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Ordinance No. 91127 3 ORDINANCE NO. 911 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS ESTABLISHING TRAFFIC IMPACT FEE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT /REDEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CITY OF CYPRESS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Findings and Intent. The City Council finds and determines as follows: A. The City is responsible for and committed to the provision of circulation improvements at the levels necessary to cure any existing service deficiencies in already developed areas; and, B. Such traffic improvements shall be provided by the City utilizing funds allocated via the capital budget and capital improvements programming processes and relying upon the funding sources indicated therein; and, C. However, new residential and nonresidential development causes and imposes increased and excessive demands on the City's current traffic system including, without limitation, streets and roads that would not otherwise be necessary; and, D. Planning and zoning projections indicate that such development will continue and will place ever increasing demands on the City to provide such necessary traffic improvements; and, E. The development potential and property values of properties in the designated development areas are strongly influenced and encouraged by City goals and policies as expressed in the comprehensive General Plan and as implemented via the City zoning ordinance and map; and, F. In order to implement the goals and objectives specifically articulated in the City of Cypress Growth Management Element and General Plan /Circulation Element (G.P. /C.E.), certain traffic mitigation measures have been identified in a Citywide Traffic Improvement Fee Study to alleviate future traffic congestion; and, G. The need for these specific traffic improvements is directly related to new development within the City, which would result in increased traffic to the G.P. /C.E. street system; and, H. The cost of these needed traffic improvements has been determined as well as the anticipated funding which could be contributed by the City toward these future transportation needs. That portion of costs not expected to be funded by public funds results in a funding shortfall; and, I. A Citywide Traffic Impact Fee is one of the preferred methods of ensuring that development bears a proportionate share of the cost of traffic improvements necessary to accommodate such development. . This must be done in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; and, J. The Citywide Traffic Impact Fee provides a direct relationship between additional traffic generation and the fee. A regional component of the Traffic Improvement Fee will address potential regional impacts of development within Cypress on the surrounding jurisdictions; and, K. The City Council of the City of Cypress has the authority to adopt this Ordinance pursuant to Government Code Section 66000 et eg. L. The City Council, after careful consideration of the matter, hereby finds and declares that a Traffic Impact Fee imposed upon residential and nonresidential development in order to finance specified Traffic Improvements, the demand for which is created by such developments, is in the best interest of the general welfare of the City and its residents, is equitable, does not impose an unfair burden on such development by forcing developers and builders to pay more than their fair or proportionate share of the cost, and deems it advisable to adopt this Ordinance as hereinafter set forth. Section 2. Chapter 5, of the Code of the City of Cypress is hereby amended by adding a new Article VIII within the Chapter and to read as follows: "Article VIII Traffic Impact Fees Section 5 -32. Short Title. This Article of the Code of the City of Cypress may be referred to as the "Traffic Impact Fee Ordinance" of the City of Cypress. Section 5 -33. Purpose. This Article is intended to impose an Impact Fee at the time of building permit issuance, in an amount based upon the square footage, or most appropriate impact measurement of nonresidential and residential development in order to implement the goals and policies of the Growth Management Element and Circulation Element of the City's General Plan, and to mitigate the traffic impacts caused by new development within the City through the construction of identified traffic improvements. Only needs created by new development in the designated development areas will be met by Impact Fees. Impact Fees shall not exceed the cost of providing traffic improvements for which the need is substantially attributable to those developments that pay the fees. The fees shall be spent on new or expanded traffic improvements that substantially benefit those developments that pay the fees. Section 5 -34. Definitions. As used in this Article, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless another meaning is plainly intended: A. AM and PM Peak Hour Trip Ends shall mean the trip generation potential for each development to generate new traffic on the G.P. /C.E. road system during the peak hours. The peak hour is the one -hour period of highest traffic volume during the typical AM and PM peak periods. B. Building Permit shall mean the permit required for new construction and additions pursuant to Chapter 5 of the Code of the City of Cypress. The term Building Permit, as used herein, shall not be deemed to include permits required for grading, remodeling, rehabilitation, or other improvements to an existing structure or rebuilding a damaged or destroyed structure, provided there is no increase in gross floor area or number of dwelling units resulting therefrom. C. Traffic Improvements shall mean transportation planning, preliminary engineering, engineering design studies, land surveys, right -of -way acquisition, engineering, permitting, and construction of all necessary features for any street improvement project including, but not limited to: 2 4� (a) construction of new through lanes; (b) construction of new turn lanes; (c) construction of new bridges; (d) construction of new drainage facilities in conjunction with street improvements; (e) purchase and installation of traffic signalization (including new and upgraded signalization); (f) construction of curbs, medians, and shoulders; and (g) relocating utilities to accommodate street improvements. Traffic Improvements shall be specifically identified