A consultant working with the City of Cape Coral presented a draft mobility plan and a proposed mobility-fee ordinance that would replace the city’s uniform road impact fee with area-based mobility fees and could allow higher or phased-in rates if City Council finds “extraordinary circumstances.” Jonathan Paul, a consultant with New Urban Concepts working with the City of Cape Coral, told the council the proposal creates assessment areas tied to the city’s comprehensive plan and would keep fees collected in a part of the city available to projects in that same area.
Paul said the draft ties fees to a detailed project list: roads, wet roadways, intersections, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, on-demand transit and several mobility programs. “These fees will not be higher, than what you are seeing today,” he said, describing the figures shown in the presentation as maximums that could fall as the project list is refined and community feedback is received.
The consultant emphasized two major changes from the current road impact fee: fees would vary by planning area (South Cape/core, Central Cape, North Cape) rather than be uniform across the city, and single-family residential fees would be assessed on a per-square-foot basis rather than per dwelling unit. Paul used a 2,000-square-foot house as an example: in the South Cape core that household’s maximum calculated mobility fee would be $10,200; in a Central Cape example a maximum for a 2,000-square-foot house was shown as $12,600. Paul said the current fee is $3,347 (the city’s road impact fee last updated in the 2000s) and presented phase-in illustrations required by state statute if the City adopts increases above the statutory thresholds.
Why this matters: Florida law enacted an “extraordinary circumstances” provision in 2021 that lets local governments adopt increases greater than 50% above an existing fee or use alternative phase-in schedules only after a documented finding and, depending on future changes in the statute, specified voting thresholds. Paul said the city’s study documents population and vehicle-mile trends, build-out analyses and construction-cost inflation that, in the consultant’s view, justify a finding of extraordinary circumstances. He cited statewide and district data showing rising roadway construction costs and a large projected growth in housing units and residents through 2045.
Paul compared Cape Coral’s proposed fees with surrounding jurisdictions: Bonita Springs and Estero have adopted higher fees in recent updates (Bonita Springs’ single-family fee cited as $12,350), Lee County and nearby cities calculated higher per-dwelling mitigation costs in earlier studies, and more recent updates in Manatee and Osceola counties show fees that exceed $20,000 per dwelling unit in some cases. Paul also noted his firm’s recent work in Palm Beach Gardens, where his update produced a fee around $14,000 for a 3,000-square-foot house.
During public comment several speakers challenged the use of the extraordinary-circumstances provision. One resident argued that growth and inflation are foreseeable and that the city’s failure to update fees periodically undermines a claim of extraordinary circumstances: “The argument that population growth and inflation constitute extraordinary growth under state law does not hold up,” the resident said, adding that the law was not intended to retroactively correct years of inaction.
Patricia Schumacher, a Cape Coral resident, told the council she also opposed invoking extraordinary circumstances and urged the city to follow the legislature’s regular phase-in approach: “I don’t think it’s appropriate to invoke that. I think we should continue with how the legislature has laid out the regular protocol.” She said using the extraordinary provision risks circumventing legislative intent.
City staff confirmed the presentation was the first of two public workshops required by statute; the consultant said the study and draft materials would be posted online after the meeting. Paul said the next steps include a briefing with city leadership, a presentation to the Planning and Zoning Board, and adoption hearing dates being considered for August and September. He noted that adopting rates higher than statutory thresholds will require supermajority or, under a statutory change he cited, unanimous votes and minimum phase-in requirements beginning in 2026.
No formal council vote or motion was recorded during the workshop. City staff closed the public workshop and reminded attendees of a second public workshop scheduled later the same day at 1 p.m., which would also be broadcast electronically.