toour continued association with Cedar Hills and the other communities in Utah County.”______________________________________________________Media inquiries may be sent to Jenney Rees at jrees@cedarhills.org.