DATE: January 12, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Development Fees within the Sphere of Influence of the City of Clovis
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Conduct second hearing and adopt proposed amendments to Fresno County Ordinance Code, Title 17 - Divisions of Land, Chapter 17.92 - Clovis Development Fees Applicable within the Sphere of Influence of the City of Clovis, and a Schedule of Fees; and waive reading of the proposed Ordinance in its entirety.
REPORT
This item comes before your Board pursuant to Board action on the first reading on December 15, 2020. At that hearing, your Board voted to hear this item today for the recommended adoption of the proposed Ordinance.
Approval of the recommended action will enable the County to execute Sections 4.1.3 and 4.1.4 of Article IV to fulfill its present obligations under the County’s 2017 Amended and Restated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Clovis (City) (Agreement No. 17-236). The MOU provides that the County is to charge City development fees for any discretionary development applications approved by the County within the City’s Sphere of Influence (SOI). If your Board approves the proposed Ordinance, individuals submitting discretionary development applications for projects within the SOI will be subject to the updated development fees, similar to those assessed within the City’s limits. This item pertains to locations in Districts 2, 3 and 5.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board can reject the recommended action if it is unable to make the required Findings (below) and/or your Board may direct Department of Public Works and Planning staff to obtain additional information that your Board deems necessary or provide additional analysis.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The water supply fees and other development fees collected are used by the City to fund construction of facilities needed to serve new development such as sewer, water, community sanitation infrastructure, parks, major streets, fire department facilities, police department facilities, library facilities and undergrounding of overhead utilities. Under the County’s application process, all discretionary proposals located within the City’s SOI are routed to the City for review and comment. The City has the opportunity to identify applicable City fees associated with the development proposal during their review. The information is then provided to the project applicant for payment of fees directly to the City. The County requires evidence of payment prior to the issuance of a building permit or at the time of final map approval.
DISCUSSION:
On December 15, 2020, your Board conducted the first hearing, waived the reading of the proposed Ordinance in its entirety, and set a second hearing for the recommended adoption of the proposed Ordinance for January 12, 2021.
Background
Since 1990, the County and City have been parties to various versions of the MOU, which addresses patterns of urban development within the City’s SOI. Chapter 17.92 of the County Ordinance Code implements one of the provisions of the MOU, requiring the County to impose the City’s development fees on discretionary projects in the City’s SOI. On June 6, 2017, an updated MOU was signed between the City of Clovis and the County of Fresno (Agt. 17-236).
Sections 4.1.3 and 4.1.5 of the MOU require that the County charge the City’s development fees for all discretionary development projects within the City’s SOI. Sections 4.1.3 and 4.1.4 require that the City (1) conduct a public hearing, (2) pass a resolution describing the type, amount, and purpose of the City fees to be collected by the County, and (3) submit the adopted resolution to the County along with appropriate supporting documentation and a draft fee ordinance.
Your Board’s approval of the recommended action will enable the County to fulfill its present obligations under the MOU as related to the adoption of City development fees. The City has updated its Water Supply Fee and Master Development Fee Schedule and is requesting that the County adopt such updated fees for developments within the City’s SOI.
Required Findings
Approval of the recommended action constitutes a step in the process of imposing the City’s development fees. Under the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code, section 66000, et seq.), for your Board to impose fees on development projects, it is required to find as follows:
1. Purpose of the Fee: identify the purpose of the fee.
2. Use: Identify the use to which the fee is to be put.
3. Need for Infrastructure: That there is a reasonable relationship between the fee’s use (e.g. the construction or improvement of infrastructure) and the type of development for which the fee is imposed (e.g. one requiring additional infrastructure);
4. Nexus: That there is a reasonable relationship between the need for the improvements and the impacts of the development (i.e., type of development on which the fee is imposed);
5. Reasonable Estimate: That the cost estimates are reasonable cost estimates for constructing the improvements, and the fees expected to be generated by the development do not exceed the total costs of constructing the improvements; and
6. No Excessive Fees: That the amount of the fee will not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of the public facilities or portion of the public facilities attributable to the development on which the fee is imposed.
Per Section 4.1.4 of the 2017 MOU, the City provided the update of the City’s Water Supply Fee Schedule, approved by the City Council under Resolution No. 20-24 on March 16, 2020 (Attachment A), and the City’s Master Development Fee Schedule, approved on June 15, 2020 under Resolution No. 20-78 (Attachment F), (that second Resolution also includes the updated Water Supply Fee Schedule, approved by the City Council under Resolution No. 20-24 on March 16, 2020).
The proposed Ordinance, if adopted by your Board, would implement the City’s Resolution Nos. 20-24 and 20-78. The City has provided documentation to assist your Board in making the above findings as described in documents provided by City staff (Attachments A - F). The resolutions provide that the City Council found the Schedule of Fees to satisfy relevant State law (including the Mitigation Fee Act).
