The City Council officially adopted a long-awaited linkage fee ordinance at its Monday night meeting.
The ordinance will require developers to pay a fee to the city for developments that meet certain size requirements. Those fees would then be used by the city for programs such as youth sports or other programs to improve the city.
The home rule petition for linkage fees was introduced by then- City Council President Roy Avellaneda in early 2022. The ordinance creates linkage fees for any commercial, industrial, or mixed-used development, and any residential developments of 24 or more units.
Those fees would then go into a separate fund, and the City Council would then be able to decide how the funds could best be used for the neighborhoods impacted and the city.
Current Council President Leo Robinson said the council could vote on the final ordinance Monday night because the home rule petition officially passed at the state level.
Robinson also praised the work Avellaneda did to make the linkage fees ordinance a reality.
“Even though my name is on it, a lot of the credit goes to Roy Avellaneda, who was the president who did a lot of work on the linkage fees,” said Robinson. “Him and I have had conversations about where we thought the money should end up going, and a lot of it we talked about trying to pump up money to go to youth sports so that we can increase the number of participants in our community.”
Robinson said Avellaneda spent a lot of time on the legislation and wanted to make sure he was recognized for the work he did.
At the time, Avellandeda said the benefits of the linkage fee ordinance include it being transparent, with the control of the fees resting with elected officials.
District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown also thanked Avellaneda for the work he put into the ordinance and said the plan was the right thing for Chelsea.
Because there was already a public hearing on the ordinance when it was first presented at the council level last year, Robinson said the council could take the final vote Monday night without further action.