Scotts Valley Municipal Code Ch. 3.32 School Facilities Dedication and Fees

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "school facilities dedication and fee ordinance."

(Ord. 81 § 1, 1979)

The ordinance codified in this chapter is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 4.7 (commencing with section 65970) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.

(Ord. 81 § 2, 1979)

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a method for financing interim school facilities necessitated by new residents and developments causing conditions of overcrowding.

(Ord. 81 § 3, 1979)

As used in this chapter:

A. "Conditions of overcrowding" means that the total enrollment of an attendance area's school or schools, including enrollment from proposed development, exceeds the capacity of such school or schools within the attendance area, as determined by the governing body of the school district.

B. "Decision-making body" means the city council or its designees.

C. "Dwelling unit" means a building or a portion thereof, or a mobile home, designed for residential occupation by one person or a group of two or more persons living together as a domestic unit.

D. "Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding" includes, but is not limited to, concepts such as:

1. Any agreements entered into by the affected school district which would alleviate conditions of overcrowding caused by new residential development;

2. The use of relocatable structures, student transportation, and school boundary realignments;

3. The use of available bond or state loan revenues to the extent authorized by law;

4. The use of funds which could be available from the sale of surplus school district real property and funds available from other appropriate sources, as determined by the governing body of affected school districts;

5. Agreements between a subdivider or other developer of residential development in a school district whereby temporary-use buildings will be leased to or for the benefit of the school district or temporary-use buildings owned by the school district will be used.

E. "Residential development" means a project containing residential dwellings, including mobile homes, of one or more units, or a division of land for the purpose of constructing one or more residential units. Residential development includes, but is not limited to, a planned unit development use permit, a subdivision tentative or final map, a parcel map, conditional use permit, a building permit, or any other discretionary permit for new residential use.

(Ord. 81 § 7, 1979)

The city council may from time to time, by resolution, issue regulations to provide for the administration and implementation of this chapter.

(Ord. 81 § 4, 1979)

The city council 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. In many areas of the city, the 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 cannot be alleviated under existing law within a reasonable period of time;

E. That, for these reasons, new and improved methods of financing for interim school facilities necessitated by new development are needed in Scotts Valley.

(Ord. 81 § 5, 1979)

The city general plan provides for the location of public schools. Where facilities are to be constructed from fees or land required to be dedicated hereunder, or both, they shall be consistent with the general plan.

(Ord. 81 § 6, 1979)

The governing body of a school district, pursuant to Government Code Section 65970 et seq., may make a finding supported by clear and convincing evidence that:

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

B. All reasonable methods of mitigating conditions of overcrowding have been evaluated;

C. No feasible method for reducing such conditions exist. Upon making these findings, the school district must provide the city with written notice of its findings as provided in Section 3.32.090.

(Ord. 81 § 8, 1979)

Any notice of findings sent by a school district to the city shall specify:

A. The findings listed in Section 3.32.080;

B. The mitigation measures and methods, including those listed in subsection D of Section 3.32.040 considered by the school district in any determination made concerning them by the district;

C. The precise geographic boundaries of the overcrowded attendance area or areas;

D. Such other information as may be required by council regulation.

(Ord. 81 § 9, 1979)

After receipt of any notice of findings complying with the requirements of Section 3.32.080, the council, if it concurs with such school district findings, shall do so by resolution.

(Ord. 81 § 10, 1979)

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 shall approve an application for a residential development within such area unless such decision-making body makes one of the following findings:

A. That, pursuant to this chapter, provision has been made for 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 that 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.

(Ord. 81 § 11, 1979)

In an attendance area where the council has concurred 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 unless excepted as provided in subsection B of Section 3.32.110, as determined by the decision-making body during the hearings and other proceedings on specific residential development applications falling within its jurisdiction. 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.

(Ord. 81 § 12, 1979)

A. General Standard. Any requirement imposed pursuant to this chapter shall bear a reasonable relationship and will be limited to the needs of the community for interim, elementary, or high school facilities, and shall be reasonably related and limited to the need for the schools caused by the development.

B. Amount of Fee. When fees are required by this chapter to be paid in lieu of land dedication or as a combination, or both, such fees shall be payable at the times and in the amount fixed by resolution of the city council.

C. The total land area required by this chapter to be dedicated shall be at least equal in monetary value to the fees which would be otherwise required by this section. The planning director shall determine and establish the monetary value of land area for the purposes of this chapter.

(Ord. 81 § 13, 1979)

Only the payment of fees shall be required in subdivisions containing fifty parcels, or less, or other developments containing fifty units, or less.

(Ord. 81 § 14, 1979)

When land is to be dedicated, it shall be offered for dedication in substantially the same manner as prescribed in the city subdivision ordinance. Land shall be deeded directly to the school district or districts under procedures adopted by the city.

(Ord. 81 § 15, 1979)

If a residential development approval is vacated or voided, and if the city still retains the fees collected therefor, and if the applicant so requests, the council shall order fees returned to the applicant.

(Ord. 81 § 16, 1979)

Following concurrence by the council pursuant to Section 3.32.100, the clerk of the city shall notify each school district affected thereby. The governing body of the school district shall then submit a schedule specifying how it 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 the times when such facilities will be available. In the event the governing body of the school district cannot meet the schedule, it shall submit modifications to the council and the reasons for the modifications.

(Ord. 81 § 17, 1979)

All land or fees, or both, collected pursuant to this chapter and received by a school district shall be used only for the purpose of providing portable interim elementary or high school classrooms and related bathroom facilities. All such portable classroom and bathroom facilities shall be fully accessible to and usable by the physically handicapped. Such land or fees shall not be used in any attendance area of a district, any part of which is within the county or city, until and unless the county or city has adopted an ordinance requiring the dedication of land or collection of fees pursuant to Chapter 955, Statutes of 1978 and such requirements are substantially similar to the regulations of this chapter.

(Ord. 81 § 18, 1979)

If two separate school districts operate schools in an attendance area where the council concurs that overcrowding conditions exist for both school districts, the council will enter into an agreement with the governing body of each school district for the purpose of determining the distribution of revenues from the fees levied pursuant to this chapter.

(Ord. 81 § 19, 1979)

Any school district receiving funds or lands pursuant to this chapter shall maintain a separate account for any fees paid and disposition of land received, and shall file a report with the council on the balance in the account at the end of the previous fiscal year and the facilities leased, purchased or constructed during 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 August 1st of each year, and shall be filed more frequently at the request of the council.

(Ord. 81 § 20, 1979)

When it is determined by the council that conditions of overcrowding no longer exist in an attendance area, decision-making bodies shall cease imposition of any requirement under this chapter.

(Ord. 81 § 21, 1979)