Chapter 3.32
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEE
Sections:
3.32.050 Terms and definitions.
3.32.060 Establishment of a regional development impact fee.
3.32.080 Credits or reimbursements.
3.32.100 List of projects on the regional transportation system.
3.32.110 Administrative costs.
3.32.010 Authority.
The city council enacts this chapter in accordance with the authority granted to cities by Article XI, Section 7, of the California Constitution. (Ord. 973 § 1, 2008)
3.32.020 Title.
This chapter shall be known as the city of Seaside regional development impact fee ordinance. The term “city” as used herein shall refer to the city of Seaside. (Ord. 973 § 3, 2008)
3.32.030 Operative date.
“Operative date” means the sixty-first day following its adoption, or upon certification by the executive director of TAMC that the county and eight of the cities within the county have adopted by resolution or ordinance the regional development impact fee, whichever date is later. If the certification by the executive director of TAMC does not occur on or before December 31, 2008, this chapter shall be void and have no force or effect. (Ord. 973 § 4, 2008)
3.32.040 Findings.
A. The city council of the city of Seaside finds that future development within the county of Monterey to the year 2030 will result in degradation of traffic levels of service on the regional transportation system of streets, arterials, and highways.
B. The city council of the city of Seaside finds that failure to expand the capacity of the existing circulation system as new development is approved will increase congestion on the regional system, as documented in the Regional Development Impact Fee – Nexus Study Update (the “study”) approved by the board of the Transportation Agency of Monterey County (“TAMC”) on January 16, 2008. TAMC commissioned the study which looks at, among other matters, future development and the planned future road improvements needed to serve the new development.
C. The city council of the city of Seaside also finds and declares that the fair-share traffic impact fee to be levied upon new development pursuant to this chapter provides a mechanism to fund new developments’ share of regional transportation system improvements that are needed to mitigate congestion and related adverse impacts caused by the new development.
D. The city council of the city of Seaside finds that exactions from new development are necessary to provide a portion of the funding for the construction of the regional transportation improvements needed to accommodate traffic that will be generated by new development of land within the county.
E. The city council of the city of Seaside finds that the study has determined the extent to which the new development of land will generate traffic volumes impacting the regional transportation system and that this chapter establishes a fair and equitable method for distributing the unfunded costs of transportation improvements necessary to accommodate the traffic volumes generated by such development.
F. The city council of the city of Seaside finds there is a reasonable relationship between the use of the regional development impact fee to pay for the construction of the regional transportation improvement projects and the type of development for which the regional development impact fee is charged in that all new development in the county, both residential and nonresidential, will generate or contribute to the need for the regional transportation improvement projects in different degrees as further described in the study.
G. The city council of the city of Seaside finds that the cost estimates set forth in the TAMC 2007 Regional Development Impact Nexus Fee Study Update are reasonable cost estimates for constructing the transportation improvement projects, and the regional development impact fees expected to be generated by future development will not exceed the projected costs of constructing the transportation improvement projects.
H. The city council of the city of Seaside also finds that the fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall only be used to finance the regional transportation improvement projects. The county adopts this chapter with the expectation that a required minimum number of TAMC member governing bodies will also adopt the RDIF on a uniform basis and that the county and these other TAMC members will use the fees collected in a coordinated manner to provide for financing and construction of the regional transportation improvement projects.
I. The city council of the city of Seaside has reviewed and considered the certified Environmental Impact Report for the 2005 Monterey Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Plan and addendum thereto prepared by TAMC, the lead agency for the regional transportation impact fee for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.).
J. The city council of the city of Seaside has authorized the execution and delivery of a joint powers agreement (“JPA”) establishing a regional development impact fee agency (“RDIF agency”) to coordinate the activities of the parties to the JPA in connection with the collection, transmittal and expenditure of regional development impact fees (as defined herein). (Ord. 973 § 5, 2008)
3.32.050 Terms and definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
“Applicant” means the person or entity applying for a tract map, parcel map, tentative subdivision map, conditional use permit, land use permit, building permit or other land use entitlement for a new development project and their successors and assigns.
“RDIF agency” refers to the Monterey County Regional Development Impact Fee Joint Powers Agency.
“Regional development impact fee,” or “the fee,” or “RDIF” refers to the fees approved by the governing boards of the county and other TAMC members on new development within their respective jurisdictions and transmitted to the RDIF agency as provided in the JPA. The project list for the regional development impact fee is in Exhibit “B” of the JPA.
“Regional transportation improvement projects,” or “projects,” refers to those public improvements required to mitigate the regional impacts of new development on the roads, highways and arterials within the county as specified in SMC 3.32.060. (Ord. 973 § 6, 2008)
3.32.060 Establishment of a regional development impact fee.
A. The regional development impact fee is hereby established in the amounts specified in a resolution to be adopted by the Monterey County board of supervisors for the purpose of paying for regional transportation improvement projects identified in Exhibit “B” of the JPA needed to meet increased demand created by traffic resulting from new development.
The revenues raised from the impact fee shall be remitted to the RDIF agency to be held, maintained, used and accounted for as required in Government Code Section 66006 of the Mitigation Fee Act in a coordinated fashion, as provided in the JPA.
B. The regional development impact fee shall be automatically adjusted as of July 1st of each year following the first year after the effective date of this chapter. The adjustment shall be calculated by TAMC as administrator of the RDIF agency, based on the increase or decrease in the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index for the San Francisco Bay Area for the period ending December 31st of the preceding calendar year.
