The Fort Worth Cty Council is considering an ordinance that would double the fee it charges developers to offset the cost of building roads needed for new neighbors. Developers say the proposed increase will hurt affordable housing, but some residents say the proposed increase doesn’t go far enough.

Most of the areas are outside Loop 820.

Fort Worth reevaluates the fees every five years. They were established in 2008.

According to a 2022 study, Fort Worth could charge developers an average of $13,670 per house and $7,413 per apartment unit.

However, the city usually charges a percentage of that maximum amount to share the cost of road improvements with developers. The city charges 30% of the maximum fee.

City staff is recommending raising it to 80% for residential home construction, but builders have said it will increase the cost of housing.

Clint Vincent, vice president of land for developer Bloomfield Homes, told the City Council in September that his company is struggling to sell homes as rising interest rates put affordability out of reach.

Home builders have advocated for the city to raise the rates to 40% of the maximum while giving them six months to adjust to the new fees.

Residents in far north Fort Worth have pushed back on this argument, saying rapid development has led to a deterioration of their quality of life.

“Just to take our kids to school, I almost get rear-ended daily or near misses because the roads aren’t enough for the current traffic,” wrote Tammy Roberts wrote in an email to the City Council. Roberts lives near the intersection of Morris Dido Newark Road and Bonds Ranch Road.

The city has dedicated a large portion of its 2022 bond program to fix roads in far north Fort Worth, however, that wouldn’t be necessary if the city had charged the correct fees in the first place, argued Rusty Fuller, president of the North Fort Worth Alliance, in an email to the city council.

Fuller pushed back on the argument that raising fees will lead to less housing, pointing to planned expansions by the Northwest and Saginaw school districts.

He also pushed back on calls for a six-month delay. He wrote that developers knew the city changes the rates every five years and should have been prepared for changes.

The measure on the council’s agenda would be a compromise between residents and home builders.

The council will vote on the proposed increase at its 10 a.m. meeting on Tuesday.