Union City Municipal Code Art. II Capital Facilities Fee

The City Council finds and declares that:

1. The City provides public services and constructs and maintains public facilities for the benefit of residents, businesses and employees within the City.

2. As a result of increasing regional growth, significant residential, commercial and industrial development is expected to occur within the City.

3. City government requires buildings and equipment for City employees to serve the public. The City now has certain capital facilities, including a City administration building, a police administration building, a corporation yard for public works, a library, a senior center and other facilities needed to serve the public.

4. The City, as amended in 1999, identifies public facilities which are needed in the City as a part of the City's development during the next 20 years, including those listed in Section 18.105.150(B).

5. In accordance with its amended General Plan, the City intends to expand and improve its public facilities to serve new development and to maintain existing levels of service of public facilities, including the capital facilities set forth in Section 18.105.150(B).

6. The General Plan specifies the permitted uses of land within the City and places limits on the intensity and density of such use. The City Council has examined the relationship between the land uses and densities permitted under the General Plan and the rate and amount of actual development of property within the City. Based upon this examination, the City Council has identified trends in growth and development which enable the Council to project, with substantial certainty, the magnitude and extent of future development based upon the City's General Plan.

7. Based upon projected growth and development permitted under the General Plan, a substantial amount of residential development will occur in the City before the City is fully built out.

8. This anticipated development cumulatively will generate a substantial increase in the need for City services and the corresponding capital facilities necessary to provide those services. New residential development will thus create an additional burden on the existing capital facilities.

9. If additional capital facilities are not added as development occurs, the existing facilities will not be adequate to serve the community. This could result in adverse impacts, such as inadequate space for City employees, police services, the public works corporation yard, human services activities and inadequate libraries. This shortage of capital facilities would lead to a deterioration of the public services which the residents, employees and property owners in Union City now enjoy.

10. To prevent these undesirable consequences, the capacity of the City's capital facilities must be built at a rate which will accommodate the expected growth in the City.

11. Although the need for public services generated by an individual development project may not be, in and of itself, sufficient to overload the City's existing capital facilities, the cumulative impact of all new development (including development currently submitted for approval) will result in an unacceptable burden.

12. It is the policy of the City, as provided in its General Plan, that new residential development pay for its share of the cost of the improvements to existing capital facilities and construction of new capital facilities which are necessary to accommodate the public services needs generated by such new development. In the absence of this chapter imposing a capital facilities fee, existing and future sources of revenue will be inadequate to fund a substantial portion of the capital facilities improvements which are necessary to avoid an unacceptable deterioration of public services.

13. The City has caused to be prepared a capital facilities fee technical report, with appendices, dated March 17, 1999 ("technical report"), which provides various bases for the partial funding, through the establishment of a capital facilities fee, which is required to install and construct certain portions of the facilities needed to implement the General Plan. The technical report, prepared by Economic and Planning Systems, Inc., is on file with the Economic and Community Development Department and the City Clerk. The public facilities for which the capital facilities fee will be used are specifically identified in Section 18.105.150(13) and in the technical report, which includes a schedule of costs. The technical report may be amended from time to time to reflect current conditions and circumstances and more refined engineering costs estimates.

14. The City Council has examined the extent to which different land uses rely upon the City's services and capital facilities. In its evaluation, the Council has taken into consideration, among other things, the technical report. This report identifies the estimated use of public services and facilities by all new persons coming to the City. The City Council finds that these use factors represent a reasonable estimate of the actual use of public services and facilities.

15. The public facilities reflected in the technical report are needed to protect the health, safety, and general welfare within the City, to facilitate orderly urban development within the City, to maintain identified existing levels of service within the City, and to promote economic well-being within the City as a whole.

16. A fair and equitable method of securing some of the revenues necessary to construct the required capital facilities improvements is to impose a capital facilities fee based on the extent to which new residential development generates the need for additional capital facilities.

17. The technical report identifies capital facilities improvements which are necessary to accommodate future growth.

18. Individual public improvements identified in the technical report are part of an integrated system serving and providing benefits to development planned within the entire City.

19. The capital facilities improvements that will be constructed with funds generated by this article will significantly benefit the contributor in that the adverse impacts and inconvenience which would otherwise be caused by a declining level of public services will be substantially mitigated. Persons who undertake new residential development in the City are benefited by a desirable community and the City's reputation for providing, and ability to provide, a variety of well-run public services. Such services make the community a safe and appealing place to live and to work.

20. The City will obtain and allocate funding from various other sources that are not funded by the capital facilities fee.

