WHYY is reporting that affordable housing advocated in the City of Philadelphia are demanding that City Council impose an impact fee of $4.80 a square foot on all new market rate developments and rentals that would go towards funding the City’s Housing Trust Fund. The story reports that City Council members and Mayor Kenney have committed to considering the impact fee for expanding the Housing Trust Fund.
If City Council were actually foolish enough to pass such legislation, it would hopefully face a constitutional challenge. Under established Supreme Court precedent, the demanded impact fee there has to be a nexus between the new construction and affordable housing. In other words, the City would have to show that new construction is causing a decrease in affordable housing options in the City. Moreover, the demanded fee would have to bear some proportionality to the impact it seeks to mitigate.
While leftist politicians and affordable housing advocates frequently complain that new developing is pricing long time residents out of certain neighborhoods, like all straw man arguments, there is little to no empirical evidence to support such a claim. Furthermore, the story does not mention how the affordable housing group arrived at the $4.80 figure it asks Council to impose and whether it bears any proportionality to the alleged impact on affordable housing that new development causes.
Wally Zimolong
Wally represents contractors (and subcontractors) and developers. His clients build and develop residential, commercial, and industrial properties nationwide. Wally enjoys working with the owners of the businesses he represents because they tend to be entrepreneurs and all around interesting people.
