Redwood City Municipal Code § 18.252 Exemptions and Credits

Footnotes:

--- (8) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), adopted Jan. 22, 2024, repealed the former Art. XV, §§ 18.244—18.255, and enacted a new Art. XV as set out herein. The former Art. XV pertained to similar subject matter, and derived from Ord. No. 1130, as amended; Ord. No. 2191, § 1, adopted Apr. 24, 2000; Ord. No. 2243, § 2, adopted Feb. 12, 2003; Ord. No. 2291, § 2, adopted Jan. 23, 2006; and Ord. No. 2298, § 2, adopted Apr. 3, 2006.

New development projects bring new residents and employees to the City of Redwood City, generating an increased demand for transportation facilities. The intent of this Article is to establish a transportation impact fee upon new development projects to ensure that new development contributes its fair share to transportation improvements in the City consistent with the City's standards.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

A. This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance."

B. The fees established pursuant to this Article are development fees authorized under California Government Code Section 66000 et seq.

C. This Article shall apply to the extent permitted by the statutes and laws of the State of California.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

The following words and terms as used in this Article shall have the meaning respectively ascribed thereto:

ADMINISTRATOR: Means the Director of Community Development or their designee, who shall administer the provisions of this Article.

APPLICANT: Means the owner of real property proposed for development, or the applicant's authorized agent.

DEVELOPER: Means an individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, association, or other person undertaking development and their successors and assigns.

DEVELOPMENT: Means a proposal for the construction, alteration, addition, or change of use of any building or structure in or upon real property in the City that requires any entitlement from or by the City including, without limitation, a building permit, use permit, zoning or rezoning approval, subdivision or resubdivision map approval, lot line adjustment, architectural permit, general plan amendment, specific plan approval, or any other entitlement or approval.

DWELLING UNIT: Means a dwelling unit as defined in the Building Code as adopted and amended from time-to-time by the City.

ENTERTAINMENT VENUE USE: Means "assembly and meeting facility" (excluding therefrom "religious facilities use" as defined in this Section) and "theater, indoor or outdoor" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

EXPANSION: Means, in relation to the capacity of a road or intersection of roads or of a bridge, to accommodate traffic, extensions, widening, reconfiguration, improvements to or for signalization, rerouting, reconstruction of existing facilities, and construction of new facilities.

FEE PAYER: Is a person undertaking a development which generates new trips and which requires the issuance of a building permit, or any other entitlement.

FLOOR AREA: Means the total floor area of all stories of a building or structure, including basements, and all aboveground stories for various types of land use as used in the determination of traffic generation in the "Trip Generation Manual," published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (latest edition).

IMPACT FEE OR FEES: Means the fee or fees imposed on a development pursuant to this Article, the revenues from which shall be used to fund a proportionate share of the cost of transportation improvement projects and transportation system improvements necessary to mitigate the transportation impacts of such development in Redwood City.

IMPACT FEE PROJECT LIST: Means the capital improvement plan that is adopted by the City Council and may be amended from time to time pursuant to Government Code Section 66002, which sets forth the transportation improvement projects and transportation system improvements that are intended to be funded in part or in whole by transportation impact fees. The Impact Fee Project List shall be maintained on file in the office of the Administrator.

IMPACT FEE SCHEDULE: Means the schedule of impact fee rates per development unit for specific land uses or land use categories approved by ordinance or resolution of the Council and maintained on file in the office of the Administrator.

INDUSTRIAL USE: Means warehousing, light industrial, manufacturing, and general industrial uses including, without limitation, "electronic equipment facility," "handicraft/custom manufacturing," "industry, limited," "industry, general," "maintenance and repair services," "personal storage (mini-storage)," "truck terminal," "warehousing," "wireless communications equipment building," and "wireless communications facility" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

LIVABLE AREA: Means the livable area is the building area minus garage area and unfinished basement or unfinished attic areas. Closets, stairwells, and other interior spaces are included within this definition.

LODGING USE: Means "lodging" as defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

MULTI FAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE: Means any dwelling unit which is not a single-family residential use, with a residential density of sixteen (16) or more units per acre regardless of whether the units are attached or detached; including, without limitation, "residential care facility, general," "residential care facility, senior," and "skilled nursing facility" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

OFFICE/R&D USE: Means any business, financial, general, and professional offices and research and development use, and including, without limitation, "administrative office and service facility", "business office," "financial institutions and related services," "financial service," "offices - business, government, and professional," "professional office," and "research and development" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

OFFICE USE, MEDICAL: Means any medical or dental office uses, including, without limitation, "hospital," "medical clinic," and "medical office" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

RELIGIOUS FACILITY USE: Means religious institutions including associated assembly halls, meeting rooms, and weekend school programs. For weekday schools see "school use" definition within this Section.

