by Neil W. McCabe

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced Oct. 1 a new approach to open space and historic preservation funding, proposing that developers pay a new linkage fee to fund those goals.

The plan was part of an overall linkage fee hike that also includes a provision expanding the number of developers who will pay the fees, the mayor said.

“A day doesn’t go by that developers aren’t trying to start projects in Somerville,” Curtatone said.

“They obviously see the city as a profitable lace to do business; this is a way to make sure they contribute to our overall quality of life,” he said.

Curtatone said under his plan, the linkage fee commercial developers have traditionally paid to support affordable housing would increase to $3.50 per square foot from its current $2.60.

The city would add an additional fifty cents per square foot fee to support open space and preservation.

In recent years, other communities have tried to fund open space and preservation efforts by imposing new property taxes and earmarking the funds but voters in Boston, Malden, and other communities have rejected the new levies, he said.

Curtatone’s proposal may be the first in Massachusetts to use linkage fees to address the objectives of those municipal referendums, usually called Community Preservation Acts, he said.

“Only three percent of our city is open space, so we need to do everything we can to optimize it,” said Curtatone.

“But we can’t do it on the backs of residential taxpayers, who are all ready bearing the burden of the state’s drastic cuts in local aid.”

Curtatone said the fees would affect only new building projects and would have no impact on small businesses or development projects already underway.

“These funds will help us literally change the face of the city by improving our parks, transforming our streetscapes, adding pedestrian ways, and refurbishing our historic buildings.” he said.

Proposals to increase the linkage fees have been pending before the Board of Aldermen for more than a year and the Board is now considering an increase of the affordable housing fee to $3.91.

Although Curtatone’s proposed increase to $3.50 would fall short of the $3.91 proposal, his plan would also broaden the base of fee payers by requiring anyone building 20,000 square feet or more to pay linkage fees. The current threshold is 30,000 square feet, he said.

“We believe this new formula will ultimately generate more affordable housing funds than the proposal before the board,” Curtatone said.

“By lowering the minimum to 20,000 square feet, developers who are building medium-sized commercial buildings will pay their fair share of the linkage assessment,” he said.

Even with the new fees, Curtatone said Somerville will still be a bargain relative to Boston, which charges $7.20 per square foot.

“We’re the best buy in the region right now,” he said. “We are close to downtown and Harvard Square, we have access to the airport and to a first class labor pool, and yet we are less expensive than both Boston and Cambridge.”

The proposal, which has not been finalized, was outlined at the Sept. 30 meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Legislative Matters Committee by James Kostaras, the city’s economic development chief.

Kostaras said the increased fees would not be a deterrent to development.

“In my 18 years at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, I never saw linkage fees dampen development or growth,” he said.

“Deep recessions, banking failures – those are the big ticket items that stymie development. Linkage fees are just an accepted part of doing business these days,” he said.

Curtatone said his plan would be finalized in the next several days after consulting further with business people, affordable housing advocates, aldermen, and others.

“Affordable housing and open space are two of our highest priorities so we hope to make this law before the end of the year,” he said.