Victor's Impact Fees Back Park Projects

VICTOR — Victor has twice matched a nonprofit's fundraising for a new amenity at Sherman Park with $150,000 in development impact fees, and the first of those projects is about to open.

The Victor Skate Park Foundation will celebrate the Phase I grand opening of the Sherman Park skatepark on October 9 as part of VictorFest. "Come celebrate our Phase I grand opening and learn about what's next for the skatepark in Sherman Park," Jeff Cominsky of the foundation said.

The second is a public bouldering wall in the same park. According to the staff report, Victor Rock Park, the nonprofit behind it, presented to the council several times to gauge interest and by June had secured $150,000 in private donations. The Urban Renewal Agency, which sits as Victor's development impact fee advisory committee, recommended a matching $150,000 on June 22. The council approved it July 8, and the budget Victor adopted in August carries the money.

The city's share comes from impact fees, which new development pays. Victor began collecting them under Ordinance O606, which the council passed in February 2023 and which sets the charge by the size of the home. A dwelling under 500 square feet pays $518 toward parks and recreation. One between 3,000 and 3,499 square feet pays $2,108.

According to the July staff report, "Staff believes the Boulder project would be a valid and consistent use of the impact fees by providing a park improvement that does not currently exist in the city. New housing developments will contribute to the need for more improvements within Sherman Park." The fees may not fix or replace what Victor already has, and they may not cover "routine operation or maintenance." They also go only to facilities the city names in advance: O606 defines the capital improvements plan as the document "that identifies the Capital Facilities for which the City's Impact Fees may be used as a funding source." So each vote did two things at once, adding the project to that plan and pledging the match.

At the skate park, upkeep falls to the foundation under a Voluntary Stewardship and Maintenance Agreement the council approved January 14. The foundation designs, builds and maintains the skatepark at no cost to the city and carries $1 million in liability insurance with Victor named as an additional insured. Victor owns and controls the park, mows outside the skatepark's perimeter, empties the trash and provides lighting. Either side can end the agreement on 30 days' written notice. The staff report that carried it to the council called the document "essentially an MOU by another name."

"The City will hold the project funds and release them as construction progresses and invoices are approved by VSF," the January staff report said. The foundation hired Dreamland Skateparks LLC to build Phase I, priced at $310,000, or $62 a square foot across 5,000 square feet of concrete.

Over 30 people came to the August 2025 meeting where the council first pledged the skate park match, and 15 gave public comment. The pledge was conditional on a grant award and a budget amendment. The council authorized the match that December, and in April the city budgeted $320,150 for the skatepark in an amendment to that year's budget. In its 2025 application to the CHC Foundation, the foundation modeled two asks: $20,000, which would have left $265,000 unfunded, or $150,000 alongside a city match "via their collected impact fees," which left nothing to raise.

What to watch: Victor Rock Park has targeted 2027 for its first phase. At the skate park, the maintenance agreement reached the council five months after the match, and construction followed. The bouldering wall is at the start of that same path.

A Skate Park Built, a Bouldering Wall Next: Victor's Impact Fees Back What Residents Build

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