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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4046 Ordinance ORDINANCE NO. '4 6 L} AN ORDINANCE of the City of Pasco, Washington, Creating a New Chapter 3.133 "School Impact Fees"; and Creating a New Section 3.07.230 "School Impact Fees" WHEREAS, the City of Pasco is required by State law to determine that adequate provisions are made in each subdivision, short plat, and other division of property used for residential purposes, including the adequacy of schools and playgrounds; and WHEREAS, Pasco School District No. 1 has by letter of January 11, 2011, placed the City on notice that due to escalating student population, it is unable to accommodate additional students that are incident to new developments of residential housing and has by Resolution No. 809 adopted its Pasco School District Capital Facilities Plan demonstrating the need for additional classrooms to meet the anticipated demand of students residing within the new development areas of the City; and WHEREAS, the District has requested that its Capital Facilities Plan be adopted and incorporated as a public facilities within the City's Comprehensive Plan; and WHEREAS, the District's Comprehensive Plan provides for the imposition of an impact fee as permitted by law to offset in part the costs of school facilities necessary to meet a growing population; and WHEREAS, the City has amended its Comprehensive Plan with the adoption of the District's Capital Facilities Plan which, to effectuate, requires the implementation of additional source of funding through an impact fee to meet the demands for schools caused by new residential development; and WHEREAS, the Pasco Planning Commission has conducted public hearings to determine whether the City should adopt the District's Capital Facilities Plan as a part of its Comprehensive Plan, including the implementation of that Plan through an impact fee; and WHEREAS, the City Council after due consideration has adopted the Amended Comprehensive Plan incorporating the District's Capital Facilities Plan with impact fees as a means of implementation. NOW,THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PASCO, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. That Chapter 3.133 entitled "School Impact Fees" of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is created and shall read as follows: School Impact Fees Ordinance- 1 Chapter 3.133 SCHOOL IMPACT FEES Sections: 3.133.010 Purpose. 3.133.020 Definitions. 3.133.030 Assessment of Impact Fees. 3.133.040 School Impact Fee Deferral Option. 3.133.050 Exemptions 3.133.060 Permitted Adjustments. 3.133.070 School Impact Fee Fund. 3.133.080 School Impact Fee Refunds. 3.133.090 Interlocal Agreement. 3.133.100 Annual Review. 3.133.010 PURPOSE. The City Council of the City of Pasco hereby finds that the City has sustained significant population growth and anticipates that growth to continue into the future. Pasco School District No. 1 has determined that it does not have sufficient resources to meet the students anticipated by this additional growth, and that a means by which this new growth should pay a proportionate share of the costs of developing new facilities is needed. Therefore, pursuant to RCW 82.02, the City Council adopts a school impact fee to address identified impacts of new residential development on schools and to ensure that new development bears a proportionate share of the costs of the capital expenditures necessary to meet demands for schools to serve the best interest of the citizens of the City of Pasco. The provisions of this Chapter shall be liberally construed in order to carry out the purpose of the Council in establishing a school impact fee. 3.133.020 DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall have the indicated meanings: A) "Adjustment (A)" means a discretionary reduction in the school impact fee in an determined by the City and identified in Attachment A, taking into account the recommendation of the District and the need to adequately fund schools that are needed to serve forecast growth. B) "Boeckh index" is a construction trade index of construction costs for various kinds of buildings; it is adjusted annually. C) "Capacity" means the number of students the District's facilities can accommodate district-wide,based on the District's standard of service, as determined by the District. D) "Capital facilities plan" means the Pasco School District No. 1 Capital Facilities Plan 2011 -2017, and as hereafter amended. School Impact Fees Ordinance-2 E) "Capital improvement" means land, improvements to land, structures and relocatable structures (including site planning, acquisition, design, permitting and construction), initial furnishings and selected equipment. Capital improvements have an expected useful life of at least ten (10) years. Other capital costs, such as motor vehicles and motorized equipment, computers and office equipment, office furnishings, and small tools are considered to be minor capital expenses and are not considered capital improvements. F) "City" means the City of Pasco. G) "Classrooms" means educational facilities of the District required to house students for its basic educational program. The classrooms are those facilities the District determines are necessary to best serve its student population. Specialized facilities are identified by 'the District, including but not limited to gymnasiums, cafeterias, libraries, administrative offices, and childcare centers, shall not be counted as classrooms. H) "Construction cost per student (CS)" means the estimated costs of construction of a permanent school facility listed in the District's capital facility plan divided by the number of students the school will serve for the grade span of school to be provided. Grade span means elementary school,middle school and high school. I) "Developer"" means the person or entity who owns or holds purchase options or other