Chapter 3.4
PARK ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT*

Sections:

3.4.01    Park acquisition and development.

3.4.02    Definitions.

3.4.03    Park acquisition and development fees.

3.4.04    Payment of fees.

3.4.05    Use of fees collected.

3.4.06    Alternate payment of park acquisition and development fees for additions to existing development.

3.4.07    Protest procedures.

*    Sections 3.4.01 through 3.4.04, codified from Ordinance No. 71-14, as amended by Ordinance No. 71-26, effective November 15, 1971 and Ordinance No. 77-20, effective June 1, 1977, amended in their entirety by Ordinance No. 89-47, effective January 3, 1990.

3.4.01 Park acquisition and development.

The City hereby establishes a method for coordinated acquisition and development of City park facilities in order to accomplish the following:

(a)    To coordinate the acquisition and development of City park facilities pursuant to the Parks and Recreation Element of the Clovis General Plan, as amended;

(b)    To establish a financing mechanism for park acquisition and development which creates as reasonably equitable system of distribution of the costs based upon burdens imposed, benefits received and/or timing of land development as can be achieved under the existing circumstances;

(c)    To require fees for the acquisition and development of park facilities as a condition of approval of a final tract map, final parcel map, site plan or a building permit;

(d)    To provide for fees and for the review of such fees annually and the adjustments commensurate with any adjustments in actual construction costs, or by the percentage increase or decrease in the Engineering News Record Index for the California Cities for the twelve (12) month period preceding December. (§ 1, Ord. 89-47, eff. January 3, 1990; as amended by § 1, Ord. 93-24, eff. December 1, 1993; § 10, Ord. 95-14, eff. June 30, 1995; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)

3.4.02 Definitions.

When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a)    “Assisted living facility” shall mean a building or group of buildings containing individual living units or rooms for occupancy by infirm persons who require living assistance in the form of housekeeping services, meals, recreational programs, laundry services, shopping and transportation services, and/or limited medical care not involving a physician.

(b)    “City” shall mean the City of Clovis, the Clovis Community Development Agency, the Clovis Municipal Development Corporation and any other not for profit or governmental entity wholly and completely founded, organized and controlled solely by the City of Clovis.

(c)    “Dwelling unit” shall mean each single-family dwelling and each living unit of an apartment, duplex, multiple dwelling, structure, condominium, cooperative, or planned development as defined in Section 11003 of the Business and Professions Code of the State, and each stall, space, site, or location for a mobile home or trailer intended for use as a separate habitation or residence.

(d)    “Dwelling unit equivalent” shall be rounded to the nearest tenth (0.1) of a unit and shall mean each one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet, or fraction thereof, of gross building area for assisted living facilities. School, church, hospital, public agency buildings, and FMFCD basins are exempt from any parks acquisition and development fees.

“Dwelling unit equivalent” for mini storage facilities as defined in Section 9.120.020 shall be equal to 0.2 single-family residential units per acre.

(e)    “Gross building area” shall mean the cumulative square footage of the building, in the case of a multi-story building it shall be the summation of square footage of all floors.

(f)    “Gross lot acreage” shall mean the total area included within the boundaries of the lot and one-half (1/2) of the area of all frontage streets.

(g)    “Owner/developer” shall mean any person shown as the owner of land on the last equalized assessment roll or any person entitled to be shown as owner of land on the next assessment roll and/or the authorized representative of the owner of land. City is not an owner/developer.

(h)    “Person” shall mean and include every person, firm, or corporation who constructs or causes a dwelling unit or dwelling unit equivalent to be constructed, either by himself or through the services of any employee, agent, or independent contractor.

(i)    “Public infrastructure,” for purposes of applying fees and exemptions pursuant to this chapter, shall mean any City-owned facility or improvement that is funded by a City of Clovis development impact fee including water well sites, booster pump sites that are part of or appurtenant to the City water and recycled water systems, water reservoir sites, water recharge sites, water treatment facility sites, water reuse facility sites, sewer lift station sites and fire and police facilities. (§ 1, Ord. 89-47, eff. January 3, 1990; Ord. 96-20, amended, December 12, 1996; § 3, Ord. 02-12, eff. June 5, 2002; § 1, Ord. 04-14, eff. May 5, 2004; § 1, Ord. 08-13, eff. July 4, 2008; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)

3.4.03 Park acquisition and development fees.

(a)    Any owner/developer and any person who constructs or causes a dwelling unit or dwelling unit equivalent to be constructed in the City shall pay, in addition to any other fees required to be paid by the City, a fee which shall be calculated on the basis of park acreage designated in the Clovis General Plan consisting of the estimated total land acquisition and construction cost distributed on the basis of the remaining developable area within the sphere of influence.

