COOS BAY — The Coos Bay City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place a 3-month moratorium on the collection of transportation system development charges.

The fees are collected from new businesses depending upon the anticipated impact they might have on local traffic flow. For example, a 3,000-square-foot fast-food restaurant would be charged $97,300, while a Home Depot, with a much larger impact on vehicle traffic, would have to pay $765,000.

Since the city instituted its SDC ordinance, about $94,000 have been collected, said City Manager Chuck Freeman.

Staff requested the moratorium to study if the fee is making it prohibitive for new businesses to relocate to Coos Bay.

One person who thinks the charge is too great is Mayor Jeff McKeown.

“I think we are chasing businesses away and really not accomplishing what we want here,” he said.

He noted the city’s streets need maintenance work, but the city is not allowed to use SDC revenues for the repairs. State law requires that SDC fees be used for transportation expansion, Freeman said.

Freeman also noted that the city has very strict limits as to how it can spend its funds due to an ordinance developed from a study prepared by DKS Associates in January 2004. One requirement is that 53 percent of the city’s SDC funding be used for bicycle-related projects.

“How can we force the Home Depot to put in a bike path to their (store)?” he asked. “(Customers) don’t use bikes to go there, they use pickup trucks.”

The moratorium does not extend to the city’s wastewater SDC, which McKeown noted is needed to help pay for significant upgrades to the city’s sewer system.

In other business Tuesday, the council:

* extended its contract with PEG Broadcast Services and Public Access Local Supporters through June 2010;

* awarded a $29,470 contract, with a $3,000 contingency, to JBS Construction Inc. of Coos Bay, to replace a 100-foot, 30-inch diameter outfall pipe on Schoneman Street;

* awarded contracts totaling $20,648, with a $2,065 contingency, to Johnson Rock Products to upgrade the South Second Street alley and a culvert at the intersection of Merchant Avenue and Jackson Street;

* approved a $25,000 facade grant for the Hall Building; and,

* declared May 16-17 Poppy Days in tribute to fallen servicemen and servicewomen.