Impact fees jeopardize project

The complexity of impact fees has ensnared a Sarasota entrepreneur in a whirlwind of puzzling negotiations, and now a multimillion-dollar commercial redevelopment project is in doubt.

The saga is over Michael Evanoff's plan to turn a onetime construction equipment rental business into a restaurant, nightclub and bar. Evanoff, whose family runs the prominent Evie's golf centers and taverns in Sarasota, bought the 11,700-square-foot building, the former ASAP Enterprise, for $595,000 late last year.

In early June though, just as site work was about to begin, Evanoff got word that impact fees due to Sarasota County for the project would be $221,330. That's nearly one-third what he paid for the property. Impact fees on the Gulf Coast vary widely, but several local developers say that figure is eye-poppingly steep.

Impact fees are taxes counties and municipalities charge developers to cover a broad range of services, including roadwork near the property, water and sewer lines. Several Gulf Coast counties and cities, including Sarasota County, have drastically cut or waived impact fees over the past few years to encourage redevelopment projects amid the recession.

This includes projects like Evanoff's White Buffalo Saloon, which he says will feature a restaurant, a 2,500-square-foot dance floor and live music. He says he will hire 85 people. “I'm not saying that we shouldn't pay any impact fees,” says Evanoff. “But all the county does is impact, impact, impact. How about the impact I will bring to Sarasota?”

Evanoff has spent the past three weeks arguing his case, in person and over email, with county staff and officials. County commissioners Jon Thaxton and Joe Barbetta empathize with Evanoff. “I'm frustrated to no end,” Thaxton tells Coffee Talk. “We have been looking for every angle possible to lower the fee and help him. I don't want to miss out on this opportunity.”

Yet officials also say the fees are the fees, and are based on a complex chain of statutes. “It's obviously a lot more than what Mr. Evanoff expected,” says Sarasota County Public Works department General Manager Clarke Davis. “But it's what the system provides.”

Evanoff won several concessions from the county, and as of June 20 the impact fee tab had been reduced to $88,000. That lowered figure comes with a plan to have fewer seats, though, and Evanoff says he still might cancel the entire project.

Barbetta, meanwhile, worries the message sent to the business community in this case is both confusing and anti-business — an image he and others have fought. “If we truly want redevelopment,” says Barbetta, “we're not going to get it with impact fees like that.”