Menlo Park Municipal Code Art. I General

As a condition of approval of a map, the subdivider shall dedicate or make an irrevocable offer of dedication of all parcels of land within the subdivision that are needed for streets, alleys, including access rights and abutters' rights, drainage, local transit facilities, bikeways, public utility easements, and other public easements as required. In addition, the subdivider shall install or agree to install all public and private street improvements, bikeways, local transit facilities, drainage facilities, utilities and fences as required.

(Ord. 615 § 1 (part), 1977; Prior code § 24.5)

The dedication of land or the payment of fees, or a combination of both, shall be required for park and recreational purposes as a condition to the approval of a tentative subdivision or parcel map required for, enabling, or resulting in residential development on one or more parcels of the subdivision. Dedication and payment requirements shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:

(1) As used in this section, residential development does not include commercial or industrial subdivisions or condominium projects or stock cooperatives which consist of the subdivision of airspace in any existing apartment building which is more than five years old when no new dwelling units are added.

(2) The amount of land dedicated or fees paid shall be based upon residential density, which shall be determined on the basis of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map or parcel map and the average number of persons per household. The dedication of land, or payment of fees, or both, shall be the proportionate amount necessary to provide five acres of park area per one thousand persons residing within a development subject to this section.

(3) The amount of land to be dedicated shall be calculated from the formula of AxB. The amount of fees to be paid shall be calculated from the formula of AxBxC.

(A) A is the recreation area required per dwelling unit, based on 5 acres per one thousand persons, i.e., .005 acres per person. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a single family residential development will average 2.59 persons per unit so that if such presumption is not rebutted A will equal 2.59 x .005 = .013 acres per unit. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that all other residential developments will average 1.63 persons per unit so that if such presumption is not rebutted A will equal 1.63 x .005 = .008 acres per unit. As used herein, single family residential developments are residential developments authorized in the R-E, R-E-S, R-1-S, and R-1-U zoning districts and other residential developments are residential developments authorized only in other residential zoning districts. The above presumptions are derived from the 1990 census. Upon publication of a more recent census, the above presumptions shall be replaced by presumptions derived from the more recent census.

(B) B is the number of dwelling units in the proposed development (excluding established dwellings incorporated into the development).

(C) C is the average fair market value per acre of the land in the development.

(4) Either the dedication of land or the payment of fees may be required in a subdivision having more than fifty lots or when a condominium project, stock cooperative, or community apartment project exceeds fifty dwelling units. Otherwise only the payment of fees may be required.

(5) The land, fees, or combination thereof are to be used only for the purpose of developing new or rehabilitating existing neighborhood or community park or recreational facilities to serve the development. The amount and location of land to be dedicated or the fees to be paid shall bear a reasonable relationship to the use of the park and recreational facilities by the future inhabitants of the development.

(6) The city shall develop a schedule specifying how, when, and where it will use the land or fees, or both, to develop park or recreational facilities to serve the residents of the development. Any fees collected shall be committed within five years after the payment of such fees or the issuance of building permits on one-half of the lots created by the development, whichever occurs later. To the extent required by law, fees not so committed shall be distributed and paid to the then record owners of the development in the same proportion that the size of their lot bears to the total area of all lots in the development.

(7) Developments containing less than five parcels and not used for residential purposes shall be exempted from the requirements of this section. However, a condition shall be placed on the approval of such parcel map that if a building permit is requested for construction of a residential structure or structures on one or more of the parcels within four years, the fee shall be paid by the owner of such parcel as a condition to the issuance of such permit.

(8) If the subdivider provides park and recreational improvements to the dedicated land, the value of the improvements together with any equipment located thereon shall be a credit against the payment of fees or dedication of land.

(9) The fee will be determined at the time of tentative subdivision or parcel map approval and will be paid prior to recordation of the final subdivision or parcel map.

(10) Stock cooperatives, community apartment projects, common interest developments and condominiums, if entitled by state law, shall be eligible to receive a credit as determined by the City Council, against the amount of land required to be dedicated or fee imposed pursuant to this section, for private open space within the development which is usable for active recreational uses. Developments not so entitled may receive such credit in the discretion of the City Council.

(11) If any condition, requirement, or provision of this section is determined to be invalid, all other conditions, requirements, and provisions shall remain in full force and effect. If the acreage per one thousand persons or the number of persons per household per unit provided for in this section exceeds that authorized by state law, such acreage or number of persons shall be the minimum authorized acreage or persons.

(Prior code § 24.6(1); Ord. 615 § 1 (part), 1977; Ord. 748 § 1, 1987; Ord. 749 § 1, 1987; Ord. 836 § 2, 1992)

As a condition of approval of a final map, any subdivider proposing a development of more than four hundred dwelling units within any three-year period on any parcel or contiguous parcels shall dedicate such land as deemed necessary to assure the residents of the subdivision adequate elementary school facilities. This requirement shall be applicable only to a subdivider and his successors who have owned the land being subdivided for less than ten years prior to the filing of the tentative maps in accordance with this chapter. The requirement of dedication shall automatically terminate unless the school district offers to enter into a binding commitment with the subdivider to accept the dedication within thirty days after the requirement is imposed. The required dedication may be made at any time up to sixty days after the filing of the final map on any portion of the subdivision. The school district shall, in the event that it accepts the dedication, repay to the subdivider or to his successors the original cost to the subdivider of the dedicated land, plus a sum equal to the total of the following amounts:

(1) The cost of any improvements to the dedicated land since acquisition by the subdivider;

(2) The taxes assessed against the dedicated land from the date of the school district's offer to enter into the binding commitment to accept such dedication;

(3) Any other costs incurred by the subdivider in maintenance of such dedicated land, including interest costs incurred on any loan covering such land.

(Ord. 615 § 1 (part), 1977; Prior code § 26.6(2))