Coalinga Municipal Code Ch. 1-A Development Impact and Capacity Fees

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Editor's note— Editor's Note: The title of Chapter 8-1.A was renamed by § 1 of Ord. 703.

(a) The fees established by this chapter shall not apply to an applicant for approval of a building permit to remodel or reconstruct a building which, within one (1) year prior to the application, had already been connected to the City's water system or the City's wastewater system or both.

(b) Nor do the provisions of this chapter apply to the reconstruction of any residential, commercial or industrial development project that is damaged or destroyed as a result of a natural disaster, as declared by the Governor.

(c) Any reconstruction of real property, or portion thereof, which is not substantially equivalent to the damaged or destroyed property, shall be deemed to be new construction and only that portion which exceeds substantially equivalent construction may be assessed a fee. The term "substantially equivalent," as used in this section, shall have the same meaning as the term in subsection (c) of Section 70 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) The purpose of the fees set forth in this chapter is to replace the police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and the water processing, storage and distribution capacity and facilities and the wastewater collecting and processing capacity and facilities owned by the City and still allow for the growth of residential and other development.

(b) Such fees shall be used to pay the City's portion of the cost of either expanding the existing police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and water and wastewater facilities or replacing them in order to accommodate growth and still maintain the existing unused capacity available to the City so that the City can use this capacity to encourage economic development.

(c) There is a reasonable relationship between the purpose of these fees and imposing such fees on all development because all development either uses police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and water and wastewater capacity or, at some time after development occurs, can be converted to a use which uses police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and water and wastewater capacity and facilities.

(d) Because of the anticipated growth in residential housing demand, the existing capacity in facilities owned by the City would be consumed by residential development long before the vacant land inside the City's current and proposed specific urban development plan and general plan boundaries was fully occupied. If such a high demand for residential development occurs, without such fees being collected by the City, the existing police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and water capacity as well as the existing wastewater capacity will already have been used by residential development when future industrial and commercial development is ready to locate or relocate into the City. If all of the unused capacity in police facilities, fire facilities, parks, community facilities, storm drainage and streets, roads and bridges and water or wastewater facilities is used, then no development of any kind could occur inside the City unless funding from the State or the Federal government was obtained. Since such funds are difficult to obtain, either development would be greatly delayed or might not occur at all, which is not in the best interests of the residents of the City.

(e) The size of the development impact fees shall be determined by the Council of the City by resolution. No such fee shall be set unless it is determined by the Council to bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the public facilities attributable to the development on which the fee is imposed. Each such resolution which sets the amount of the fees shall identify the public facility or facilities for which the fee is charged and the method of determining the amount of the fee.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990, as amended by § 2, Ord. 703, eff. March 21, 2005)

(a) Except as may be provided by this chapter or any amendment to this chapter, the applicant for approval of a building permit for new construction, must pay to the City the water system capacity fee and the wastewater system capacity fee before the City can issue a building permit or actually provide service to all or any part of the land which is the subject of the application.

(b) Except as may be provided by this chapter or any amendment to this chapter, the applicant for approval of an out-of-jurisdiction contract for water service must pay to the City the water system capacity fee and the applicant for approval of an out-of-jurisdiction contract for wastewater service must pay to the City the wastewater system capacity fee before the City can enter into an out-of-jurisdiction agreement to provide either service to all or any part of the land which is the subject of the application.

(c) To the extent that the City then determines that services will not be provided to the land which is the subject of the application, the City shall refund such fees to the applicant. To the extent that the application results in either water service or wastewater services being granted by the City, the City shall deposit the respective capacity fee in a segregated account as is more fully set forth below.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) No building permit shall issue without the payment of all sums, if any, required by this chapter. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, for a residential development, the facilities fees shall be deemed to have been paid if the applicant enters into an agreement as described in subsection (b), below.

(b) Pursuant to the terms of Section 66007 of the Government Code, if the capacity fee or fees on a development which includes residential development are not paid in full prior to the issuance of a building permit, then the City may substitute in lieu of the actual payment of the balance of the unpaid portion of the capacity fee or fees, a contract pursuant to this subsection but only for that portion of the fees which are owed because of residential development.

(1) The signatory of the contract shall be either the property owner or a lessee if the lessee's interest appears of record.