RETAIL USE, GENERAL: Means a place where retail sales, personal services, health and fitness, and certain cultural, recreation, and entertainment activities occur including, without limitation, "alcohol sales, off-sale outlet," "alcohol sales, on-sale outlet," "animal-related uses," "bar/cocktail lounge," "business, wholesale," "check cashing," "cultural institution," "health/fitness club," "liquor stores," "nightclubs," "personal services, general," "personal services - studio: art, dance, martial arts, music, etc.," "recreation, indoor commercial," "restaurants (excluding restaurant, drive-through - see retail, high intensity)," "retail sales, general (excluding convenience market - see retail high intensity)," "tasting lounge," "vehicle/equipment rental," "vehicle/equipment repair," "vehicle/equipment sales and leasing," "vehicle/equipment repair, major," "vehicle/equipment service and repair, minor," and "vehicle parts - retail sales and repair" as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

RETAIL USE, HIGH INTENSITY: Means "restaurant, drive-through," and "retail, convenience market," as those terms are defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code.

SCHOOL USE: Means a private (not public) academic educational institution, including, but not limited to, boarding school, community college, college, university, elementary, middle, or junior high school, high school, and military academy. It also includes schools providing specialized education/training, but excludes facilities under the definition of "studio - art, dance, martial arts, music, etc." listed under "personal services" when used for smaller-scale facilities offering specialized instruction.

SERVICE STATION USE: Means "service station" as defined in Article 2 of the Zoning Code but excludes any space devoted to "high intensity retail uses" as defined in this Section.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL USE: Means any single family residential unit at a residential density of one (1) to fifteen (15) units per acre regardless of whether the units are attached or detached.

SITE-RELATED IMPROVEMENTS: Are capital improvements and right-of-way dedications for direct access to, and/or for traffic circulation within, a development. Direct access improvements include, but are not limited to, the following:

A. Access roads leading to the development;

B. Driveways and roads within the development;

C. Acceleration and deceleration lanes and right-and left-turn lanes leading to such roads and driveways;

D. Traffic-control measures for such roads and driveways;

E. Curbs, gutters, sidewalks, bike facilities, and parking lanes adjacent to the development; and

F. Non-vehicular (pedestrian and bicycle) access to the site.

SQUARE FOOT: Means every square foot of floor area as defined in the "Trip Generation Manual," published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (latest edition) for the purpose of calculating traffic generation. The Building Code, as adopted and amended from time to time by the City, shall be used for determining the square foot area of any development which cannot be calculated by using the definition in the Trip Generation Manual.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

A. Impact fees shall be established as adopted by ordinance or resolution of the Council and maintained on file in the office of the Administrator.

B. Impact fees shall be collected from the applicant for the development, prior to the issuance of a building permit, in the amount calculated for the development authorized by the building permit being issued, in accordance with the impact fee schedule then in effect.

C. The Administrator shall establish the impact fee rate from the aforesaid impact fee schedule. The applicant shall submit all information requested by the Administrator for the purpose of determining an impact fee rate pursuant to Section 18.248.

D. For a change in use of an existing building, or any part thereof, the impact fee shall be the applicable impact fee for the land use category of the new use, less the impact fee for the land use category of the prior use. For any development that includes a change of use involving an alteration, expansion, replacement or new accessory building, the impact fee shall be the impact fee for the new use using the metric that is listed in the schedule of fees (including the existing use plus the additional use) less the impact fee for the land use category of the preexisting use, based upon the corresponding preexisting use floor area.

E. A development that involves the alteration, expansion or replacement of an existing single dwelling unit shall not be subject to the impact fee unless it results in construction of an additional dwelling unit(s) for rent or sale, including an accessory dwelling unit.

F. For a development that involves alteration, expansion or replacement of an existing single dwelling unit resulting in additional dwelling units, the impact fee shall be the applicable impact fee for the land use category of the total dwelling units after development, less the applicable impact fee for the existing single dwelling unit.

G. For a mixed-use development, impact fees shall be based upon the proportionate share of the development that each discrete land use bears to the total development using the impact fee corresponding to each such use in the impact fee schedule.

H. All revenues collected from imposition of impact fees shall be accounted for separately from all other City funds and shall be used solely for the purposes specified in this Article and for the projects or purposes described in the impact fee project list.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

A. Calculation of Impact Fee:

1. Impact fees shall be based upon the land use categories and rates specified in the impact fee schedule. References in said schedule to square feet refers to average livable area square footage or gross leasable square footage as listed in the most recent schedule of fees and defined for a particular land use category in the "Trip Generation Manual" published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (latest edition), for the purpose of calculating trip generation.

2. When more than one (1) land use is proposed within the same development, the impact fee for each land use shall be calculated separately and the total fee of the various uses shall be imposed.

