WESTBROOK — The City Council has rejected impact fees without sending the issue to public hearing for the second time in just over a month.

Despite deciding to reconsider the issue only a couple of weeks ago, on Monday the City Council shot down impact fees at first reading. Both school and sewer impact fees were defeated.

The council on Sept. 11 voted 3-3 on the school impact fee, with the tie resulting in a failed measure. Council President Brendan Rielly, Vice President John O’Hara and Councilor Victor Chau were in favor of the fees and councilors Ann Peoples, Lynda Adams and Anna Turcotte were opposed. Councilor Gary Rairdon, who has voted in favor of the fees in the past, was absent.

The sewer impact fee failed 1-5, with O’Hara in favor.

“I just want the playing field to start to be leveled for all and right now it’s not,” O’Hara said. “It’s the long-term resident in this community who pays the bill for the new incoming residents and that’s not fair anymore.”

The council first discussed impact fees in October 2016, but on Aug. 7 rejected the two ordinance amendments at first reading. The general impact fee ordinance amendment, which allows impact fees to exist, was approved on Aug. 7 and received unanimous final approval Aug. 21.

The City Council on Aug. 21 voted 4-1 in two separate votes to reconsider school and sewer impact fees after they were reintroduced by Councilor Adams. At the time Adams said she thought the issue should have had the chance to go to public hearing, but on Monday she made it clear she was opposed to the fees.

“Anything that would deter economic development, I would not support,” she said.

Several members of the public spoke as well, with only one person being in favor the fees. The others, including Abigail Cioffi of the Downtown Westbrook Coalition and the owners of the not yet opened Quill Books and Beverage, agreed with Adams and said the fees would negatively affect business growth.

Mayor Mike Sanphy, who typically doesn’t contribute to council discussion, also said the fees would be bad for Westbrook.

“We need to encourage commercial development,” Sanphy said. “We don’t do that with impact fees.”

If they had been approved, the fees levied on developers would have been used by the city to pay for new or improved facilities that are needed only because of new development. The school impact fees would have been based upon the number of units in new or renovated residential dwellings. The sewer impact fee would have been applied to new construction, expansion of existing units or businesses, or a change of use at an existing building.

Councilor Peoples, who has been consistently and strongly opposed to the fees, said on Monday that “you can neither tax or fee your way into prosperity.” She said she wanted to put the issue to rest once and for all Monday night.

“We need to put the stake in the zombie’s heart,” Peoples said. “That’s what this is, is a zombie. We killed it at the last meeting and it came back from the dead.”

Kate Gardner can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 125 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @katevgardner.

The City Council has once again rejected impact fees at first reading.