development control over property for which development activity is proposed. J) "Development activity" means any residential construction, including the placement of a mobile home, or expansion of a building, structure or use, any change in use of a building or structure, or any change in the use of land that creates additional demand for school facilities. K) "District"means Pasco School District No. 1. Q "Dwelling"is as defined in 25.12.185 of the Pasco Municipal Code. M) "Elderly"means a person aged 55 or older. N) "Encumbered" means to reserve, set aside, or otherwise earmark the impact fees to pay for commitments, contractual obligations, or other liabilities incurred for public facilities as set out in the adopted capital facilities plan. O) "Facilities credit (FC)" means the value of capital improvements for which an in- kind contribution credit has been granted as provided for in PMC 3.133.030 (C). P) "Impact fee" means a payment of money imposed upon development as a condition of development approval to pay for school facilities needed to serve new growth and development that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public facilities, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the school facilities, and School Impact Fees Ordinance-3 that is used for such facilities that reasonably benefit the new development. "Impact fee" does not include a reasonable permit or application fee. Q) "Impact fee schedule" means the impact fees to be charged per dwelling unit of development that shall be paid as a condition of residential development with the City. R) "Interlocal agreement" means the agreement between the District and the City governing the operation of the school impact fee program and describing the relationship, duties and liabilities of the parties. S) "Permanent facilities" means facilities of the District, including relocatable facilities. T) "Program standard" means the standard adopted by the District which identifies the program year, the class size by grade span and taking into account the requirement of students with special needs, the number of classrooms, the types of facilities the District determines will best serve its student population, and other factors as identified by the District. U) "Proportionate share" means that portion of the cost of public facility improvements that are reasonably related to the service demands and needs of new development. V) "Relocatable facilities (also referred to as Portables)" means any structure, transportable in one or more sections, that is intended to be used as an education space to meet the needs of service areas within the District, to provide specialized facilities, or to cover the gap between the time that families move into new residential developments and the date that construction is completed on permanent school facilities. W) "Service area" means property within the City limits of the City of Pasco, including hereafter annexed territory, served by the Pasco School District No. 1. X) "State match (SM)" means the amount the District may receive from the state to pay a portion of the construction costs for schools identified in the capital facilities plan. Y) "Student factor (SF)" means the number of students typically generated from one residential unit for each type of school facility. This is determined by dividing the number of residential units built in the district into the number of students enrolled in each grade span. Student factors shall be based on District records of average actual student-generated rates for single-family and multifamily developments constructed over a period of not more than six (6) years prior to the date of the fee calculation; provided,that if such information is not available in the District, data from adjacent districts, or districts with similar demographics or county-wide averages may be used. Student factors must be updated when the District's capital facility plan is updated and separately determined for single-family and multifamily dwelling units and for grade spans. 3.133.025 CAPITAL FACILITY PLAN REQUIRED. To be eligible to receive school impact fees, the District shall adopt and submit a capital facilities plan that contains the School Impact Fees Ordinance-4 District's standard of service, an inventory of facilities, capacity by grade span, a six-year student enrollment forecast, facility needs and costs, a finance plan and calculation of the school impact fees. The District shall file an update to its capital facility plan at least once every two years. The City will consider the District's capital facility plan, and bi-annual updates, and, if adopted, incorporate it in the Capital Facilities Element of the City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan. 3.133.030 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT FEES. A) Fee Required. Each development activity within the service area, as a condition of approval, shall be subject to the school impact fee established pursuant to this Chapter. The school impact fee shall be calculated in accordance with the formula established in Attachment A, and as may be hereafter amended. The school impact fee, together with administrative costs due and payable, shall be that amount designated in PMC 3.07.230. The school impact fee shall be required prior to the issuance of building permits, unless deferred as provided below. The amount of the school impact fee shall be based on the fee schedule in effect at the time of the building permit application. B) Impact Fee Limitations. 1) School impact fees shall be imposed for District capital facilities that are necessarily related to the development under consideration, shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of the system improvements that are reasonably needed to the development, and shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development. 2) School impact fees must be expended or encumbered for permissible use within ten(10)years of receipt by the District. 