(b)    The parks acquisition and development fee rates shall be established by resolution adopted by the City Council, based upon the justification reports, as those reports may be subsequently amended or supplemented, and upon a determination that there is a reasonable relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of the public improvement, or portion thereof, attributable to development of which the parks acquisition and development fees are imposed.

(c)    The parks acquisition and development fees shall be based on the following:

(i)    Residential projects shall pay parks acquisition and development fees per dwelling unit.

(ii)    Retail, office, and industrial projects shall pay parks acquisition and development fees per square foot of building area.

(iii)    Mini storage and assisted living facilities shall pay parks acquisition and development fees at the residential rate per dwelling unit equivalent as defined in Section 3.4.02, regardless of the underlying zoning.

(iv)    The rates charged for all nonresidential projects except assisted living facilities, mini storage facilities, and projects that are exempt shall be based on the zoning of the property. Retail rates will apply on properties that are zoned C-1, C-2, C-3, and PCC. Office rates will apply to properties zoned C-P and P-F. Industrial rates will apply to properties zoned C-M, M-1, M-2, and M-P. For properties located within the RT zone district, rates will be based on the land use as they are allowed in the zone districts listed above. For land uses, except those listed above, that are allowed in multiple zone districts the higher of the rate for the land use or the rate associated with the zoning shall apply.

(d)    All fees shall be adjusted on an annual basis to reflect actual land acquisition and construction costs. This fee shall include an administrative charge not to exceed the percentage shown in the Master Development Fee Schedule to cover the cost of the City’s record keeping and handling, except that if sufficient fees are held in the particular fund and general interest sufficient to cover such costs, the administrative charge will be taken from such interest. (§ 1, Ord. 89-47, eff. January 3, 1990; as amended by § 2, Ord. 93-24, eff. December 1, 1993; Ord. 97-9, eff. July 1, 1997; § 4, Ord. 02-12, eff. June 5, 2002; §§ 1, 2, Ord. 03-15, eff. June 18, 2003; §§ 1, 2, Ord. 05-16, eff. July 16, 2005; § 1, Ord. 07-19, eff. August 3, 2007; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013; § 1, Ord. 13-25, eff. December 2, 2013)

3.4.04 Payment of fees.

The fees set forth in Section 3.4.03 shall be due and payable as follows:

(a)    The fee for each dwelling unit, except for each dwelling unit in a mobile home park or trailer park, shall be paid to the City as a condition precedent to and upon the approval of a final tract map, a final parcel map, or the issuance of a building permit.

(b)    The fee for each dwelling unit in a mobile home park or trailer park shall be paid to the City as a condition precedent to and upon approval of the final site plan for the mobile home park or trailer park containing such dwelling unit or the issuance of a building permit.

(c)    The fee for each retail, office, industrial building, and assisted living facility shall be paid to the City as a condition precedent to the issuance of a building permit.

(d)    The fee for modifications to existing residential, single-family residential, and multifamily residential which add dwelling units shall be assessed and collected for each new dwelling unit. No parks and recreation fee will be required for modifications to existing single-family residential structures that do not add units.

(e)    The fee for all modifications to existing retail, office, and industrial buildings shall be based on the square footage added.

(f)    Any development considered to be public infrastructure shall be exempt from the payment of fees under this section.

(g)    Payment of fees required in this section may be deferred in accordance with the provisions of Sections 3.6.01 through 3.6.06. (§ 1, Ord. 89-47, eff. January 3, 1990; as amended by Ord. 96-20, adopted December 12, 1996; Ord. 97-11, eff. June 5, 1997; § 1, Ord. 99-5, eff. May 12, 1999; §§ 3, 4, Ord. 03-15, eff. June 18, 2003; §§ 2, 3, Ord. 04-14, eff. May 5, 2004; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)

3.4.05 Use of fees collected.

All of the sums collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be deposited in the Parks and Recreation Acquisition and Development Fund and shall be used solely for the acquisition of land for parks and recreational areas and the development of such lands so acquired or such lands already in the City’s possession. Such fund shall not be used for the maintenance or upkeep of parks and recreational areas. For the purposes of this section, “recreational areas” shall include storm water retention basins which may also be used for recreational purposes. (§ 1, Ord. 89-47, eff. January 3, 1990; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)

3.4.06 Alternate payment of park acquisition and development fees for additions to existing development.

(a)    As set forth in Section 3.4.04, any park acquisition and development fees required shall be a debt owing to the City until paid. This section will allow the owner of developed property an option for the payment of park acquisition and development fees to the City when such property is required to pay said fees as set forth in Section 3.4.04.