(2) The contract shall contain or shall have as an attachment which is incorporated in the contract by reference a legal description of the property which is the subject of the agreement and shall be prepared and executed in a manner to allow for recordation of the contract at the Office of the County Recorder. Once recorded, the contract shall be a lien for the unpaid portion of the fee or fees and shall be enforceable as a lien against successors in interest to the property owner or lessee at the time of issuance of the building permit.

(3) The contract shall be recorded in the grantor-grantee index in the name of the City as the grantee and in the name of the applicant as the grantor. The City shall record a release of the obligation, containing a legal description of the property, in the event the obligation is paid in full, or a partial release in the event the fee or charge is paid in part.

(4) The contract shall require the applicant to provide appropriate notification of the opening of any escrow for the sale of the property for which the building permit was issued and to provide in the escrow instructions that the fee or charge be paid to the City from the sale proceeds in escrow prior to disbursing the proceeds to the seller.

(c) If the building permit applied for contains more than one (1) residential unit, and the capacity fees are not paid in full for the residential portion of the development at the time of the application, the City shall determine which of the following shall apply:

(1) The capacity fees shall be paid on a pro rata basis for each dwelling unit when it receives its final inspection or certificate of occupancy, whichever occurs first; or

(2) The capacity fees shall be paid on pro rata bails when a certain percentage of the dwellings have received their final inspection or certificate of occupance, whichever occurs first; or

(3) The capacity fees shall be paid on a lump-sum basis when the first dwelling in the development receives its final inspection or certificate of occupance, whichever occurs first.

(d) No actual hook-up of any of the water or any of the wastewater connections approved by the City in its approval of the issuance of the building permit will occur prior to the issuance of the building permit.

(e) Any capacity fee established by this chapter shall be in addition to any fees for the actual cost of hook-up to either the water system or the wastewater system and in addition to the cost of meeting any conditions set forth in approval by the City of a tentative or final subdivision map or a conditional use permit or which are incorporated in any applicable development or predevelopment agreement.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) The water system capacity fee shall be set on a per residential unit basis, for residential development, by resolution of the City Council.

(b) The wastewater system capacity fee shall be set on a per residential unit basis, for residential development by resolution of the City Council.

(c) The Council shall have the discretion when it adopts or amends such a rate setting resolution to set a different residential rate for different types of residential development, if the Council finds that a particular type of residential development, on average, uses a different amount of capacity.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) The water system capacity fee may be set for commercial development based on a factor of the equivalent dwelling unit, (EDU), by resolution of the City Council. Such factor shall be based on the estimated average rate of consumption of water by the given type of commercial activity which is taking place on the premises. The fee may also be based on other methods.

(b) The wastewater system capacity fee may be set for commercial development based on a factor of the equivalent dwelling unit, (EDU), by resolution of the City Council. Such factor shall be based on the estimated average rate of discharge of wastewater by the given type of commercial activity which is taking place on the premises. The fees may also be based on other methods.

(c) The EDU factor may be less than, equal to or more than one (1) depending upon whether it was found that the type of activity, on average, consumed less capacity than a residential use, the same capacity as a residential use or more capacity than a residential use. The rate for a particular type of commercial activity will then be determined by multiplying the EDU times the basic residential rate. If the Council has not determined an EDU for a particular commercial use, then the fees for that type of use may be determined in accordance with the next section of this Code, which deals with determining fees for industrial uses.

(d) If, for any reason, a single use is both residential and commercial, then the applicant shall pay whichever fee is a higher fee, but shall not be required to pay both the residential fee and the commercial fee for a single connection.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990, as amended by § 3, Ord. 703, eff. March 21, 2005)

(a) The capacity fee for all development which is not determined by resolution adopted pursuant to one (1) of the foregoing sections shall be set pursuant to this section.

(b) An application for such a permit shall proceed as follows:

(1) At the time of the initial application for a permit, the applicant shall deposit with the City the amount determined by the Council as the estimated cost of the report and sign an agreement to reimburse to the City any cost of the preparation of the report which exceeds the amount of the deposit. The permit shall be issued until the full cost of the report has been paid. After the filing of the report required by this section, if any portion of the funds deposited have not been earned, then the City will reimburse that unearned portion to the applicant.