21. Under Government Code Section 66001, and based upon the capital facilities fee technical report and the terms of this article, the City Council finds that:

a. The purpose of this fee is to provide adequate capital facilities improvements to serve new development within the City.

b. The improvements for which the fee will be used are identified in the capital facilities fee technical report and in Section 18.105.150(B).

c. The fee will fund that portion of capital facility improvements attributable to new residential development responsible for paying the fee.

d. The amount of the fee bears a fair and reasonable relationship to each development's burden on and benefit from the City's public services and capital facilities improvements to be funded by the fee, and shall be based on the following considerations:

i. New residential development will pay only for those capital facilities which serve new residential development and are necessary to serve the public service needs which will be created by such new development.

ii. The cost of improvements needed to alleviate existing deficiencies in capital facilities, or the share of costs created by the impacts of new commercial and industrial development, if any, are not included in this fee.

iii. Each type of residential development shall contribute to the needed improvements in proportion to the use of public services and capital facilities by that type of development. The fee shall be based on the average number of residents for the particular residential use, and the estimated average use of particular facilities.

22. Periodic review, and possible revision, of the fee resolution (adopted by the City Council under this article) will allow for the adjustment of the fee to ensure that the fee remains a fair and equitable method for the distribution of costs to construct capital facilities necessary to accommodate the public services needs generated by development.

23. The capital facilities fee technical report, and future council-approved amendments to it, are approved, incorporated here by reference, and provide the technical information upon which the fee is based.

24. This article is adopted under the police power of the City, Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, and under the Planning and Zoning Law of the State of California (Government Code Section 65000 et seq.).

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

As used in this article:

"Capital facilities fee technical report" or "technical report"

refers to the report dated March 17, 1999, prepared by Economic and Planning Systems, and any future Council-approved amendments to it.

"Capital facility" or "capital improvement"

means facilities or improvements for the collection and disposal of stormwaters and transportation and transit facilities, parks and recreation facilities, and/or other capital projects as may be identified in the City's capital facilities plan. Such facilities and improvements include public facilities as defined in subsection (d) of Section 66000 of the Government Code, and may include, but are not limited to, facilities identified in Section 18.105.150(B).

"City"

means the City including its future boundaries.

"Developer"

means the person(s) or legal entity(ies), who also may be the property owner, who is developing a particular project in the City.

"Director"

means the Director of the Economic and Community Development Department or designee.

"Multifamily dwelling"

means any building or portion thereof which is occupied, or intended for occupancy, as the same residence of three or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking in such building, including, but not limited to, triplexes, fourplexes, apartments, flats, condominiums and townhouses. "Multifamily dwelling" also includes accessory dwelling units constructed within the single-family residential districts.

"Single-family dwelling"

means attached or detached single-family residential dwelling traits. An attached single-family dwelling unit is one occupied or intended for occupancy by one household that is structurally connected with no more than one other dwelling unit. A detached single-family dwelling unit is occupied or intended for occupancy by only one household and is structurally independent from any other such dwelling unit.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006; Ord. 836-16 § 4, 2016)

A. General. The amount and the calculation of the capital facilities fee shall be established by City Council resolution and is based upon the following considerations:

1. Residential development will pay only for construction of those public facilities where there is a reasonable relationship between the facilities funded and the capital facility needs created by the new development.

2. Each type of residential development shall contribute to the funding of the needed facilities in proportion to the need for the facilities created by that type of development.

B. Type of Development. The categories of residential land uses for which the fee will be charged are:

1. Single-family dwelling;

2. Multifamily dwelling.

C. When Applicable. The capital facilities fee, in an amount to be determined by resolution of the City Council, is applicable to a building permit to construct a new dwelling unit, as set forth in this article.

D. Residential Fee Unit. The capital facilities fee for residential construction shall be charged for each new dwelling unit, with a specific capital facilities fee amount set for each residential density type referenced in this article.

E. Capital Facilities Improvements. The fee shall be based on the percentage of the cost of the capital facilities improvements attributable to new residential development as determined in the capital facilities fee technical report. The improvements included in the total cost are set forth in that report and do not and shall not include the costs of improvements needed to alleviate existing deficiencies in the City's capital facilities, if any exist, or the share of costs created by the impacts of new commercial and industrial development.

F. Amount of Fee—Formula. The amount of the fee shall be established by resolution and may be amended from time to time. The fee shall be determined as follows:

1. Estimate total capital facilities costs attributable to each type of new residential development, including single-family and multifamily dwelling units;

2. Divide the cost attributable to new single-family development by the total number of new single-family dwelling units expected under buildout of the City's General Plan. The result is the capital facilities fee (CFF) to be charged on the development of each new single-family dwelling unit in the City.

3. Divide the cost attributable to new multifamily development by the total number of new multifamily dwelling units expected under buildout of the City's General Plan. The result is the capital facilities fee (CFF) to be charged on the development of each new multifamily dwelling unit in the City.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The following activities and actions are exempt from the requirement to pay the capital facilities fee:

A. No fee is due if a capital facilities fee was previously paid in full for a particular property and use;

B. No fee shall be charged for remodeling or for an addition to an existing residential unit;

C. No fee shall be charged for demolition of an existing residential structure and the building of a new residential structure on the same site, provided the demolished structure was in use as a residential dwelling within two years before the issuance of a building permit for the new residential structure.

