Prosper officials raise parks and recreation, engineering fees

Prosper residents and developers are set to see several fee increases after Town Council approved several changes to the town’s policies.

At their Feb. 10 meeting, Prosper Town Council approved adjusting several of the town’s fees and fines, primarily for parks and recreation and engineering.

What you need to know

Parks and Recreation Director Dan Baker said the majority of the recreation fee increases will be for nonresidents.

For synthetic turf and grass field reservation fees, rates for residents will remain the same. However, nonresident rates will increase from $70 per hour to $125 for synthetic turf field reservation fees and from $45 per hour to $70 for grass field reservation fees.

Council also approved raising pavilion and tournament reservation fees for residents and nonresidents.

Staff recommended no changes for youth sport field usage fees.

Town staff and the parks and recreation board proposed adding a 10% gate fee for all organizations for tournament fees. Town Council members disagreed and said that any additional fees should be factored in upfront.

Zooming out

Developers looking to build in Prosper will also see new increases after council approved two park fee adjustments, including parkland dedication fees and park improvement fees.

Additionally, council members approved increases to several civil engineering fees for engineering plan reviews and construction inspection fees.

Council member Marcus Ray said he had concerns about Prosper’s park dedication fees, as those can be paid through either taking the land or a cash equivalent of the market value.

“The one thing that we have a shortage of in Prosper as we start to develop is land,” Ray said. “We’re going to have a shortage of park space if we’re not careful.”

In September, Prosper Town Council raised development impact fees for water, wastewater and roadway utilities to help support the city's growth and ensure new development helps pay for additional infrastructure costs.

What it means

The recreation fee increases went into effect when council passed the ordinance at its Feb. 10 meeting, and the two fee adjustments for developers will go into effect Feb. 24, town documents state.

Council member Jeff Hodges said his priority is maintaining access for Prosper residents and ensuring the fees do not discourage people from using Prosper’s recreation facilities.

Ray said Prosper’s fees are too low compared to neighboring cities.

“When you look at our neighboring [communities] ... the ones that will have kids playing on our fields, it feels like we’re giving them a heck of a deal,” Ray said. “Our staff puts a lot of time into the fields to maintain them, to keep them at quality level, and I have concerns with how low these [fees] are.”

However, Baker said the recreation fee increases were meant to be done gradually, as many youth sports organizations have already made their budgets for the year.

One more thing

Mayor David Bristol said town staff and the parks board will continue discussing the fees and revisit the topic at a future meeting.