Hercules Municipal Code Art. 4 Police Facilities Impact Fee

(a) As a result of increasing regional growth, significant residential, commercial and industrial development is expected to occur within the City.

(b) The Hercules Police Department provides essential and invaluable police services to residents of the City of Hercules and to its entire business and commercial population.

(c) The general plan specifies the permitted uses of land within the City and places limits on the intensity and density of such use. The City Council has examined the relationship between the land uses and densities permitted under the general plan and the rate and amount of actual development of property within the City. Based upon this examination, the City Council has identified trends in growth and development which enable the Council to project, with substantial certainty, the magnitude and extent of future development based upon the City's general plan.

(d) Based upon projected growth and development permitted under the general plan, a substantial amount of residential, commercial and industrial development will occur in the City before the City is fully built out.

(e) This anticipated development cumulatively will generate a substantial increase in the need for police services and the corresponding capital facilities necessary to provide those services. New development will thus create an additional burden on police services and their existing facilities.

(f) Additions to the existing police protection facilities in the City are needed to mitigate the impacts of development and to accommodate future development. All types of development require and use police and other emergency services.

(g) In order to implement the general plan and to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the community, it is necessary that new development pay its pro rata share of its impact upon police services.

(h) The police facilities impact fee is based upon the premise that new development generates additional residents, employees and structures which in turn place an additional burden upon the local police system and facilities and should be expected to pay a share of the new police facilities in accordance with the level of demand generated by that development. The City Council hereby finds:

(1) The purpose of this fee is to provide adequate police protection facilities to serve new development within the City.

(2) The police facilities for which the fee can be used are generally identified in the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study.

(3) Police facilities and related emergency services are needed by all types of development to protect persons and property. The categories of land use for which the fee will be charged are residential, office, retail/service, industrial and hotels.

(4) The amount of the fee shall be established by City Council resolution and shall be based upon the following considerations:

A. New development will pay only for those increases and improvements which serve demands created by new development.

B. Each type of development shall contribute to the needed police protection facilities in proportion to the use of police protection facilities by that type of development.

C. The Comprehensive Impact Fee Study dated February 21, 2001 and prepared by the City of Hercules and Muni Financial and future Council-approved amendments or supplements to it or replacements of it are approved and incorporated by reference.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

(a) In this Article:

Director means the City Manager or the City Manager's designee.

Permit includes a building or use permit authorizing the development of new floor area or a change from one land use category to another.

Police facilities includes land, buildings, improvements and related equipment.

Single family residence means a detached one-family dwelling unit at densities less than six per acre, excluding mobile homes.

Multi-family dwelling means all attached single family dwellings such as townhouses, condominiums, duplexes, apartments, dormitories and the like, and mobile homes or trailers.

Industrial includes facilities primarily engaged in manufacturing, processing and assembling goods, business and construction services, passenger and freight transportation, research and development and uses with a similar impact on the services or facilities for which the fee is assessed.

Office includes facilities primarily used for professional (for example, medical, legal, engineering, accounting), general commercial, financial, insurance, and other offices which do not function primarily for walk-in services as well as uses with a similar impact on the services or facilities for which the fee is assessed.

Retail/service includes facilities primarily engaged in the retail sale of goods or services to the general public or to small businesses. This category includes stores, automobile dealers, restaurants, hospitals, schools, colleges, banks and uses with a similar impact on the services or facilities for which the fee is assessed.

Hotel includes buildings used for the overnight lodging of guests and uses with a similar impact on traffic volume.

Floor area means the gross floor area of a building or, if a building contains separate uses for which the fee is payable, the floor area of each of those uses. It is determined by calculating the total combined floor area within the building's exterior walls or, in the case of a building containing more than one use, the area within the walls containing each separate use. Floor area includes the area of an addition where floor area is increased. Parking areas and exterior walkways are not included in this calculation.

Comprehensive Impact Fee Study refers to the report of that title dated February 21, 2001, and prepared by City of Hercules and Muni Financial.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

(a) General.

(1) Permit. A person who applies for a permit to construct a residential unit or to construct or add to a nonresidential building shall pay to the City a police facilities fee prior to issuance of the permit.

(2) Change of use. A person who receives a permit authorizing a change of use within a building shall pay to the City a police facilities fee prior to issuance of the permit.

(3) Amount of fee. The amount of the police facilities fee shall be determined by resolution of the City Council and may be adjusted by resolution from time to time to reflect changed estimates in the cost of the facilities to be financed.

(b) Type of Development. The categories of land uses for which the fee will be charged are:

(1) Residential includes Single Family and Multi-Family;

(2) Industrial;

(3) Office;

(4) Retail/Service;

(5) Hotel.

(c) Facilities. The fee shall be based on the percentage of the cost of the new or already provided police facilities needed to serve new development as determined in the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study as amended, supplemented or replaced from time-to-time. The new or already provided police facilities included in the total cost are identified in the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study.

(d) Method of Establishing Fee. The method for establishing fees for each category of land use is that set out in the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study.

(e) Residential Fees. The fee for residential construction shall be charged for each new dwelling unit. No fee is charged for remodeling only or for an addition to an existing unit which does not result in a new second unit.

(f) Non-residential Fees. The fee for nonresidential construction shall be charged on a per square foot basis for all new gross floor area, including an addition where floor area is increased. No fee is charged for remodeling or restoration only, where the floor area is improved or replaced but not increased.

(g) Change of Land Use. A fee is due for a change in land use category. The fee is based on the incremental difference between the applicable fee for the prior use and the fee for the proposed new use.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

No fee is due if the police facilities impact fee or a fee substantially similar to the police impact fee was previously paid in full for a particular property and use. No fee is due for development by entities which are exempt by law from payment of the fee. There are no other exemptions to the police facilities fee.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

The time of payment for the police facilities fee shall be established by the resolution which sets the amount of the fee, and shall conform to the requirements of Government Code Section 66007.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

The City shall deposit the fees collected under this Article in a special fund, the Police Facilities Impact Fee Fund, designated for police facilities. The fees and any interest earned shall be used only:

To complete the police facilities projects specified in the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study, the Hercules Capital Improvement Program, the budget of the City or otherwise permitted by law, or to reimburse the City for such completion if funds were advanced by the City from other sources;

To reimburse developers who have been required or permitted to install such police facilities to the extent that the cost of such installation exceeds the fee the developer would have otherwise been required to pay under this Article;

To reimburse the City for its reasonable costs in administering this Article.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

The City Council shall annually review the police facilities fee authorized by this Article, implementing resolutions and supporting documentation, including the Comprehensive Impact Fee Study and may, based on such review, institute by resolution an amended police facilities fee program.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)

The provisions of Article 1 apply to this police facilities impact fee.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 2001)