(b)    Park acquisition and development fees may be made in substantially equal monthly installments upon the execution of an agreement setting forth the terms provided in this section.

(1)    The owner requesting installment payments shall file an application therefor and pay in advance any application fee required. The application fee shall be set and adjusted by the Director of Finance to cover the cost for processing the application.

(2)    The application fee and the total of such charges shall be as designated and shall be collected in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Director of Finance. Such park acquisition and development fees shall be owed by and collected from the owner of the property. The division of the charges into periodic payments for the purpose of billing and collection, as provided in this section, or any failure or delinquency in the collection or payment thereof, shall not waive or excuse the payment of any part of the total of such charges due. Any balance due may be collected with any further periodic installment payments, or by the collection of delinquencies from the owners by the exercise of a lien, or otherwise, at the option of the City.

(3)    The agreement shall be executed by all record owners of the land requesting the financing.

(4)    The agreement shall provide that the interest rate shall not exceed the Federal Fund rate, on the day the agreement is signed, which shall be that Federal Fund rate of the immediate preceding (banker’s) day as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

(5)    The agreement shall provide that the whole, or any part, of the balance of charges due at any time under the agreement may be accelerated and paid at any time, at the option of the owner of the property, and that the whole balance of charges due shall be paid upon the sale of the property by the owner.

(6)    The agreement shall be of the form and content prescribed by the Director of Finance and approved by the City Attorney.

(c)    The payment plan provided for in subsection (b) of this section shall apply only to park acquisition and development fees for the property.

(d)    This section shall not apply to new construction or payment for park acquisition and development fees provided for under procedures regulating the division of land, or to property owned by a government or governmental agency, or whenever the Council has adopted a resolution of intention to construct improvements by special assessments within a district.

(e)    The agreement provided for in subsection (b) of this section shall be in the form of a covenant running with the land to be served, and, when it is recorded in the records of the County, the balance of any charges due and to become due shall be a lien upon the land. The following shall apply to the lien and its enforcement whenever charges agreed to be paid have become delinquent under such agreement:

(1)    The lien shall attach to the land upon the recording of the agreement in the records of the County.

(2)    The Director of Finance shall release the lien upon the payment of all charges due or to become due under the agreement by recording a release thereof.

(3)    The lien, when attached to the land, shall have the force, effect, and priority of the judgment lien and shall continue until released by the Director of Finance or an order of a court of proper jurisdiction.

(4)    The Council may release all or any portion of the land subject to any such lien or subordinate the lien to other liens or encumbrances if the Council determines that the amount due is sufficiently secured by a lien on other property or that the release or subordination will not jeopardize the collection of the amount due.

(5)    A warrant may be issued by the Director of Finance for the collection of any amount due for the enforcement of any lien directed to the Sheriff or Constable and shall have the same effect as a writ of execution. It may and shall be levied and sale made pursuant to it in the same manner and with the same effect as a levy upon the sale of real property pursuant to a writ of execution. The Sheriff or Constable shall receive, upon the completion of his services pursuant to a warrant, and the Director of Finance is authorized to pay to him, the same fees and commissions and expenses in connection with services pursuant to such warrant as are provided by law for similar services pursuant to a writ of execution; provided, however, fees for publication in a newspaper shall be subject to approval by the Director of Finance rather than by the court. Such fees, commissions, and expenses shall be an obligation of the person or persons liable for the payment of such charges and may be collected from such person or persons by virtue of the warrant or in any other manner provided in this chapter for the collection of such charges.

(6)    In addition to collection pursuant to subsection (e)(5) of this section, the Director of Finance may sell the property (or any part) subject to the lien pursuant to Section 3052 of the Civil Code of the State. (97-9, Added, 07/01/1997, Adopted by City Council on 4/14/97, effective 7/1/97; § 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)

3.4.07 Protest procedures.

An owner/developer may protest the imposition of fees, dedications, reservations, or other exactions on a development project imposed pursuant to the authority of this chapter, in accordance with Government Code Sections 66020 and 66021, by following the procedures for protesting fees adopted by resolution of the City Council. (§ 1, Ord. 13-13, eff. July 12, 2013)