by resolution of the City Council in connection with establishing an amount of the Impact Fee. D. Certificate of Occupancy shall mean an entitlement to occupy and use a building granted pursuant to the Code of the City of Cypress. E. City shall mean the City of Cypress, a municipal charter corporation of the State of California. F. Council shall mean the duly constituted governing body of the City of Cypress, State of California. G. Development shall mean any man -made change to improved or unimproved real property, or the making of any material change in the use or appearance of any structure or land. H. Expansion of the capacity of a street shall mean expansion to all street and intersection capacity enhancements and includes but is not limited to extensions, widening, intersection improvements, upgrading signalization, and expansion of bridges. I. Impact Fee shall mean any charge, fee, or assessment levied as a condition of issuance of a building permit or development approval when any portion of the revenues collected is intended to fund any portion of the costs of traffic improvements. J. Residential Development shall mean any development approved by the City of Cypress for residential use. K. Site shall mean the land on which development takes place. L. Site - related improvements shall mean traffic improvements and right -of -way dedications for direct access improvements to and /or within the development in question. Direct access improvements include but are not limited to the following: (a) access roads leading to the development; (b) driveways and roads within the development; (c) acceleration and deceleration lanes, and right and left turn lanes leading to those roads and driveways; and (d) traffic control measures for those roads and driveways. Site related improvements do not include traffic improvements which have been identified as improvements which are to be funded by impact fees. M. Zoning Ordinance shall mean the officially adopted Zoning Map and text regulating all development and land use in the City of Cypress. 3 2 Section 5 -35. Applicability of Impact Fee. This Article shall be uniformly applicable to development that occurs within the City. Section 5 -36. Imposition of Impact Fee. A. Upon the effective date of this Ordinance, no Building Permit or extension of a Building Permit issued prior to that date shall be issued for a development which will generate additional traffic unless the Impact Fee is imposed, calculated, and collected pursuant to this Article. B. Impact Fees shall not exceed the cost of providing traffic improvements for which the need is reasonably attributable to those developments that pay the fees. The fees shall be spent on new or expanded traffic improvements that reasonably benefit those developments that pay the fees. C. Impact Fees that are assessed against new development shall be assessed in such a manner that any new development having the same impacts on traffic improvements shall be assessed the same Impact Fee. Section 5 -37. Payment of Fees. The payment of fees required by this Article shall be made according to the following procedures: A. Payment Procedure for Commercial Development Projects. Fees required by this Article from commercial developers may be paid in either of the following ways at the sole discretion of the developer of the commercial development project. (1) The total of all fees required by this Article must be paid at the time the City issues a building permit for the commercial development project; or (2) At least twenty -five percent (25 %) of the total of all fees required by this Article may be paid at the time that the City issues a building permit for the commercial development project. The balance of the fees, plus interest on that balance as provided in Subsection (D) of this Section, shall be paid in three equal annual installments. Should an Applicant elect to pay the fees as provided in this subsection (2), the full amount of all fees required by this Article shall be secured by execution of an irrevocable letter of credit, or other security instrument acceptable to the City, prior to the issuance of a building permit for the Commercial Development Project. B. Payment Procedure for Phased Commercial Development Projects. If a commercial development project will be constructed in phases, and separate building permits will be issued for each phase, fees imposed pursuant to this Article shall be calculated on the basis of the square footage of the entire project. However, payment of the fees may be made separately for each phase of the project so that the amount paid upon issuance of a building permit shall be the percentage of the total fee equal to the percentage of the project's square footage permitted to be constructed by the building permit. 4 6 271 C. Payment Procedure for Residential Development Projects. Fees required by this Article from a residential development project shall be paid before final inspection of the dwelling unit on which fees are imposed; the City may require the payment of the fees at an earlier time if (1) the City determines that the fees will be collected for capital improvements for which an account has been established and funds appropriated and for which the City has adopted a proposed construction schedule or plan prior to final inspection or (2) the fees are to reimburse the City for expendi- tures previously made. For purposes of this Section, "appropriated" means authorization by the City Council for which the fee is collected to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes. Provided, however, that if a residential development contains more than one dwelling unit, then the fees imposed by this Article on the entire development shall be paid before final inspection of the first dwelling unit in that development. For the purposes of this Section, "final inspection" is defined as that term is defined in Government Code Section 66007, as amended. If the fees imposed by this Article on a dwelling unit or units are not paid before a building permit is issued for that dwelling unit(s), the developer shall enter into a contract with the City to pay those fees prior to final inspection of the dwelling unit(s). The contract shall be recorded in the office of the Orange County Recorder and shall constitute a lien for the payment of fees required by this Article. The lien should be enforceable against successors in interest to the initial holder of the building permit. The