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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 1120ORDINANCE NO. 1120 AN ORDINANCE OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL UPDATING THE FIRE FACILITY IMPACT FEE APPLICABLE TO NEW COMMERCIAL, RESIDENTIAL, AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN FIRE SERVICE AREA NO.71 WHEREAS, the City of Palm Desert was incorporated in 1973; and WHEREAS, since its incorporation, the City has been and continues to experience significant development activity in the form of applications and proposals for new residential and commercial land development within the City; and WHEREAS, the proposed new residential and commercial development within the City will generate a deficiency in fire facilities, and the City is responsible for maintaining an appropriate level of service to the present and future citizens of Palm Desert; and WHEREAS, the City's existing fire facilities are inadequate to handle current and future demand and it is essential to both improve existing facilities, as well as construct a new facility in order to meet the projected increase in demand for fire services; and WHEREAS, the continued and cumulative development of the City, with the consequent increase in population and demand for the use of fire facilities, and the need cannot be met and financed from ordinary City revenues; WHEREAS, the most practical and equitable method of paying for such needed facilities is to impose a fee upon new development within Fire Service Area 71 and the payment of such a fee enables the City to fund fire facilities improvement program to provide such facilities as they are required and demanded; that when a development pays the Development Impact Fee established by this policy, the City Council will be able to find that all necessary fire services will be available concurrent with the need and, in the event such finding cannot be made, the City Council will be required to disapprove the development as being inconsistent with the General Plan; and WHEREAS, in 1989, the California Statute took effect which governs the establishment, increase, and imposition of fees levied by local agencies as a condition of development project approval "for the purpose of defraying all or a portion of the cost of public facilities related to the development project;" and WHEREAS, public facilities are defined in the statute to include "public improvements, public services, and community amenities;" and WHEREAS, these requirements are found in the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code Sections 66000 et seq.) and are commonly known as "AB 1600" requirements after the 1987 Assembly Bill in which they originated; and ORDINANCE NO. 1120 WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 66001, an agency establishing, increasing, or imposing impact fees must make findings to: 1. Identify the purpose of the fee; 2. Identify the use of the fee; 3. Determine that there is a reasonable relationship between: a. The use of the fee and the type of development on which it is imposed; b. The need for the facility and type of development on which the fee is imposed; c. The amount of the fee and the public facility cost attributable to the development on which the fee is imposed; and WHEREAS, the adoption of this fee program and procedures as set out in this Ordinance is found to be a matter of local concern to implement in a timely manner; and NOW, THEREFORE, the Palm Desert City Council does hereby find, determine and ordain as follows: Section 1. The report entitled "Fire Protection Impact Fee Study" ("Fee Study") dated June 8, 2006 accurately states the City's need of and lack of ability to provide for the described the facilities and services to serve new development in the Fire Service Area, as defined in the Fee Study. The Fee Study shows that there is a reasonable relationship between the use of the fee and the projected types of development; the need for the new Fire Station and appropriate upgrades to existing facilities by the projected types of development pursuant to the City's General Plan; and the amount of the fee and the proportionate facility cost related to the development. Section 2. As set forth in detail in the Fee Study, in order to allow development to proceed in an orderly manner, while ensuring that all new development is consistent with the General Plan, it is necessary and appropriate to approve the following Development Impact Fee to be imposed upon new development in the Fire Service Area, as defined in the Fee Study. Said fee will assist the City in funding the construction of the new Fire Station as needed. Section 3. As described in the Fee Study, the Mitigation Fee Act contains requirements for establishing, increasing, and imposing impact fees. Said fee must relate to the effect created by development, and may not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the public service. The Fee Study exhibits the relationship between the overall cost of providing such a service and the proposed fee. Section 4. Prior to the approval of any building permit, the applicant shall pay or agree to pay a Development Impact Fee for the appropriate type of development. Generally, the maximum charge per acre is $2,262. This fee is broken down as follows: 2 ORDINANCE NO. 1120 a. Commercial (all types) — $0.22 per square foot b. Industrial/Office Park — $0.21 per square foot Residential charges are based on acreage density, and is defined by the General plan as low density (0 — 4 units), medium density (4 to 10 units), and high density (10 —22 units). Based on this information, the following is an example of the charge per unit: c. Low Density based on 3 units per acre: $709 per unit d. Medium Density based on 7 units per acre: $306 per unit e. High Density based on 12 units per acre: $182 per unit Actual charges may be higher or lower depending on the exact number of units. Section 5. All proceeds from fees collected pursuant to the Development Impact Fee Policy shall be paid into the established fire facility fund to be established by the City. Said fund or funds shall be used only for the purpose of acquiring, building, building, improving, and expanding the Fire Facilities analyzed in the Fee Study. Designation of expenditures of funds available from the fire facility fund shall be made by the City Council in the context of approval of the City's annual operating and capital improvements budget of at such other time as the City Council may direct. Section 6. Excluded from the fees imposed by policy are the following: a. Any person when imposition of such fee upon that person would be in violation of the constitution and laws of the United States or the State of California. b. The construction of any facility by the City of Palm Desert, the United States, or any department or agency thereof or by the State of California or any department, agency, or political subdivision thereof. Section 7. The City hereby determines that the Development Impact Fee is not intended to be the exclusive method of construction and upgrade of fire facilities and the City will consider alternative proposals to provide needed infrastructure to particular development and, to the extent such alternative proposal is discretionary approved by the City Council, the developer shall receive a fair and equitable credit against payment of the Impact Fee. Any developer seeking alternative methods of installation shall submit such proposal to the City at the time of submittal of an application for development. Section 8. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phase of this resolution is for any reason held to be invalid, such holding or holdings shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Resolution. The City Council declares that it would have passed this Resolution and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phases be declared invalid. 3 ORDINANCE NO. 1120 In determining the amount of the Impact Fee, the City Council has been guided by the Fee Study mentioned in paragraph one hereof. In the event any category of such fee shall be declared invalid, such determination shall not affect the validity of any other category. The City Council further finds, declares, and determines that the Impact Fee on all remaining valid fee categories shall be increased by the amounts of the remaining valid fee categories shall not be so increased over and above the amount recommended by said report for each category. Section 9. The Community Development Director shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this policy. His decision may be appealed to the City Council whose decision shall be final. The City Manager is hereby authorized to execute necessary agreements for the administration of this policy. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert at a regular meeting held on this 22nd day of June 2006, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: NOES: ABSENT BENSON, CRITES, KELLY, SPIEGEL, and FERGUSON NONE NONE ABSTAIN: NONE ATTEST: CHELLE D. KLASSE IT CLERK CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 4