Chapter 19.06
PARKS IMPACT FEES
Sections:
19.06.010 Authority and purpose.
19.06.015 Definitions.
19.06.020 Applicability.
19.06.030 Geographic scope.
19.06.040 Imposition of parks impact fees.
19.06.050 Impact fee and establishment of service area.
19.06.060 Calculation of impact fees.
19.06.070 Payment of fees.
19.06.080 Funding of projects.
19.06.090 Refunds.
19.06.100 Appeals.
19.06.110 Relationship to SEPA.
19.06.120 Relationship to concurrency.
19.06.130 Necessity of compliance.
19.06.010 Authority and purpose.
A. This title is enacted pursuant to the city’s police powers, the Growth Management Act as codified in Chapter 36.70A RCW, the enabling authority in Chapter 82.02 RCW, Chapter 58.17 RCW relating to platting and subdivisions, and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Chapter 42.21C RCW.
B. The purpose of this title is to:
1. Develop a parks impact fee program consistent with the Bonney Lake comprehensive plan for joint public and private financing of parks improvements necessitated in whole or in part by development in the city;
2. Ensure adequate levels of parks service within the city consistent with the comprehensive plan;
3. Create a mechanism to charge and collect fees to ensure that all new development bears its proportionate share of the capital costs of off-site parks facilities directly necessitated by new development, in order to provide an adequate level of parks service consistent with the comprehensive plan;
4. Ensure that the city pays its fair share of the capital costs of parks facilities necessitated by public use of the parks system; and
5. Ensure fair collection and administration of such impact fees;
6. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effectively carry out its purpose in the interests of the public health, safety and welfare. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.015 Definitions.
The following are definitions provided for administering the parks impact fee. The public works director shall have the authority to resolve questions of interpretation or conflicts between definitions.
A. “Adequate level of parks service” means a system of parks facilities which have the capacity to serve development without decreasing levels of service below the city’s established minimums. See Chapter 19.02 BLMC and the parks plan.
B. “Development activity” means any construction or expansion of a building, or structure, or use, or any changes in the use of land, that creates additional demand and need for public facilities.
C. “Director” means the director of the department of public works of the city of Bonney Lake or his/her designee.
D. “Finance director” means the finance director of the city of Bonney Lake or his/her designee.
E. “Impact fee or parks impact fee” means a payment of money imposed upon development approval to pay for public parks needed to serve new growth and development, and that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public parks, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the public parks, and that is used for public parks that reasonably benefit the new development. “Impact fee” does not include a reasonable permit or application fee otherwise established by city council resolution.
F. “Jurisdiction” means a municipality or county.
G. “Off-site parks improvement” means improvement to an existing or proposed park facility outside the boundaries of a development, which improvement is required or recommended in accordance with this title.
H. “Parks” means public parks; public recreational, community, cultural or civic facilities (including, without limitation senior centers and youth centers); public trails; and any other similar public facilities identified in the parks plan.
I. “Parks plan” means those specific projects and/or classes of projects for the development and/or improvement of public parks identified within the parks element of the Bonney Lake capital facilities plan, as may from time to time be amended.
J. “Project improvements” means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development project, that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements. No improvement or facility included in the capital facilities plan approved by the city council shall be considered a project improvement.
K. “Service area” means a geographic area defined by ordinance or intergovernmental agreement in which a defined set of public parks provide service to the development within the area.
L. “System improvements” means public facilities that are included in the capital facilities plan and are designed to provide service areas within the community at large, in contrast to project improvements. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.020 Applicability.
A. The requirements of this chapter apply to all development activity in the city of Bonney Lake.
B. Mitigation of impacts on parks facilities located in jurisdictions outside the city will be required when:
1. The other effective jurisdiction has reviewed the development’s impact under its adopted impact fee/mitigation regulations and has recommended to the city that the city impose a requirement to mitigate the impacts; and
2. There is an interlocal agreement between the city and the effective jurisdiction specifically addressing parks impact identification and mitigation. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.030 Geographic scope.
The boundaries within which impact fees shall be charged and collected are co-extensive with the corporate city limits, and shall include all unincorporated areas annexed to the city on and after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. The parks plan includes a map of the corporate city limits and unincorporated areas likely to be annexed. After the adoption of interlocal agreements with other local and regional governments, geographic boundaries may be expanded consistent therewith. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.040 Imposition of parks impact fees.