Basis for Fees
The proposed fees are collected by the City for the improvement of infrastructure to serve developments within the City’s SOI. The County and City follow this process for fees applicable to discretionary development applications in the City’s SOI. As such, your Board has consistently found a need for this infrastructure and a nexus between that need and the impacts of development in the SOI. For the updated fees in calendar year 2020-2021, the City is requesting that the County adopt the updated Water Supply Fee that has been approved by the City as well as the updated Master Development Fee Schedule.
With respect to the Water Supply Fee for new developments, at the March 16, 2020 City Council meeting, Ordinance No. 20-06 (Attachment B) was considered to re-introduce amending Chapter 6.5 of City’s Municipal Code to establish the Water Supply Fee for new developments and approval of Resolution No. 20-24 to approve the Water Supply Fees and provide a description of fees and request that the County adopt these fees. The City Council adopted Resolution No. 20-24 thereby approving the updated Water Supply Fees. City staff reports dated March 16, 2020 and April 6, 2020 are attached as Attachments C and D.
With respect to the updated Master Development Fee Schedule, at the June 15, 2020 City Council meeting, City staff requested approval of Resolution No. 20-78 for the updated Master Development Fee Schedule and provide a description of fees to the County with a request for the County to adopt the fees.
The City Council staff report dated June 15, 2020 (Attachment E) and Resolution No. 20-78 includes the City’s Master Development Fee Schedule 2020-2021. City Council Resolution No. 20-78 includes the updated Water Supply Fee Schedule, which was adopted by the City Council Resolution No. 20-24 on March 16, 2020.
The City fees that will be collected for development projects within the City’s SOI will provide a source of funding to develop or improve infrastructure to accommodate development within the City’s SOI. Under the County’s discretionary application process, all discretionary proposals located within the SOI are routed to the City for review and comment. The City has the opportunity to identify applicable City fees associated with the development proposal during their review. The information is then provided to the project applicant for payment of fees directly to the City. The County requires evidence of payment prior to the issuance of a building permit or at the time of final map approval.
City Stakeholder Outreach
City staff has indicated that due to the restrictions related to in person public meetings as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, two rounds of review on the Construction Cost Index (CCI) adjustment of the Development Impact Fees (DIF) program were provided. Staff invited input from the stakeholders through written responses, phone/audio conferences, or virtual meetings. Proposed DIF schedules were provided to stakeholders, which included the Building Industry Association (BIA), Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District, the Clovis Unified School District, and several local residential and non-residential developers.
City staff has noted that the BIA was consistently involved and shared their concerns in regard to the current market and economic slowdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendation from the BIA was to implement the second year of the Parks and Acquisition Fee phase-in program and to defer the CCI increases until a re-evaluation of construction cost and City infrastructure is completed that adequately addresses the effects of COVID-19. City staff has begun the suggested re-evaluation with the intent of discussing this with stakeholders and the City Council later this year, if needed.
Overall Results
In reviewing residential and non-residential development, the CCI adjustment, combined with the incremental Parks Fee increase, will result in an increase in overall fees ranging from 4%-5% and 2.8%-3.3%, respectively.
Per the MOU, these fees will only apply to discretionary development applications, which are defined in the MOU as General Plan Amendments, Zone Changes, Tentative Tract Maps, Tentative Parcel Maps, Conditional Use Permits, Director Review and Approvals, and Variance Applications. Existing uses or uses permitted as a matter of right (agricultural, rural residential, and associated uses) would continue to be permitted without being subjected to these fees.
City staff will be available to answer any questions from your Board.
Mitigation Fee Act Procedural Compliance
Government Code, section 66017 allows the legislative body to impose a development fee 60 days after holding an open and public meeting. If your Board approves the recommended action and adopts the proposed ordinance following a second reading, the amended fees will become effective 60 days following adoption.
The Department published notice of the first reading and hearing in the Fresno Business Journal on December 4, 2020, and December 11, 2020, and published a notice of the second reading and proposed adoption in the Fresno Business Journal on December 18, 2020.
CEQA Compliance
Department staff has determined that approval of the proposed ordinance is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as there is no possibility that the proposed ordinance will have a significant impact on the environment (See CEQA Guidelines, section 15061, subdivision (b)(3).). Subsequent discretionary projects subject to the amended fees in the proposed ordinance will nevertheless be reviewed under CEQA as necessary based on the specifics of those projects. The environmental impacts of those discretionary projects, if there are to be any, are far too remote to be foreseeable at this time.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
A copy of this Board Report, including the proposed Ordinance, was provided to City of Clovis staff for review.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #16, December 15, 2020
BAI #61, December 10, 2019
BAI #46, January 8, 2019
BAI #50, June 6, 2017
BAI #65, September 22, 2015
BAI #29, April 29, 2014
BAI #43, December 6, 2011
BAI #36, October 21, 2008
BAI #18, September 11, 2007
BAI #22, September 12, 2006
BAI #20, August 16, 2005
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachments A - F
Ordinance
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck