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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCFIM Fee Fund - Bermuda Dunes Learning CtrCITY OF PALM DESERT STAFF REPORT REQUEST: DENY A REQUEST BY THE BERMUDA DUNES LEARNING CENTER IN PALM DESERT FOR $19,000 FROM THE CITY'S CHILD CARE FACILITIES IMPACT MITIGATION FEE FUND TO PURCHASE A REPLACEMENT SHADE STRUCTURE FOR THEIR FACILITY AT 45-900 PORTOLA AVENUE (HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH) SUBMITTED BY: Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development APPLICANT: Samantha Clark Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert 45-900 Portola Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 DATE: September 11, 2014 Recommendation By Minute Motion: 1. Deny a request by the Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert for $19,000 to purchase a new shade structure for their business in the Hope Lutheran Church. 2. Direct staff to continue looking for opportunities to use monies from the Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund to increase the number of child care facility spaces available in Palm Desert. Executive Summary At the August 28, 2014 City Council meeting, two representatives of the Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert requested that the City grant $19,000 from its Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund to purchase a shade structure for their child care business, which is operated at the Hope Lutheran Church at 45-900 Portola Avenue. Approval of the staff recommendation would deny this request for funding. Background The Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund was established in 2005, and over the years funds have been collected from new commercial, office and industrial development projects to assist in off -setting the demand for additional childcare space/facilities generated Staff Report Bermuda Dunes Learning Center (Palm Desert) Grant Request Page 2 of 3 September 11, 2014 from new jobs. The funds are to be used for capital improvements, not operations. The Palm Desert Municipal Code states: The city will use the child care facilities impact mitigation fee to construct or cause the construction of new child care facilities or for the expansion or improvements of existing child care facilities in the city. Without limitation due to enumeration, the city shall use the child care facilities impact mitigation fee to construct or cause the construction of new day care centers, new family day care homes and the expansion of existing day care centers and family day care homes. The current balance of the Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund is approximately $1,496,000. To date, the City has issued grant funding to improve facilities at the following childcare centers: • YMCA • Boehm Child Care Connection • Tot Stop, Inc. • Montessori School of the Desert • Desert Sands Unified School District/Early Childcare Education Program • Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert The current request is for a shade structure for the Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert, which is housed at the Hope Lutheran Church on Portola Avenue. The church campus is undergoing a renovation, and will lose some shade trees as a result. An A -frame building with a covered patio has also been demolished as part of this renovation work. The proposed new structure would allow children to have a shady place to eat their snacks after playing outside. The applicant estimates that the new shade structure would cost $19,000. The playground and shade structure would also be used by up to 14 children who will attend The Art House, a new family day care facility that the applicant proposes to open across Fairway Drive from Hope Lutheran Church. The use of Child Care Facility Impact Mitigation funds to make improvements to existing facilities without creating new child care spaces is permitted, but such expenditures should be incidental in nature and modest in comparison with expenditures that do create new spaces. Since the inception of the fee, the City has received far more requests for grants that do not create new child care spaces than requests for those that do. Staff believes that it is important to be diligent in spending the funds for the purposes for which the fee was created: to increase the inventory of child care spaces that exist in Palm Desert. After reviewing the request that was orally presented to the City Council, staff recommends that Council deny it for the following reasons: • The applicant has made application to open The Art House in a residence on Fairway Drive, regardless of the presence or absence of a shaded snack area on the grounds of the Hope Lutheran Church. Therefore, the $19,000 expenditure would not actually create any new child care spaces. G \Planning\Lauri Aylaian\The Art House Childcare Grant Request 9-11-14 Final doc Staff Report Bermuda Dunes Learning Center (Palm Desert) Grant Request Page3of3 September 11, 2014 • The intent of the fee is to provide new facilities for child care needs which result from new commercial development in Palm Desert. Many contractors and developers pay into the Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund, and they have a justifiable expectation that the City will use their monies judiciously and for the intended purposes. The City Attorney is concerned that use of the funds in a manner that does not directly mitigate impacts due to development could be subject to criticism • In 2012, the Bermuda Dunes Learning Center in Palm Desert received $75,000 from this fund for upgrades at the Hope Lutheran Church. That funding allowed them to create 60 new child care spaces. This award exemplifies the magnitude of leverage that is possible using these funds. The proposed shade structure grant would reduce the monies available for projects with merit comparable to the previous grant. • The proposed shade structure would become property of Hope Lutheran Church, for use by a private non-profit entity. The City Attorney is concerned that use of either mitigation or general funds in that context could be challenged as either a gift of public funds or an impermissible use of public funds to assist a church in violation of the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. While these arguments may be legally defensible, the public perception may be problematic. Fiscal Analysis The current fund balance in for the Child Care Facilities Impact Mitigation Fee Fund is approximately $1,496,000. A portion of this money is planned to be used for property acquisition for a new child care facility site. Remaining monies will be used to fund other capital projects to increase the city's inventory of child care facility spaces available to its residents and workers. Submitted By: Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community De ley opr-ii ent Approval: iI*on, Finance Director Johj . Wohlmuth, City Manager CITY COUNCIL ACTION APPROVED DENIED RECEIVED • OTHER 11 MEETING DATE C)q^ I t- All ES: Be -flair), Sp,�c(e 14 (.(. toe_r cL jetar8 - NOES: Nonce ABSENT:_Ebro ABSTAIN: 1,30f , VERIFIED BY: (2--0/ Original on File with City Cle k's Office