(2) The City Manager or his designee, upon receipt of the application for the permit and the deposit of the estimated cost of the report, will either: (1) consult an engineer of the City's choice and arrange for a study and a report to be made to the City; or (2) the City Manager or his designee will prepare a study and a report. In either event, the report shall contain all of the following:

(A) The anticipated usage of capacity in the water treatment plant, storage facilities and transmission lines expressed in terms of residential equivalents, both for this particular development and for other uses which might be made of this building in the future, assuming the zoning which is currently applicable;

(B) The anticipated usage of capacity in the wastewater collection lines and treatment plant owned by the City, expressed in terms of residential equivalents, both for this particular development and for other uses which might be made of this building in the future, assuming the zoning which is currently applicable;

(C) Any additional recommendations to offset costs to the City of the new growth; and

(D) Whether the city currently owns enough capacity to accommodate the growth or whether the City will need to engage in construction before providing service to the additional customers represented by the building permit application.

(c) The capacity fee shall be set by the City Manager or his designee, who is responsible for such matters, only after the City Manager or his designee has reviewed the report required by this section with regard to the expected capacity needed by the development. The City Manager, or his designee, shall then set a fee for the development which is comparable on a volume of use basis to the capacity fee most recently set by the Council for residential units.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) Pursuant to Government Code Section 66006, there are established two (2) separate reserve accounts (collectively, the "reserve accounts"), These reserve accounts shall be sub-accounts in the City's respective enterprise funds:

(1) Water system capacity fee reserve account; and

(2) Wastewater system capacity fee reserve account.

Any fee paid pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be placed into the respective reserve account established for such fee and used solely for the purpose of implementation of the applicable public purpose for which the fee was established. All monies in each of the reserve accounts established by this chapter shall be held separate and apart from other City funds. All interest or other earnings of each such reserve account shall be credited to that account.

(b) All monies and interest in each of the reserve accounts established by this chapter shall be expended on the implementation of the applicable public purpose for which the fee was established:

(1) The reimbursement for all direct and indirect costs incurred by the City for such implementation pursuant to this chapter, including but not limited to, the costs of land acquisition, planning, legal advice, engineering, design, construction and equipment.

(2) The reimbursement for all costs incurred by the City and associated with the administration of each account.

(3) The issuance of bonds or notes, secured by the appropriate reserve account, for such implementation.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

(a) Prior to July 1st of each year, during the budget review process, the City Council shall review the state of compliance with this chapter, and the degree to which fees collected pursuant to this chapter are mitigating the impacts of new commercial and residential development projects and new development entitlement.

(b) For each of the reserve accounts established by this chapter, the City shall, within sixty (60) days of the close of each fiscal year, make available to the public all of the following information:

(1) The beginning and ending balance for the fiscal year in that reserve account.

(2) The fee, interest, and other income to that reserve account for the fiscal year.

(3) The amount of expenditure by public facility from that reserve account during the fiscal year.

(4) The amount of refunds made pursuant to Section 66001(e) of the Government Code out of that reserve account during the fiscal year.

(c) The City Council shall review the information described in subsection (b), above, at the next regularly scheduled public meeting not less than fifteen (15) days after the information required by that subsection is made available to the public.

(d) Within five (5) years after the effective date of the ordinance which adopted this chapter, the City Council shall consider a report by the City Manager reviewing the fee formulae established to implement the provisions of this chapter, and their bases to determine whether any adjustments in the fee formulae are warranted.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

Any approval of either water service or wastewater service granted by the City either as a part of the approval of an application for a building permit or otherwise, shall be valid for a period of no more than one (1) year unless either the connections to the City's utility systems are actually made during that time period or the approval is renewed by the City Council. Any such renewal request may subject the applicant to the fees or other exactions which the Council requires at the time of the application for a renewal of the approval. If an approval or a renewal expires due to the passage of time and the original applicant does not choose to apply to renew the approval, then, upon request for a refund, the applicant's capacity fees shall be refunded to the applicant.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

Any person subject to a fee required by this chapter may apply to the City Council for a reduction, adjustment or waiver of that fee based upon the absence of a reasonable relationship between the impact of that person's development project and the amount of the fee charged.

(§ 1, Ord. 571, eff. November 3, 1990)

The City Council may adopt other impact fees for some or all of the facilities listed in Section 8-1.A.02, by making the findings and determinations described in this chapter pertaining to the facilities by resolution. When adopted, the impact fees shall be subject to the appeal, disposition, review and reporting requirements and process as otherwise provided in this chapter.

(§ 4, Ord. 703, eff. March 21, 2005)