Modesto Municipal Code Art. 11 Specific Plan Reimbursement Fees

It is the intent of the City Council in providing Specific Plan Reimbursement Fees to charge persons who benefit from Specific Plans for the costs of developing those Specific Plans and to reimburse those persons, including the City, who have provided funds to prepare the Specific Plan and related documentation. Specific Plans result in savings to such persons to reducing the cost of documenting environmental consequences and advocating changed land uses which may be authorized pursuant to the Specific Plan.

Pursuant to Government Code Section 65456, the City Council may, by resolution adopted from time to time, fix a specific plan fee to reimburse any person, including the City, for the cost of preparation, adoption, and administration of any Specific Plan prepared pursuant to Government Code Section 65450, et seq.

(a) In adopting a specific plan fee, the City Council shall make the following findings:

(1) That the costs for which the specific plan fee is being assessed are reasonable and were necessarily incurred in the preparation, adoption and administration of the specific plan, including environmental review and annexation;

(2) That the specific plan fee defrays but does not exceed the actual cost of the services and/or expenses incurred in the preparation, adoption and administration of the specific plan; and

(3) That the specific plan fee is being fairly prorated among the parcels included in the specific plan based on the relative benefit that each parcel has derived from the specific plan based upon the savings resulting from reducing the cost of documenting environmental consequences and advocating changed land uses which may be authorized pursuant to the specific plan.

(b) The resolution establishing fees pursuant to this chapter shall contain the following:

(1) An itemized list, together with a specific description, of the costs for which the Specific Plan fees are being assessed and the total amount of the assessment;

(2) A description of the specific parcels of land which are benefited and against which the fees are assessed;

(3) A statement indicating the amount of the total assessment that is allocated against each parcel of property in the Specific Plan area and the method of allocation, including any exemptions or credits against the assessment.

The fee established pursuant to this article shall be paid upon application to the City for any tentative subdivision map, tentative parcel map, annexation, general or specific plan amendment, precise plan, conditional use permit, rezoning, planned development zoning, development plan review second-story addition to a single-family house, or any other land use entitlement which implements, utilizes, or amends the specific plan or supporting documentation, for the property upon which the fee has been assessed.

If any person or entity other than the City pays all or a portion of the costs for which assessments have been made pursuant to this article, the City Council may, by resolution, provide that all or a portion of the monies that the City receives from the specific plan fee be paid to such person or entity as full or partial reimbursement for the costs that person or entity has incurred.