Also known as: nontraditional exactions · non traditional exactions · non-traditional exaction · exactions
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A form of land-use exaction consisting of fees imposed for public infrastructure located outside the development site but necessitated by the new development. These fees must serve the occupants of the subdivision and bear an essential nexus to the impacts created by the project.
Nora Nash seeks approval to subdivide her rural parcel into twenty homes. The county conditions the permit on payment of a fee to widen a county highway three miles away that serves the broader region. The fee lacks an essential nexus to the traffic generated by the subdivision itself because the road widening addresses preexisting regional needs rather than project-specific impacts.
Northern Manufacturing applies for a permit to expand its warehouse. The city denies the permit after the company refuses to pay a fee for a distant storm-water detention basin that serves multiple unrelated developments. The denial triggers exactions scrutiny because the monetary demand lacks the required nexus and proportionality to the expansion's own drainage impacts.
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Traditional exactions require dedication of land or infrastructure inside the subdivision boundaries. Non-traditional exactions instead impose fees for off-site public infrastructure whose need is created by the new development.
Supporting sources
Yes. Because they function as permit conditions demanding a property interest or monetary payment, non-traditional exactions must bear an essential nexus to a legitimate governmental interest that would justify outright denial of the permit.
Yes. The Nollan/Dolan framework governs demands for money as well as land dedications, and a permit denial based on refusal to pay an unconstitutional monetary exaction constitutes a taking.
The fee must serve the occupants of the subdivision and bear an essential nexus to the impacts caused by the proposed development rather than addressing preexisting regional needs.
Supporting sources