CLEWISTON – The public was invited to comment on proposed impact fees at the Aug. 13 meeting of the Hendry County Commission. The board of county commissioners will vote on impact fees at their next meeting, which will be held Aug. 27 in LaBelle.

“Has the cross-county agreement between Glades and Hendry been accounted for – EMS, law enforcement, schools?” asked Kevin Berth, owner of Heartland Homes. “All of those things cross over counties, providing services, prominently from Hendry to Glades.”

He said a new school may be warranted, but the school population is not growing. He asked if the impact fees will  be used for those who are paying the fee.

Berth said new home sales are lower than 2022 and 2023. “I’m at 40 for the year,” he said. Half of those homes are already under construction, which means people are buying homes someone else has cancelled on, he explained. 

Heartland Homes and several other builders have standing inventory, he said. “We’re not pulling permits because we’ve got product to sell.” He said low interest rates for a two-year period created a housing boom, but that was an anomaly.

“We’ve got four developments coming in,” said Commissioner Mitchell Wills. One is 700 homes, the others are 200 and 300, he added. “Our schools are about to get hit,” he said. “Seven hundred homes, do the math.”

Commissioner Ramon Iglesias complained about “services we provide within the Glades County community that are on the back of the taxpayers of Hendry County.” He predicted that if Hendry County has impact fees, developers will build homes in the portions of Port LaBelle that are in Glades County to avoid the impact fees in Hendry County. Not only will Hendry County lose the ad valorem taxes on those homes, but the cost of emergency services for those homes will land on the backs of Hendry County taxpayers.

“The coasts are full,” said Wills. Development is coming. “The people who have lived here their entire lives should not be paying for the impacts for those who are coming here tomorrow,” said Wills.

Commissioner Karson Turner said the impact fee discussion has been a long time coming. “Now, here we are, the rubber is really meeting the road,” he said.

“I do think the impact fee is needed,” said Commissioner Chairperson Emma Byrd. “I think people coming in should carry their load.”

 “I believe our constituents want it,” said Commissioner Emory “Rowdy” Howard. He said voters have asked him when the commission will get the cost of growth off their backs.

Editor’s note: Portions of Glades County are on the south side of the Caloosahatchee River. The county lines were established before the river was channelized.