Article 14 — SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT FEES

This article is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 65970) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code of the State. (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

The Council hereby finds and declares as follows:

• (a) Adequate school facilities should be available for children residing in new residential developments;

• (b) Public and private residential developments may require the expansion of existing public schools or the construction of new school facilities;

• (c) Funds for the construction of new classroom facilities are not available when new development occurs, resulting in the overcrowding of existing schools;

• (d) New housing developments frequently cause conditions of overcrowding in existing school facilities which conditions cannot be alleviated under existing law within a reasonable period of time; and

• (e) That, for such reasons, financing for interim school facilities necessitated by new developments is needed in the City.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

The Council, by resolution, may issue regulations to establish procedures, interpretations, and policy directions for the administration of this article.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

The General Plan of the City provides for the location of public schools. Those interim school facilities to be constructed from fees paid or those lands to be dedicated for school facilities as required by this article shall be consistent with the General Plan of the City. (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this article are defined as follows:

"Attendance area" shall mean the attendance area for any school as defined by the governing board of the school district involved.

"Classroom facilities," "classroom and related facilities," and "elementary or secondary school facilities" shall mean "interim facilities" as defined in subsection (d) of this section and shall include no other facilities.

"Conditions of overcrowding" shall mean that the total enrollment of a school, including enrollment from proposed development, exceeds the capacity of such school as determined by the governing body of the school district.

"Interim facilities," for the purposes of this article, shall be limited to the following:

• (1) Temporary classrooms not constructed with a permanent foundation and defined as a structure containing one or more rooms, each of which is designed, intended, and equipped for use as a place for the formal instruction of pupils by a teacher in a school;

• (2) Temporary classroom toilet facilities not constructed with permanent foundations; or

• (3) Reasonable site preparation and the installation of temporary classrooms.

"Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding" shall mean and include, but shall not be limited to, agreements between a subdivider and the affected school district whereby temporary-use buildings will be leased to the school district or temporary-use buildings owned by the school district will be used.

"Residential development" shall mean a project containing residential dwellings, including mobile homes, of one or more units or a subdivision of land for the purpose of constructing one or more residential dwelling units.

"School district" shall mean a public school district which operates an elementary or secondary school which has a part of its school attendance area within the City and which has not received an apportionment pursuant to the Leroy F. Green State School Building Lease Purchase Law of 1976 (commencing with Section 17700 of the Education Code of the State). (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

A residential development shall be exempt from the requirements of this article when such development consists only of the following:

• (a) Any modification or remodeling of an existing legally established dwelling unit where no additional dwelling units are created;

• (b) Any rebuilding of a legally established dwelling unit destroyed or damaged by accident, act of God, or other catastrophe; or

• (c) The conversion of apartment units to condominiums, community apartments, or stock cooperatives, the fees for which have been paid pursuant to this chapter in connection with the issuance of approvals for the construction of the building being converted.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

• (a) The governing body of a school district may make a finding, supported by clear and convincing evidence, that:

  • (1) Conditions of overcrowding exist in one or more attendance areas within the district which conditions will impair the normal functioning of educational programs, including the reason for such conditions existing; and

  • (2) All reasonable methods of mitigating conditions of overcrowding have been evaluated, and no feasible method for reducing such conditions exists.

• (b) Upon making such findings, the school district shall notify the Council. The notice of findings sent to the City shall specify the mitigation measures considered by the school district.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

After the receipt of any notice of findings complying with the requirements of Section 9-2.1407 of this article, the Council, if it concurs with such school district findings, shall do so by resolution. (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Within an attendance area where the Council has concurred in a school district's notice of finding that conditions of overcrowding exist, no decision-making body of the City shall approve an ordinance rezoning property to a residential use, grant a discretionary permit for residential use, or approve a tentative subdivision map for residential purposes within such area, unless such decisionmaking body makes one of the following findings:

• (a) That pursuant to this chapter, provision has been made for the payment of fees, dedication of land, or both, or some other provision has been agreed upon by the applicant for a residential development in the school district to mitigate the conditions of overcrowding within such attendance area; or

• (b) That there are specific overriding fiscal, economic, social, or environmental factors which, in the judgment of the decision-making body, would benefit the City, thereby justifying the approval of a residential development otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter without requiring the payment of fees, or the dedication of land, or other alternate provisions required by this chapter.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

In an attendance area where the Council has concurred as provided in Section 9-2.1408 of this article that overcrowding exists, the applicant of a proposed residential development, as a condition of approval, or the obtaining of a building permit, shall pay fees, make an equivalent arrangement in lieu thereof, dedicate land, or do a combination thereof, as set forth in Section 9-2.1413 of this article, unless excepted as provided in subsection (c) of said section, as determined by the decisionmaking body during the hearings and other proceedings on specific residential development applications falling within their respective jurisdictions. Prior to the imposition of the fees, or the dedication of land, or both, it shall be necessary for the decision-making body acting on the application to make the following determination: that the facilities to be constructed, purchased, leased, or rented from such fees or the land to be dedicated, or both, are consistent with the General Plan of the City.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Only the payment of fees shall be required for subdivisions containing 50 parcels or less or for other developments containing 50 units or less.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Any requirement imposed pursuant to this article shall bear a reasonable relationship and will be limited to the needs of the community for interim elementary or secondary facilities and shall be reasonably related and limited to the need for schools caused by the development; provided, however, the fees shall not exceed the amount necessary to pay five annual lease payments for the interim facilities. In lieu of the fees, the builder of a residential development, at his or her option and at his or her expense, may provide interim facilities owned or controlled by such builder at the place designated by the school district, and, at the conclusion of the fifth school year, the builder, at the builder's expense, shall remove the interim facilities from such place or deed them to the district at the district's option.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

