Planning and Development Services

Latecomer’s Agreements

BERK Consulting, Inc. has been retained by Skagit County to provide on-call planning services regarding latecomers’ agreements.  Latecomer agreements allow a property owner to request that a municipality contract with them to extend street or utility improvements; the owner can recoup a portion of their costs to install the new facilities from others benefiting from the infrastructure extension. A property owner who benefits from the infrastructure put in by the “first in” developer contributes their fair share for connecting to it. Latecomer agreements are a way to share the cost of building infrastructure and can be a helpful tool to spur development in areas where the upfront cost of infrastructure is a challenge to development.

Statutes authorize counties and cities to have a process to contract with owners of real estate for the construction or improvement of street projects; counties or cities may also participate in or finance all the costs and become the sole beneficiary of the reimbursements for streets.

The Planning Department estimates an approximately five month process to hold workshops with the Planning Commission, a public hearing, complete SEPA, and draft the code amendments for public review and comment.

• BERK and Staff Report in Advance of the Planning Commission Workshop Scheduled for June 5, 2018