3) To the extent permitted by law, school impact fees may be collected for capital facilities costs previously incurred to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed capital facilities, provided, that school impact fees shall not be imposed to make up for any existing system deficiencies. 4) A developer required to pay a fee pursuant to RCW 43.021C.060 (SEPA) for capital facilities shall not be required to pay a school impact fee pursuant to this Chapter and RCW 82.02.050 through RCW 82.02.090 for the same capital facilities. C) Credit for In-Kind Contributions. 1) A developer may request and the District may grant a credit against school impact fees otherwise due under this Chapter for the value of any dedication of land, improvement to, or new construction of any capital facilities identified in the District's capital facilities plan provided by the developer. Such requests must be accompanied by supporting documentation of the estimated value of such in-kind contributions. All School Impact Fees Ordinance-5 requests must be submitted to the District in writing prior to the City's determination of the impact fee. 2) Where the District determines that a development activity is eligible for a credit for a proposed in-kind contribution, it shall provide the City and the developer with a letter setting forth the justification for and a dollar amount of the credit, the legal description of any dedicated property, and a description of the development activity to which the credit may be applied. The value of any such credit may not exceed the impact fee obligation of the development activity application. 3) Where there is agreement between the developer and the District concerning the value of proposed in-kind contributions, the developer's eligibility for a credit, and the amount of any credit,the City may: a) Approve the request for credit and adjust the impact fee obligation accordingly; and b) Require that such contributions be made as a condition of development approval. Where there is disagreement between the developer and the District regarding the value of in-kind contributions, however, the City may render a decision that can be appealed by either party pursuant to the procedures provided in PMC 3.132.110 below. D) SEPA Mitigation and Other Review. 1) The City shall review development proposals and development activity permits pursuant to all applicable State and local laws and regulations, including the State Environmental Policy Act (Chapter 43.21C RCW), the State subdivision law (Chapter 58.17 RCW), and the applicable sections of this Code. Following such review, the City may condition or deny development approval as necessary or appropriate to mitigate or avoid significant adverse impacts to school services and facilities, to assure that appropriate provisions are made for schools, school grounds, and safe student walking conditions, and to ensure that development is compatible and consistent with the District's services, facilities, and capital facilities plan. 2) Impact fees required by this Chapter for development activity, together with compliance with development regulations and other mitigation measures offered or imposed at the time of development review and development activity review, shall constitute adequate mitigation for all of a development's specific adverse environmental impacts on the school system for the purposes of this Chapter. Nothing in this Chapter prevents a determination of significance from being issued, the application of new or different development regulations, and/or requirements for additional environmental analysis,protection, and mitigation measures to the extent required by applicable law. 3.133.040 SCHOOL IMPACT FEE DEFERRAL OPTION. The developer, may, at its option, deposit into an interest-bearing account maintained by the City, an amount equal to School Impact Fees Ordinance-6 the total school impact fees due as a result of the development activity. The fees shall be secured by the deposit, and the deposit refunded to the developer upon payment of the impact fee at the time of closing of the sale or refinance of each unit, the issuance of a certificate of occupancy of each unit, or 12 months from the date of issuance of the original building permit, whichever event first occurs. Upon payment of the school impact fee, the City shall refund to the developer their deposit, or the developer may elect to continue the deposit for security for the payment of school impact fees for other development activities. 3.133.050 EXEMPTIONS. The following development activities are exempt from the requirements of this Chapter. A) Reconstruction, remodeling or construction of housing projects for the elderly, including nursing homes, retirement centers, assisted living facilities or other types of housing projects that are age restricted for the elderly, which have recorded covenants or declaration of restrictions precluding school-aged children as residents of those projects. This exemption does not include individual single-family homes on platted lots unless the subject plat has such age- restricted recorded covenants. Where such covenants have not already been recorded, but the exemption is sought, the City may require the recording of a covenant or recorded declaration of restriction precluding the property for other than exempt purposes. If property using this exemption is subsequently used for a nonexempt purpose, the school impact fees then in effect shall become immediately due and payable. B) Rebuilding of lawfully established dwelling unit(s) destroyed or damaged by fire, flood, explosion, act of nature, or other accident or catastrophe; provided, that such rebuilding takes places within one (1) year after destruction and that no additional dwelling units are created. C) Alteration, expansion, reconstruction, remodeling, or rebuilding of existing single-family or multifamily dwelling