• (a) When fees are required by this article to be paid in lieu of land dedication, such fees shall be as follows:

  • (1) Facilities fees. Every person carrying out a residential development in an area where school overcrowding has been determined to exist shall pay a facilities fee. The amount of the facilities fee shall be set by resolution of the Council after consultation with the affected school districts, and shall bear a reasonable relationship, and will be limited to, the needs of the community for interim elementary, junior high, and high school facilities, and shall be reasonably related and limited to the need for schools caused by the residential development. However, fees shall not exceed the amount necessary to pay five annual lease payments for interim facilities prorated per student. The fee shall be paid at the time of the issuance of a building permit.

  • (2) Dedication or provision of facilities in lieu of fees. Upon agreement by the developer, the City, and the affected school district, a developer may dedicate land in lieu of paying the fees required by this article. The fair market value of the land so dedicated shall be equivalent to the amount of fees otherwise required. The developer, at his or her option and expense, may provide interim facilities meeting the standards and at a location established by the affected school district. The developer shall remove such facilities at the conclusion

of the fifth (5th) school year at his or her expense, unless the developer and the school district agree that such facilities may remain.

When fees are required in combination with land dedication, such fees may be reduced in proportion to the amount of land dedicated. The school district shall be responsible to collect such fees, and the City shall be notified by the district of such collection having been made by the district prior to issuing a building permit.

• (b) If the payment of a fee is required, such payment shall be made to the school district prior to issuing a building permit.

• (c) The standards for the amount of dedicated land required shall be recommended by the governing board of the school district where a determination has been made pursuant to Section 9-2.1407 of this article that conditions of overcrowding exist. Such standards and the facts supporting them shall be transmitted to the Council. If the Council concurs with such standards, they shall, until revised, be used by the decision-making bodies in situations where dedications of land are required as a condition to the approval of a residential development. Nothing set forth in this article shall prevent the Council from establishing and using standards other than those established by the school district in the event the Council does not concur in those transmitted by the district.

• (d) Land shall be deeded or dedicated directly to the school district under procedures set forth by the City Attorney.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

• (a) If a final subdivision map, a parcel map, or a conditional use permit is vacated or voided, and the City or school district still retains the land, and if the applicant so requests, such land shall be returned to the applicant.

• (b) If a residential development approval is vacated or voided, and the school district still retains the fees collected therefor, and if the applicant so requests, such fees with interest shall be returned to the applicant, less administrative fees.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Following a decision by the City to require the dedication of land or the payment of fees, or both, the governing body of the school district shall submit a schedule specifying how the district will use the land or fees, or both, to solve the conditions of overcrowding. The schedule shall include the school sites to be used, the classroom facilities to be made available, and when such facilities will be available. In the event the governing body of the school district cannot meet the schedule, the governing body shall submit modifications to the Council stating the reasons for the modifications. (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Any school district receiving funds pursuant to this article shall maintain a separate account for any fees paid and shall file an audited report with the Council on the expended funds and the balance in the account at the end of the previous fiscal year. In addition, the report shall specify which attendance areas will continue to be overcrowded when the fall term begins and where conditions of

overcrowding will no longer exist. Such report shall be filed by October 15th of each year and shall be filed more frequently at the request, in writing, of the Council. (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

All land or fees, or both, collected pursuant to this article by the school district shall be held in trust and shall be used only by the district for the purpose of providing interim elementary, junior high, or high school classrooms and related facilities for students from the attendance area from which the land or fees were collected.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

When it is determined by the Council that conditions of overcrowding no longer exist in an attendance area, decision-making bodies shall cease the imposition of the requirements of this article.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

The Council from time to time, by resolution, may issue regulations to provide for the administration and implementation of this article.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

Upon the termination of this article:

• (a) The school district shall deposit all unused funds to the school development fee account.

• (b) If the school district sells or makes other disposition of the facilities installed or constructed pursuant to the terms and conditions of this article, the school district shall do so for valuable consideration equivalent to the worth of the property and shall deposit the same in the school development fee account.

• (§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)

The school district, by act of the governing board, shall make disbursements from the school development fee account established pursuant to Section 9-2.1416 of this article as funds are needed to mitigate the adverse impacts described in this article. The school district shall document the need for such moneys and shall specify in detail how the moneys would be utilized to alleviate the adverse impacts.

(§ 1, Ord. 746, eff. June 20, 1986)