The Senate Education Standing Committee voted 6-0 Friday to send House Bill 36 to the Senate floor.

“Charter schools are part of our public education system,” Ferrin told the committee.

If the Legislature agrees, charter schools could escape having to pay impact fees, just like traditional public schools.

To improve the bill, Ferrin said he worked this week with the Utah League of Cities and Towns.

HB36 now contains a section that allows respective municipal officials a walk-through during construction.

That would enable fire departments, for example, to make suggestions as the school is being built.

The bill also would require building permits requested by charter-school administrators to be processed before all other applications.

“Charter schools are more important than doughnut stores,” Ferrin said, because they provide a public service.

Among those who testified in favor of Ferrin's proposal was Jared Bennett, a board member at the American Preparatory Academy West in Draper, one of the schools approved in December.

“Texas and Colorado put charters on the same plane as public schools,” Bennett told the committee.

Last year, Ferrin divested his interest in the company, Charter One Development, that he founded and had co-owned.

The company owns the building that houses another Draper charter school, Summit Academy.

Some Draper city officials worried that waiving impact fees would ultimately benefit Charter One Development rather than a charter school.

The school might close and a commercial enterprise could take its place.

Before Friday's committee hearing, Ferrin said that is a fear that exists for every school building.

“If the school left the building, [the building] would revert to zoning that regulates other types of buildings,” he said.

mcronin@sltrib.com