The Senoia Planning Commission faces a big work load for the next few months, but the result will be advantageous to the town for years to come, the commissioners were told Tuesday.

The commission's entire agenda consisted of discussion on a "capital improvements element" of the city's "comprehensive plan" that will allow charging impact fees to developers.

As a result of City Council's vote Monday to reopen the city's water plant, Senoia has plans not only to produce, treat and distribute its own water, but also to install a sewer system, said Mayor Joan Trammell. Whether a community has sewers instead of septic tanks affects its ability to grow and the potential density of that growth, she said, so the comprehensive plan, capital improvements and ordinances are critical.

The Planning Commission has worked for several months on a complete revision of its zoning ordinance, commented chairman Jack Merrick. The commission knows it has a role in producing a plan for building wastewater treatment facilities, laying pipes, metering, tap-on fees and a timetable for such projects, he added. The town also is under a moratorium against commercial building permits, rezonings, variances and land development permits, Trammell said, "unless somebody comes to us with a hardship ... it hasn't happened yet, but the longer we have it (the moratorium) in effect, the more likely we are to have trouble."

The moratorium ends Jan. 31, which puts some pressure on the commission to complete the plans, Merrick said.

Frank Jenkins, an attorney and zoning consultant for the town, said impact fees must be based on what the city will spend for water and sewer systems. Fee proceeds can be used only for certain expenditures, he said, like water and sewerage, parks and open space, streets, bridges, traffic signals, landscaping storm-water control and public safety services like police, fire and emergency medical units. These and some others have been determined by statute to "cost" the city something additional as a result of new development, and therefore developers may be charged "impact fees" to help the city pay to supply them with services, Jenkins added.

Most of what the city has discussed so far on water and sewerage operations appears to be "a 20-year fix," said Trammell, "and we need these plans for long-term solutions."

Commission member Darlene Stanley pointed out that there is a requirement for "service districts" in the capital plan. Jenkins said it is legal and possible that the whole city could be a service district. Cities have six years from the time that impact fees are paid to show that the fees were spent for allowed public services, he added.

Mayor Trammell said the city will use the services of the Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Development Commission to advise what engineering services will be required for the capital improvements plan.

"Impact fees are an ideal way for the city to benefit from growth," said commissioner Karen Allen.