A. The director is hereby authorized to impose parks impact fees on new development according to the provisions of this chapter. Pursuant to BLMC 19.06.070, impact fees are due at the time of building permit issuance. When a development used to exist on a parcel, and the owner applies for a permit to build a comparable or replacement development within five years of the previous development’s demolition, destruction or removal, and the director determines that the new development will not substantially increase the impact upon park and recreation facilities, no impact fee will be charged.
B. Parks impact fees:
1. Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;
2. Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;
3. Shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development;
4. May be collected and spent only for system improvements which are addressed by the parks plan, as a subset of the Bonney Lake capital facilities plan, identifying:
a. Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period of time;
b. Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by new developments; and
c. Additional public facility improvements required to serve new development;
5. Shall not be imposed to mitigate the same off-site parks facility impacts that are mitigated pursuant to any other law;
6. Shall not be collected for improvements to state parks facilities outside the city boundaries unless the state requests such improvements and an agreement to collect such fees has been executed between the state/county and the city;
7. Shall not be collected for improvements to parks facilities in other jurisdictions unless the affected jurisdiction requests such improvement and an interlocal agreement has been executed between the city and the affected jurisdiction for the collection of such fees;
8. Shall be collected only once for each building permit, unless changes or modifications to the building permit are proposed which result in greater direct impacts on parks facilities than were considered when the building permit was first approved; and
9. Shall not be collected from any new or expanded city facilities, post offices or libraries. (Ord. 1230 § 27, 2007; Ord. 1123 § 2, 2005; Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.050 Impact fee and establishment of service area.
A. Subject to the provisions of BLMC 19.06.060, the parks impact fee assessed pursuant to this chapter shall be $2,974.
B. The impact fee set out in subsection A of this section shall be updated annually at a rate adjusted in accordance with the Engineering News Record (ENR) Construction Cost Index for the Seattle area, using an October through October annual measure to establish revised fee schedules effective January 1st of the subsequent year.
C. For the purpose of this chapter, the entire city shall be considered one service area. (Ord. 1273 § 2, 2008; Ord. 1210 § 2, 2006; Ord. 1179 § 1, 2006; Ord. 1157 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.060 Calculation of impact fees.
A. The director shall calculate the parks impact fees as set forth in BLMC 19.06.050, subject to the provisions of this chapter.
B. In determining the proportionate share, the method of calculating impact fees shall incorporate, among other things, the following:
1. The cost of public parks necessitated by new development;
2. An adjustment to the cost of the public parks for past or future payments made or reasonably anticipated to be made by new development to pay for particular system improvements in the form of user fees, debt service payments, taxes, or other payments earmarked for or proratable to the particular system improvement;
3. The availability of other means of funding public parks improvements;
4. The cost of existing public parks improvements; and
5. The methods by which public parks improvements were financed.
C. A credit, not to exceed the impact fee otherwise payable, shall be provided for the value of any dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of any system improvements provided by the developer, to facilities that are identified in the parks plan and that are required by the city as a condition of approving the development activity. The determination of “value” shall be consistent with the assumptions and methodology used by the city in estimating the capital improvement costs.
D. The director may adjust the standard impact fee at the time the fee is imposed to consider unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly.
E. The amount of fee to be imposed on a particular development may be adjusted by the director giving consideration to studies and other data available to the director or submitted by the developer demonstrating to the satisfaction of the director that an adjustment should be made in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
F. The impact fee shall provide for system improvement costs previously incurred by the city to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed improvements; provided, that such fees shall not be imposed to make up for any system improvement deficiencies.
G. As applies to residential development activity, the amount of the impact fee calculated pursuant to this section shall be charged for each single-family residential unit (including new accessory dwelling units), and for each dwelling unit included in a multifamily residential development (e.g., duplex, apartment, condominium, mobile home park).
H. As described in this section, the impact fees set forth in BLMC 19.06.050 shall be the presumptive impact fees, subject to revision as required by subsections C through E of this section. (Ord. 1123 § 5, 2005; Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.070 Payment of fees.
A. All developers shall pay an impact fee in accordance with the provisions of this chapter at the time that the applicable building permit is ready for issuance. The fee paid shall be the amount calculated pursuant to BLMC 19.06.060.
B. If the development is modified or conditioned in such a way as to alter the development’s impact on the parks’ level of service after building permit issuance, the impact fee will be recalculated accordingly.
