Fayetteville City Council members want to be sure they don't open Pandora's Box if they approve Joseph Sams School's request for a waiver of impact fees, so they've delayed action on the request.

"I would be more comfortable if I had [the city attorney's] opinion in hand in writing prior to the waiving of the fees," said Councilman Larry Dell Monday night.

Janet Smola, director of the nonprofit school for children with physical, intelligence and developmental disabilities, said the waiver request is more than just a minor consideration.

"It's a tremendous amount of money that we could put into the services that we provide," Smola told council during a work session last week.

"It could more than fund our entire summer school program," she said.

Smola is asking council to waive both impact fees and proportionate share fees for the school's new home, under construction at Brandywine and Yorktowne drives, behind Fayette Medical Center.

Impact fees are levied on new developments to help reduce the tax costs they cause, for services like road improvements and police protection. Proportionate share fees are designed to pay a development's share of construction of the city's water and sewer facilities.

Mayor Mike Wheat said it's unlikely the council could waive the proportionate share fees. "That is something that you will use regardless of your service to the community," he said.

The city routinely waives impact fees for Fayette County Board of Education projects, but charges proportionate share fees to the schools, he said. Smola pointed out that the Sams school receives no tax funds, providing its services solely through donations, but Wheat said the city has to guard against setting precedents with one applicant that will force its hand in others.

Council members said they do want to waive the impact fees and defer payment of the proportionate share fees until the school actually moves into the new building.

Impact fees for the project are $8,632.26. The school's proportionate share is also about $8,000.

City manager Mike Bryant said city attorney David Winkle had verbally approved the impact fee waiver, saying the Sams request fits with the council's general policy of waiving the fees for schools, but council members said they would prefer to have that approval in writing to be sure no unwanted precedent is set.