contract shall also require the building permitholder to provide appropriate notification of the opening of any escrow for the sale of the property for which the building permit is issued and to provide in the escrow instructions that the fees required by this Article be paid from the sale proceeds in escrow prior to disbursing proceeds to the seller, unless paid prior to the close of escrow. D. Interest. Payment of fees pursuant to Subsection (A)(2) of this Section shall include interest at a rate equal to the percentage increase in the fees as a result of the most recent inflation adjustment of the fees made by the City Finance Director. Section 5 -38. Calculation of Impact Fee. The Planning Director shall be responsible for calculating the fees established under Section 5 -39 of this Article and approved by the City Council. This calculation shall be made at the time of application for the Building Permit for the residential or the commercial development project. B. If the development for which a Building Permit is sought contains a mix of uses, the City must separately calculate the Impact Fee due for each type of development, or as otherwise specified by resolution of the City Council to establish such fees. 5 27P C. Prior to making an application for Building Permit, an applicant may request a nonbinding Impact Fee estimate from the City, which shall base such estimate on the development potential of the particular in gross square footage or number of dwelling units given the maximum intensity permitted by existing zoning and the applicable Impact Fee coefficient. Section 5 -39. Establishment of Amount of Impact Fee. A. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, developers of residential development shall pay an Impact Fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council. B. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, developers of nonresidential development shall pay an Impact Fee in an amount established by resolution of the City Council. Section 5 -40. Administration of Impact Fee. A. Transfer of Funds to Finance Department: Upon receipt of Impact Fees, the City Finance Department shall be responsible for placement of such funds into separate accounts as hereinafter specified. All such funds shall be deposited in interest - bearing accounts in a bank authorized to receive deposits of City funds. Interest earned by each account shall be credited to that account and shall be used solely for the purposes specified for funds of such account. B. Establishment and Maintenance of Accounts: The City Finance Department shall establish separate accounts and maintain records for each such account whereby Impact Fees collected can be segregated by types of traffic improvements to be financed. C. Maintenance of Records: The City Finance Department shall maintain and keep accurate financial records for each account that shall show the source and disbursement of all revenues; that shall account for all monies received; that shall ensure that the disbursement of funds from each account shall be used solely and exclu- sively for the provision of traffic improvement projects; and that shall provide an annual accounting for each Impact Fee account showing the source and amount of all funds collected and the traffic improvement projects that were funded. D. Annual Review and Modification. The City shall annually, in conjunction with the annual Capital Budget and Budget Improvements Plan adoption processes, review the Development Potential and make such modifications as deemed necessary as a result of: (a) development occurring in the prior year; (b) traffic improvements actually constructed; (c) changing circulation needs; (d) inflation; (e) revised cost estimates for traffic improvements; (f) changes in the availability of other funding sources applicable to traffic improvements; and such other factors as may be relevant. (g) Section 5 -41. Bonding of Excess Traffic Improvement Projects. The City may issue bonds, revenue certificates, and other obligations of indebtedness in such manner and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law in furtherance of the provision of Traffic Improvements. Funds pledged toward retirement 6 279 of bonds, revenue certificates, or other obligations of indebtedness for such traffic projects may include Impact Fees and other City revenues as may be allocated by the City Council. Impact Fees paid pursuant to this Article, however, shall be restricted to use solely and exclusively for financing directly, or as a pledge against bonds, revenue certificates, and other obligations of indebtedness for the cost of traffic improvements. Section 5 -42. Refunds. A. The current owner or contract purchaser of property on which an Impact Fee has been paid may apply for a refund of such fee if: (1) the City has failed to provide a traffic improvement serving such property within six (6) years of the date of payment of the Impact Fee, or (2) the project for which a Building Permit has been issued has been altered, resulting in a decrease in the amount of Impact Fee due. (3) the City has reduced the capital budget dedicated to financing traffic improvements after an owner has paid an impact fee based on the prior capital budget. Any refund shall consist of a portion of the impact fee paid on a proportional basis to the amount of reduction. B. A petition for refund along with the requisite fee as established by resolution of the City Council must be filed within one (1) year of the event giving rise to the right to claim refund. C. The petition for refund must be submitted to the Planning Director or her duly designated agent on a form provided by the City for such purpose. D. Within one (1) month of the date of receipt of a petition of refund, the Planning Director or her duly designated agent must provide the petitioner, in writing, with a decision on the refund request including the reasons for the decision. If a refund is due petitioner, the Planning Director or her duly designated agent shall notify the City Finance Director and request that a refund payment be made to the petitioner. E. Petitioner may appeal the determination of the Planning Director to the City Council. Section 5 -43. Effect of Impact Fee on Zoning and Subdivision Regulations. This Article shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible use of property, density of development, design and improvement standards and requirements, or any other aspect of the development