C. No building permit shall be issued until the impact fee is paid. If the building permit expires through suspension or abandonment under BLMC 15.04.081, the impact fee shall be refunded at the request of the applicant as provided in BLMC 19.06.090(A); provided, that if the applicant re-applies for a new permit pursuant to BLMC 15.04.081, the impact fee shall be re-calculated at current rates and the amount of the impact fee already paid and not refunded may be credited toward the new impact fee.
D. Impact fees may be paid under protest in order to obtain a permit or other approval of development activity. (Ord. 1230 § 24, 2007; Ord. 1123 § 6, 2005; Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.080 Funding of projects.
A. Parks impact fees shall be placed in appropriate deposit accounts within the parks capital improvement fund.
B. The parks impact fees paid to the city shall be held and disbursed as follows:
1. The parks impact fees collected shall be deposited in accordance with subsection A of this section;
2. When the council appropriates parks capital improvement fund funds for a project in the parks plan, impact fees held within such fund may be used in accordance with the parks plan. The non-impact fee moneys appropriated for the project may comprise both the public share of the project cost and an advancement of that portion of the private share that has not yet been collected in parks impact fees;
3. The first money spent by the director on a project after a council appropriation shall be deemed to be the fees from the impact fee account;
4. Fees collected after a project has been fully funded by means of one or more council appropriations shall constitute reimbursement to the city of the public moneys advanced for the private share of the project;
5. All interest earned on parks impact fees paid shall be retained in the account and expended for the purpose or purposes for which the parks impact fees were imposed.
C. Projects shall be funded by a balance between parks impact fees and other sources of public funds, and shall not be funded solely by parks impact fees.
D. Parks impact fees shall be expended or encumbered for a permissible use within six years of receipt, unless there exists an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than six years. The finance director may recommend to the council that the city hold fees beyond six years in cases where extraordinary or compelling reasons exist. Such reasons shall be identified in written findings by the council.
E. The city shall prepare an annual report on the parks impact fee account showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned or received and projects that were financed in whole or in part by parks impact fees. (Ord. 1185 § 2, 2006; Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.090 Refunds.
A. A developer may request and shall receive a refund when the developer does not proceed with the development activity for which parks impact fees were paid, and the developer shows that no impact has resulted; however, any administrative fee shall not be refunded.
B. If an owner appears to be entitled to a refund of parks impact fees, the finance director shall notify the owner by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at their last known address. The owner must submit a request for a refund to the finance director in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date the notice is given, whichever is later. Any parks impact fees that are not expended or encumbered within the time limitations established by Chapter 19.06 BLMC and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period shall be retained and expended on any project.
C. In the event that parks impact fees must be refunded for any reason, they shall be refunded with interest earned to the owners as they appear of record with the Pierce County assessor at the time of refund.
D. When the city seeks to terminate any or all impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds shall be refunded pursuant to this section. Upon the finding that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the city shall place notice of such termination and the availability of refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first class mail to the last known address of claimants. Claimants shall request refunds as in subsection B of this section. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one year. At the end of one year, any remaining funds shall be retained by the city, but must be expended on any city projects. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within an account or accounts being terminated. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.100 Appeals.
A developer may appeal the amount of an impact fee determined by the director as provided in BLMC 14.120.020. The developer shall bear the burden of proving:
A. That the director committed material and substantial error in calculating the developer’s proportionate share, as determined by an individual fee calculation or, if relevant, as set forth in the fee schedule, or in granting credit for the benefit factors; or
B. That the director’s decision was based on data that was materially and substantially incorrect and which, therefore, necessarily resulted in an erroneous decision. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.110 Relationship to SEPA.
A. All development shall be subject to environmental review pursuant to SEPA and other applicable city ordinances and regulations.
B. Payment of the impact fee shall constitute satisfactory mitigation of those parks impacts related to the specific improvements identified in the parks plan.
C. Further mitigation in addition to the impact fee shall be required for identified adverse impacts appropriate for mitigation pursuant to SEPA that are not mitigated by an impact fee.
D. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the city’s authority to deny building permits when a proposal would result in significant adverse parks impacts identified in an environmental impact statement and reasonable mitigation measures are insufficient to mitigate the identified impact. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.120 Relationship to concurrency.
Neither compliance with this chapter nor the payment of any fee hereunder shall constitute a determination of concurrency under Chapter 19.02 BLMC. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).
19.06.130 Necessity of compliance.
A building permit issued after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be null and void if issued without substantial compliance with this chapter by the department, the approving authority and the director. (Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004).