C. In addition to the automatic adjustment set forth above, TAMC may recommend to the county and other TAMC members that the regional development impact fee be increased to reflect revisions to the project list in the Monterey County regional transportation plan, program revenue, increases in land values over the inflationary increase, or other factors.
D. Except as provided in Government Code Sections 65961, 66474.2 and 66498.1 or as otherwise provided by state or federal law or the exemptions set forth in SMC 3.32.070, no tract map, parcel map, tentative subdivision map, conditional use permit, land use permit, building permit or other land use entitlement for a new development project shall be approved or issued unless payment of the fee is a condition of approval for any such entitlement. Prior to issuance of a building permit or at such other time as required by law, the county shall require the applicant to pay the fee.
E. Impact fees shall be imposed and collected by the county and, along with any interest earned on the fees while in the possession of the county, shall be transmitted by the county to the RDIF agency on the first day of each month for all fees collected during the prior month. The fees shall be placed by the RDIF agency in the regional transportation impact fee trust fund. All interest or other earnings of the fund shall be credited to the fund. (Ord. 1042 § 2 (Att. B), 2017; Ord. 973 § 7, 2008)
3.32.070 Exemptions.
In addition to any exemptions from the levy of development impact fees provided by law, including, as applicable, the levy of development impact fees which are the subject of a vested subdivision map, the following development projects are exempt from payment of the fee required by this chapter:
A. The reconstruction of any building so long as the reconstructed building both continues a use of the same category as the prior use and generates the same or fewer trips as the original building and reconstruction commences and so long as the permit for reconstruction is issued within one year from destruction of the building.
B. Development within the Fort Ord Reuse Agency (“FORA”) area that is subject to transportation improvement fees for transportation projects within the FORA plan area.
C. Development pursuant to a development agreement that was entered prior to the effective date of the joint powers agreement in accordance with the terms of the development agreement in effect prior to the effective date of the joint powers agreement. (Ord. 973 § 8, 2008)
3.32.080 Credits or reimbursements.
An applicant who constructs all or part of one of the transportation improvement projects may be eligible for a credit or reimbursement, as provided herein.
A. Credit or Reimbursement for Regional Transportation Impact Projects Funded by the RDIF. An applicant may be eligible for a credit to be applied against payment of the regional transportation impact fee if the applicant dedicates right-of-way for and/or constructs all or a part of one of the transportation improvement projects that is, at the time the applicant enters into an agreement with the county for construction of such project, included in the strategic expenditure plan of the projects to be funded.
An applicant may be eligible for a reimbursement if the cost of constructing such a transportation improvement project, or a part of such project, exceeds the amount of the regional transportation impact fee to be paid by the applicant. The amount of reimbursement shall equal the difference between the cost of constructing all or a part of the regional transportation improvement project and the regional development impact fee for the development project.
Reimbursement shall be from regional development impact fee revenues only, and the right to reimbursement shall be terminated ten years from the date the applicant entered into the agreement for construction of the project.
The amount of credit, or the credit and reimbursement together, shall be in an amount equal to the cost of the regional transportation improvement project or portion thereof, as calculated by the RDIF agency. The credit, or the credit and reimbursement together, shall be calculated at the time the applicant enters into an agreement for construction of the regional transportation improvement project. The credit shall be granted at the same time. Once calculated, the amount of reimbursement shall not increase for inflation nor shall it accrue interest.
B. Reimbursement for Projects Not Funded for Construction at the Time of Project Construction. If an applicant constructs all or a part of a transportation improvement project that is not, at the time the applicant enters into an agreement for construction of such project, included in the strategic expenditure plan as a project to be funded, the developer may be eligible for reimbursement from the RDIF; provided, that the strategic expenditure plan is subsequently revised to include the improvement as a project to be funded.
In such event, the amount of reimbursement shall be calculated by the county public works director and approved by the RDIF agency for development located in unincorporated Monterey County and shall be equal to the cost of the project or portion thereof, as set forth in the strategic expenditure plan.
The amount of the reimbursement shall be calculated when the applicant enters into an agreement for construction of the transportation improvement project. Once calculated, the amount of reimbursement shall not increase for inflation nor shall it accrue interest. Reimbursement shall be from regional development impact fee revenues only, and the right to reimbursement shall be terminated ten years from the date the developer entered into the agreement for construction of the project. (Ord. 973 § 9, 2008)
3.32.090 Severability.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the portions of this chapter not held to be unconstitutional or invalid. The city council hereby declares that it would have passed this chapter and each section, subsection, clause or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that one or more sections, subsections, clauses or phrases hereof be declared unconstitutional or invalid. (Ord. 1042 § 2 (Att. B), 2017; Ord. 973 § 6, 2008)
3.32.100 List of projects on the regional transportation system.
The regional development impact fee shall be used to fund all or a portion of the list of transportation improvement projects described in Exhibit “B” of the JPA. (Ord. 973 § 7, 2008)
3.32.110 Administrative costs.
The RDIF agency may establish a processing fee or administrative surcharge to defray the reasonable cost of administration of the RDIF program by the RDIF agency in an amount not to exceed one percent of the fees collected by the city in accordance with Government Code Section 66014 and as otherwise provided by law. (Ord. 1042 § 2 (Att. B), 2017; Ord. 973 § 8, 2008)