Evan Dust, Clark County's senior transportation planner andproject manager with regard to the traffic impact fee update, saysthe increases are due in part to a phasing out of "substantial" feereductions that previously were given to retail developers. "Mysense was those reductions were wrong," Dust tells GlobeSt. "Weused to adjust downward for trip lengths, but what we've found isno support for such a reduction, that it was artificial in natureand that uses that generate trips entirely within one sub areashould pay the full amount of the fees. The proposed changesrepresent a more realistic picture of the costs."

Clark County and the city of Vancouver jointly administer thetraffic impact fee program. The two use different formulas tocalculate the amount developers are charged, but in addition to thefee increase are proposing to make their formulas identical. ClarkCounty commissioners are holding a hearing on the issue tonight. Itbegins at 6:30 p.m. in the Hazel Dell Sewer District conferenceroom, 8000 N.E. 52nd Court. Even if the county approves theincrease, the city council will hold its own public hearing beforeapproving similar changes.

Dust says the county recently began receiving correspondence byretail developers wanting more time to study the changes andcomment on them. "I had initial (fee increase) numbers that lookedworse than this that were available (a while ago) and nobody seemedto pay attention to those," Dust tells GlobeSt. "Now that the boardis going to take action, suddenly people want to delay theprocess."