B. Calculation of Fee Credit for Existing Uses: If new development changes or intensifies the existing use on the development site, thereby requiring the payment of a new or additional transportation impact fee, the fee amount associated with the existing use on the project site shall be credited against the new total fee due, as determined by the Administrator; provided, however, that in no event shall the City refund the fees previously paid.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

A. Revenues from impact fees shall be used to fund a proportionate share of the cost of transportation improvement projects and transportation system improvements necessary to mitigate the transportation impacts of such Development in Redwood City. The transportation system improvements intended to be funded by the impact fees shall be set forth in the Impact Fee Project List, which may be amended from time to time pursuant to Government Code Section 66002.

B. No such revenues shall be used for periodic or routine maintenance of roadways, intersections, or other transportation-related capital improvements.

C. In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments are issued for construction of capital improvements for which impact fees may be expended, impact fees may be used to pay debt service thereon to the extent that the improvements provided are of the type described in subsection A of this Section and are located within the City.

D. Impact fee revenues may be used to provide refunds pursuant to Section 18.250.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

If a building permit expires without commencement of construction, then the fee payer shall be entitled to a refund, without interest, of the impact fee paid as a condition for its issuance, except that the City shall retain two percent (2%) of the fee to offset a portion of the costs of collection and refund. The fee payer shall apply in writing for such a refund within thirty (30) calendar days of the expiration of the permit; provided that the Administrator may extend such period for good cause, not to exceed six (6) months.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

An applicant may file an appeal and apply to the Administrator for a reduction, adjustment or waiver of the impact fee imposed pursuant to this Article based upon the absence of a reasonable relationship between the impact of that applicant's development project on transportation facilities in the City and the amount of the fee charged.

A. Application: An applicant shall file a written request to adjust fees with the Administrator not later than ten (10) days after the City notifies the developer of the amount of the fee to be charged as provided in Section 18.247(B). The application shall provide evidence illustrating that the payment of the fee authorized by this Article bears no reasonable relationship or nexus with the impact of the development on the need for transportation facilities within the City and shall state in detail the factual basis for the request for reduction, adjustment or waiver. If an applicant desires to receive a building permit prior to the completion of the appeal process, the applicant shall deposit the fee being appealed with the application. Such fee or portion thereof will be refunded if the appeal is successful.

B. Decision of the Administrator: The Administrator shall issue a decision on the application within thirty (30) days after the application is filed. The Administrator's decision shall state their determination regarding the amount of the impact fee that may reasonably be imposed on the new development and include a brief description of the basis for the Administrator's decision. Should the Administrator determine that they need additional information in order to issue a decision, they shall notify the applicant, in writing, prior to the expiration of the thirty-day period, and provide a description of the additional requested information. The Administrator shall then have thirty (30) days from the date the applicant responds to the Administrator's request for additional information to issue their decision.

C. Appeal of the Decision of the Administrator: Decisions of the Administrator may be appealed to the City Manager or their designee. Appeals must be filed within ten (10) days of the Administrator's decision. The City Manager shall review the application and evidence presented to the Administrator and issue a decision within fifteen (15) days. The decision of the City Manager is final and may be appealed or protested pursuant to Government Code Section 66020.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

A. Any claim of exemption from the impact fee shall be made no later than the time of application for a building permit. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived. The following shall be exempted from payment of the impact fee:

1. Alterations or expansion of an existing building where no additional dwelling units are created, where the use is not changed;

2. The construction of accessory buildings or structures which will not generate additional vehicular trips over and above those generated by the principal building or use of the development and which will not be used for other than storage;

3. The replacement of a destroyed or partially destroyed building or structure with a new building or structure of the same size and use; provided, that no additional trips will be generated over and above those generated by the original use of the land to which the new development pertains;

4. Development that does not result in any additional vehicular trips as determined by the Administrator;

5. Publicly owned facilities;

6. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66311.5(c), accessory dwelling units of less than seven hundred fifty (750) square feet; and

7. Day care centers.

B. Credits:

1. Credit shall not be given for site-related improvements, right-of-way dedications providing paved access to the development or payments to special assessment or taxing districts.

2. Credits for an applicant's construction of a capital improvement included in the impact fee project list shall be given when the construction is completed and accepted by the appropriate governmental body.

3. Any claim for credit must be made no later than the time of application for a building permit. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived.

4. Credit may be given for redevelopment of existing uses pursuant to subdivision B of Section 18.248.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24; Ord. No. 2562, § 4(Exh. A), 7-27-26)

The Transportation Impact Fee shall automatically increase starting on July 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, in accordance with changes in regional construction costs. The amount of the adjustment shall be based on May over May construction cost changes according to the "Construction Cost Index" for the San Francisco Bay Area, as reported monthly in the Engineering News Record. This adjustment shall not require any action of the City Council.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)

Any person, corporation, or other business entity violating or causing the violation of any of the provisions of this Article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable in accordance with Section 1.7A of this Code. Notwithstanding, the foregoing, the provisions of this Article may also be enforced by legal or equitable action, or both such actions, all such remedies being cumulative.

(Ord. No. 2532, § 3(Exh. B), 1-22-24)