D. No fee shall be charged for the construction of individual, new, owner-occupied single-family homes in Community Development Block Grant target neighborhoods. An owner-occupied home means the unit is constructed by or for the property owner, and the owner shall live in the home for a minimum of five years upon its completion.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 556-00 § 2, 2000; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The time for payment of the capital facilities fee shall be established by the City Council resolution which sets the amount of the fee, and shall conform to the requirements of Government Code Section 66007.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

At the time of approval of a project or at the time of the imposition of the fees, the City shall provide to the project applicant a statement of:

A. The amount of the fee and the public improvement that the fee will be used to finance (Government Code Section 66006(f)); and

B. Notification that the 90 day approval period in which the applicant may protest has begun (Government Code Section 66020(d)).

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

A. The revenues from each capital facilities fee paid under this chapter shall be distributed as directed by the City Council.

B. Fee revenues shall only be used to fund the following projects in the capital facilities fee account and the City administrative costs incurred in collecting, depositing, distributing and otherwise administering such fee revenues and updating the technical report:

1. Intermodal station, including parking garage;

2. Bus transit center in Union Landing;

3. Library;

4. City Hall expansion;

5. Parking garage at Civic Center;

6. Community centers (new and rehabilitation);

7. Cultural Arts Center;

8. Science Center;

9. Union City Boulevard widening/bike facilities;

10. Whipple Road widening;

11. Fire station;

12. Police facilities;

13. Fire pumper trucks (2);

14. Police equipment;

15. Street sweeper (1);

16. Bike lane/trails;

17. Community park improvements;

18. Gymnasium and pool complex.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The capital facilities fee revenues and all interest earned on deposited fee revenues shall be used only to:

A. Fund new residential development's share of the costs of the construction or installation of the capital facilities and improvements specified in Section 18.105.150(A) as funds are available or to reimburse the City for such construction or installation if funds were advanced by the City from other sources to pay new development's share of such costs; or

B. Fund reimbursement, under the terms set forth in Section 18.105.170; or

C. Fund loans or transfers made in conformance with Government Code Section 66006(b)(1)(G).

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

A. As may be authorized by resolution of the City Council, following review and written report from City staff, capital facilities fee revenues may be used to reimburse a developer, upon his or her written request, under this section. A developer must obtain Council approval for reimbursement, by resolution, before any offer of dedication and before any construction begins for a public improvement which may be the subject of a reimbursement request. Reimbursement shall only be approved by the City Council where all of the following four conditions are satisfied:

1. A developer has been required or permitted to install and dedicate a public facility identified in Section 18.105.150(B) which is oversized (including supplemental size, length or capacity) beyond that which can be attributed to the specific development installing the same;

2. The facility for which reimbursement is sought is identified by the City as a priority project to be funded within the three year period immediately following the completion of the facility;

3. Revenues funding the facility are available; and

4. The sum value of the facility/ies constructed, based on the most current estimate of the infrastructure item (as defined by annual cost review or other recent evaluation of cost), exceeds the total capital facilities fee liability of the specific development installing the facility.

B. Reimbursements shall not be authorized if the value of the constructed and dedicated improvement is below the total capital facilities fee liability of the project. Reimbursements for oversizing shall not be available as fee credits against a development's fee liability, except as provided in Section 18.105.030.

C. Reimbursements for oversizing shall include appropriate financing charges (interest) which shall be based upon the rate at which the City can borrow money at the time the reimbursement is approved by the City Council. Financing charges included in any reimbursement payments to a developer or property owner shall not exceed this interest rate, as calculated by the City's Chief Financial Officer.

D. In the case of City Council approval of reimbursement, the reimbursement amount will be based on the most current estimate of the infrastructure item, as defined by annual cost review or other recent evaluation of cost, regardless of the actual cost to construct the facility.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The capital facilities fee authorized by this article and the implementing Council resolution(s), the accumulated fee funds and their appropriation, and supporting documentation, shall be reviewed annually by the City Council in a manner which conforms to the requirements of Sections 60001(d) and 66006(b) of the Government Code.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The City shall not collect the capital facilities fee established by this article once funds sufficient to construct residential development's share of all facilities described in the then current technical report and its appendices have been collected.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The City charges developers other fees, including fees for the 511 Specific Plan area and DIPSA fees. If a developer has paid such fees and believes all or a portion of such fee payment is being used to fund improvements included under the capital facilities fee, he or she may request a refund or credit for overpayment by following the appeal procedures provided in Section 18.105.050.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)

The provisions of Article I (Sections 18.105.010 through 18.105.080, including provisions for fee credit, fee adjustment or waiver, appeal procedures and refunds) apply to this capital facilities fee.

(Ord. 532-99 § 2, 1999; Ord. 629-04 § 2, 2004; Ord. 670-06 § 3, 2006)