of land or provision of capital improvements subject to the zoning and subdivision regulations or other regulations of the City, which shall be operative and remain in full force and effect without limitation with respect to all such development. Section 5 -44. Impact Fee as Additional and Support Require- ment. The Impact Fee is in addition and supplemental to, and not in substitution of, any other site - related improvements imposed by the City on the development of land or the issuance of Building Permits. It is intended to be consistent with and to further the objectives and policies of the General Plan and other City policies, ordinances, and resolutions by which the City seeks to ensure the provision of traffic improvements in conjunction with the development of land. In no event, shall a property owner be 7 2So obligated to pay for traffic improvements in an amount in excess of the amount calculated pursuant to this Article; but, provided that a property owner may be required to pay, pursuant to City ordinances, regulations, or policies, for other site - related improvements in addition to the Impact Fee for traffic improvements as specified herein. Section 5 -45. Exemptions. The following developments shall be exempt from the requirements of this Article: A. Governmental or Public Facilities; B. Developments on real property owned by a government transportation agency which are used exclusively for public transportation purposes. C. Public elementary schools and secondary schools. D. Accessory uses creating no increase in traffic. E. Reconstruction or remodel development where there is no increase in use or intensity thereby causing an increase in traffic. Any claim of exemption must be made no later than the time of application for building permit. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived. Section 5 -46. Credits. A. A property owner may elect to construct a traffic improvement listed in the Citywide Traffic Improvement Plan. If the property owner elects to make such improvement, the property owner must enter into an agreement with the City prior to issuance of a Building Permit. The agreement must establish the estimated cost of the improvement, the schedule for initiation and completion of improvement, a requirement that the improvement be completed to City standards, and such other terms and conditions as deemed necessary by the City. The City must review the improvement plan, verify costs and time schedules, determine if the improvement is an eligible improvement, and determine the amount of applicable credit for such improvement to be applied to the otherwise applicable Impact Fee prior to issuance of any Building Permit. In no event, may the City provide a refund for credit that is greater than the applicable Impact Fee. If, however, the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater than the amount of the Impact Fee due, the property owner may utilize such credit toward the Impact Fees imposed on other Building Permits for development on the same site and in the same ownership. B. The City must reasonably provide for credits for other past and future monetary and nonmonetary contributions by the developer to the construction of the same traffic improvements, as follows: (a) Present value of the amounts contributed within the past three (3) years for any land dedications for right -of -way purposes; (b) Present land dedications for right -of -way purposes and traffic improvements; C. No credits shall be given for the construction of site related improvements required by zoning, subdivision, or other City regulations. 8 2 I Section 3. Expenditures from Fee Reserve Accounts. All monies and interest in each of the Reserve Accounts established by this Ordinance shall be expended on the provision of traffic improvement projects and programs as approved by the City Council. Such expenditures may include, but shall not be limited to, the following: A. The reimbursement for all direct and indirect costs incurred by the City for the development of traffic improvement projects and programs pursuant to this Ordinance, including but not limited to, the costs of land acquisition, planning, legal advice, engineering, design, construction and equipment. B. The reimbursement for all costs incurred by the City and associated with the administration of each account. C. The issuance of bonds or notes, secured by the appropriate Reserve Account, for the provision of traffic improvement projects and programs. D. The making of loans at conventional, low, or no interest to assist in the provision of traffic improvement projects and programs. E. Land acquisition, planning, design, and construction (including rehabilitation) which result in the provision of traffic improvement projects and programs. Section 5. Liberal Construction. The provisions of this Ordinance are hereby found and declared to be in furtherance of public health, safety, welfare, and convenience, and it shall be liberally construed to effectively carry out its purposes." Section 6. Repealer. All Ordinances, Code Sections, or parts thereof in conflict herewith be and the same are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict. Section 7. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance, is for any reason to be held invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Section 8. The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to certify as to the passage of this Ordinance and to give notice thereof by causing copies of this Ordinance to be posted in three public places throughout the City. FIRST READ at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City held on the 28th day of February , 1994 and finally adopted and ordered posted at a regular meeting held on the 14th day of March , 1994. ATTEST CITY CLERK OF TI CITY OF CYPRESS 9 MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss CITY OF CYPRESS I, DARRELL ESSEX, City Clerk California DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the adopted at a regular meeting of the Cypress, held on the 14th day of following roll call vote: AYES: 5 NOES: 0 of the City of Cypress, foregoing Ordinance was duly City Council of the City of March , 1994, by the COUNCILMEMBERS: Age, Bowman, Kerry, Nicholson and Partin COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSTAINED: 0 COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: 0 COUNCILMEMBERS: None 4040443.003 /107)'41g!‘' CITY CLERK 0 THE CiTY OF CYPRESS 10 292.