units, including mobile or manufactured homes; provided, that no additional dwelling units are created. D) Condominium projects in which existing dwelling units are converted into condominium ownership and where no new dwelling units are created. E) Any development activity for which school impacts have been mitigated pursuant to a condition of a plat, short plat, planned unit development, binding site plan or similar approval to pay fees, dedicate land or construct or improve school facilities, unless the condition of that plat, planned unit development, short plat, or binding site plan approval provides otherwise. The condition of the plat, planned unit development, short plat, site plan, or other similar approval must have been secured prior to April 16, 2012, the effective date of the fee imposition by the City and was actually imposed specifically as mitigation for impacts upon the District. Proof must also be submitted to the City that the required mitigation has been tendered for the development activity which would otherwise be subject to this Chapter. F) Any development activity for which school impacts have been mitigated pursuant to a voluntary agreement entered into with the District to pay fees, dedicate land or construct or School Impact Fees Ordinance-7 improve school facilities, unless the terms of the voluntary agreement provide otherwise. The agreement and development activity application must also have been secured prior to April 16, 2012, the effective date of the school impact fee. Proof must also be submitted to the City, prior to issuance of the development activity permit, that the required mitigation has been tendered for the development activity which would otherwise be subject to this Chapter. G) The replacement of a mobile home with another mobile home within an existing mobile home park. 3.133.060 PERMITTED ADJUSTMENTS. A) The current school impact fee may be adjusted by the Director of Community & Economic Development, if one of the following circumstances exists: 1) The developer demonstrates that an impact fee assessment was improperly calculated; or 2) Unusual circumstances demonstrated by the developer that adjustments to the school impact fee at the time the fee is imposed are necessary to accommodate unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that the impact fees are imposed fairly. B) Developer demonstrates that the school impacts have been mitigated pursuant to a voluntary agreement entered into with the District upon the dedication of land or the construction or improvement of school facilities that warrant either a reduction, or exemption, from the payment of school impact fees. C) In all cases where the developer requests an adjustment or exemption from fees, the Director of Community & Economic Development shall consult with the District and the District shall advise the Director of Community & Economic Development prior to the Director making the final impact fee determination. The Director of Community & Economic Development, shall, consider in addition to the advice of the District, any studies, data, calculations and reports provided by the developer as a part of its request for a fee calculation adjustment prior to making the final impact fee determination. D) The developer, or the District, may appeal the final determination of the Director of Community & Economic Development regarding adjustments, exemptions, or credits to be applied to the school impact fee obligation in the same manner as provided in PMC 3.132.110 "Appeals." 3.133.070 SCHOOL IMPACT FEE FUND. There is established and created a special fund to be known as the "School Impact Fee Fund" and to which all school district impact fees shall be deposited. On a monthly basis, and in accordance with the current Interlocal Agreement between the City and the District, the City shall remit to the District the school impact fees collected in the preceding month. Impact fees received by the District shall be earmarked specifically and retained by the District in appropriate interest-bearing accounts. All school impact funds and interest shall be expended for the purpose as may be permitted by law. School Impact Fees Ordinance-8 Annually, in accordance with the Interlocal Agreement, the District shall prepare and submit to the City a report on school impacts fees and the school impact fee account showing the source and amount of all monies collected, earned, received, and the public improvements that were financed in whole or in part by the school impact fees. 3.133.080 SCHOOL IMPACT FEE REFUNDS. A) The current owner of the property on which a school impact fee has been paid, may receive a refund of such fees if the school impact fees have not been expended or encumbered within ten(10) years of receipt of the school impact fees by the District, unless there exist an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than ten (10) years. Such extraordinary or compelling reason shall be identified to the City by the District in a written report. In any decision approving such extension, the City shall identify the District's extraordinary or compelling reasons for the fees to be held longer than ten (10) years in written findings. In determining whether impact fees have been encumbered, impact fees shall be considered encumbered on a first in, first out basis. B) If a school impact fee is not expended or encumbered within ten (10) years and the City has not approved an extension, the District shall notify potential claimants of their right to request a refund by first class mail deposited in the United States postal service addressed to the current owner of the property as shown in the Franklin County tax records. C) An owner' s request for a refund must be submitted to the District in writing within one (1) year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever shall last occur. Any impact fees that are not expended or encumbered by the District in conformance with the