Chapter 20.09
LAND USE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS
Sections:
20.09.040 Application processing costs – Deposit required.
20.09.050 Review rates and costs.
20.09.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to assure that applicants of all land development proposals pay the city costs associated with the review and processing of the proposals and to provide procedures for administering said costs. (Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.020 Definitions.
A. “Director” means the community and economic development director for the city of North Bend, Washington.
B. “Flat fee permits” means permits or services for which a fixed sum or charge shall be paid by the applicant.
C. “Land use development proposal” means those proposals defined as a “land use permit” or a “flat fee permit.”
D. “Land use permit” means and includes, but is not limited to, applications for approval of permits relating to the use of land within the city, and shall be construed broadly to include all reviews, permits, or approvals sought under NBMC Titles 14 through 20.
E. “Processing costs” means all costs related to the processing of a land use permit, including, but not limited to, actual time and materials costs for application review, assessment, engineering, inspections, legal, secretarial, administrative, publication, and other city processing costs, as well as consultant costs and legal costs. Processing costs do not include flat fee charges for services. (Ord. 1572 § 1, 2015: Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.030 Application fees.
Application for all land use development proposals shall be accompanied by fees as established by ordinance of the city council. Said fees must accompany the application as one element in the determination as to whether the application is deemed complete. (Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.040 Application processing costs – Deposit required.
A. The land use permit applicant shall pay to the city all processing costs associated with the processing of the land use permit, as such costs are defined in NBMC 20.09.020(E); provided, however, that there will be no charge for one preapplication meeting. After the preapplication meeting, the city shall inform the applicant, in writing, of the processing deposit that must be submitted with the land use permit application. The processing deposit is separate from, and required in addition to, the application fees required by NBMC 20.09.030.
B. The director shall calculate the total processing costs and the deposit for a land use permit application according to the following factors: (1) the estimated number of hours of city staff time required to process the land use permit multiplied by the staff members’ applicable hourly rate(s); (2) the expected costs for postage, printing, publication, notice, posting, and other related administrative costs associated with processing the land use permit; and (3) the estimated number of hours of consultant and hearing examiner time required to process the land use permit multiplied by the consultant(s)’ applicable hourly rate(s).
C. The city will establish a segregated deposit account for each application deposit required under subsection A of this section. The city will invoice the applicant monthly for all actual processing costs incurred, along with an administrative fee in an amount equal to 10 percent of the invoice total. The applicant shall pay all invoices within 15 days of mailing date. In the event the applicant fails to pay per this section, the city shall draw from the deposit. Applicant shall at all times maintain the initial deposit amount requested by the city. To ensure the efficient processing of the land use permit application, the applicant and the city shall execute a memorandum of understanding, in a form acceptable to the city attorney, for payment of processing costs required herein. (Ord. 1572 § 2, 2015: Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.050 Review rates and costs.
A. Hourly rates for city staff time to process land development proposals shall be as established by ordinance of the city council.
B. Routine city processing costs shall be established by ordinance of the city council.
C. Predevelopment application review (PAR) costs shall be charged to each company or individual requesting information in furtherance of a development permit application on a time and materials basis using hourly service rates from the city-adopted fee schedule. All project development representatives for development projects shall be given one initial free consultation meeting with city staff. Smaller development proposals such as one single-family home with the homeowner as applicant (one time only), small business tenant improvements of 3,000 square feet or less, and similar small scale projects as determined by the community and economic development director shall be exempt from the PAR fee. In the event that small scale project PAR review(s) take more than 40 hours of city staff time, any additional time spent on the exempt projects shall be charged time and materials cost for the remaining preapplication review. (Ord. 1634 § 2, 2017; Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.060 Fees.
Fee amounts for all flat fee permits shall be as established by ordinance of the city council. (Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).
20.09.070 Use of consultants.
A. The city shall have the right to determine when to use outside consultants to provide any or all of the necessary work related to processing land use development proposals.
B. In the event the city uses an outside consultant, the consultant shall provide the community development director with an estimate of the number of hours to process a land use development proposal multiplied by the hourly rate(s) of the consultant’s personnel that are expected to process the proposal. (Ord. 1318 § 1 (part), 2008: Ord. 1083 § 2 (part), 1999).