capital facilities plan within these time limitations, and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period, shall be retained and expended consistently with the provisions of the law. Refunds of impact fees shall include any interest earned on the impact fees. D) A developer may request and shall receive a refund, including interest earned on the impact fees, when: 1) The developer does not proceed to finalize the development activity as required by statute, City code, or the applicable building codes; and 2) The District or the City has not expended or encumbered the impact fees in good faith prior to the application for a refund. In the event that the District or the City has expended or encumbered the fees in good faith, no refund shall be forthcoming. However, if within a period of three years, the same or subsequent owner of the property for which fees were paid, proceeds with the same or substantially similar development activity, the owner shall be eligible for a credit equal to the school impact fees paid and accrued actual interest. The owner must petition the City and the District in writing and provide receipts of impact fees paid by the owner for a development of the same or substantially similar nature on the same property or some portion thereof. The City after School Impact Fees Ordinance-9 consultation with the District, shall determine whether to grant a credit, and such determinations may be appealed by following the procedures set forth in PMC 3.132.110 "Appeals." E) In the event the City seeks to terminate any or all school impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds, including interest earned, shall be refunded to the current owner of the property for which an impact fee was paid. Upon the finding by the City Council that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the City shall place a notice of such termination and the availability of refunds, in a newspaper of general circulation, at least two times, and shall notify all potential claimants by first class mail addressed to the owner of the property as shown in the Franklin County tax records. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one (1) year. At the end of one (1) year, any remaining funds shall be retained by the City as to funds within its possession and the District as to funds within its possession, but must be expended for the original purposes, consistent with the provisions of this Chapter. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or encumbered balances within either the City's school impact fee fund, or the District's school impact fee account. 3.133.090 INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT. As a condition of the City's authorization and adoption of a school impact fee ordinance, the City and the District shall enter into an Interlocal Agreement governing the operation of the school impact fee program, and describing the relationship and liabilities of the respective parties. The agreement must provide that the District shall be liable and shall defend and hold the City harmless for all damages which may occur as a result of any failure by the District to comply with the provisions of this Chapter, Chapter 82.02 RCW, or other applicable law. The agreement must provide that the District shall be liable, hold the City harmless and reimburse the City for defense and payment of all claims, including claims for damages, which may occur or arise as a result of any failure or alleged failure to comply with this Chapter, Chapter 82.02 RCW, or other applicable law in the adoption, administration, or implementation of the school impact fee provided in this Chapter and any actions related to it. 3.133.100 REVIEW. A) On or before April 15 of each year commencing on April 15, 2013, the District shall prepare and submit to the City a report on the impact fees and the impact fee account, showing the source and amount of all monies collected, earned, or received, and the public improvements that were financed in whole or in part by the school impact fees, and such additional information as may be required under the Interlocal Agreement. B) At least once every two years, commencing April 15, 2014, the City Council shall review and consider the District submitted capital facilities plan update as part of its consideration of the capital facilities element of the City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The City Council may also at this time determine if an adjustment to the amount of the impact fee is necessary; provided, that any school impact fee adjustment shall require the submittal of a written request for the adjustment from the District concurrent with the submittal of its updated capital facilities plan. In making its decision to adjust the school impact fees, the City Council School Impact Fees Ordinance- 10 will take into consideration the quality and completeness of the information provided in the district's capital facilities plan and may decide to enact a fee less than the amount supported by the capital facilities plan. Section 2. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid by a Court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this regulation or the application of the provisions of this Chapter to other parties or circumstances, shall not be affected. Section 3. That Section 3.07.230 of the Pasco Municipal Code shall be and hereby is created to read as follows: 3.07.230 SCHOOL IMPACT FEES. The school impact fee, together with administrative costs, shall be: Fee/Charge Reference A) Single family residence $4,700.00 3.133.030 B) Multifamily residence $4,525.00 3.133.030 Section 4. This Ordinance shall take full force and effect on April 16,2012. PASSED by the City Council of t e City of Pasco, Washington, and approved as provided by law this day of , 2012. n Matt Watkins, Mayor Attest: App ve a to Form: Debra Clark, City Clerk Leland B. Kerr, City Attorney School Impact Fees Ordinance- 11