[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Batavia 6-9-2008 by Ord. No. 3-2008. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
"Engineering Cost Recovery Law."
B.
The City of Batavia, under the authority of §§ 10
and 11 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York, hereby
enacts this chapter.
C.
This chapter shall apply within the jurisdiction of
the City of Batavia.
The City Council makes the following findings:
A.
The City of Batavia Master Plan and local laws and
ordinances previously adopted by the City of Batavia require an engineering
review by the City's Engineer or consulting engineers prior to approval
of certain permits and authorizations.
B.
The City has further established, through local legislation,
a process of approval for site plan review for and including the dedication
of roads, easements and procedure for drainage, water and sewage facilities
and the rezoning of property for the benefit of applicants for such
improvements.
C.
Existing revenue sources are not sufficient to fund
engineering costs for such developments and improvements, and such
development should contribute its fair share of the costs attributable
to the specific improvement, project, site or plan being proposed.
D.
The engineering cost recovery fee shall be set at
a rate which is fair and just to the applicant and does not represent
a means to correct deficiencies in the City's current budget for planning.
E.
The engineering recovery fee shall pay the costs of
engineering for the City and SEQR review, as allowed by the cost recovery
purposes of the SEQR regulations.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The City Council for the City of Batavia.
Whenever the terms "engineer," "engineering," "City Engineer,"
"Engineer of Record" or "consulting engineers" are used in this chapter
or its amendments, those terms shall be defined as including the City
Public Works Engineer, whose hourly reimbursement for cost recovery
shall be established from time to time by resolution of the City Council.
A duly licensed firm, under contract with the City of Batavia,
to perform engineering and/or land surveying.
The City Council and any duly constituted board authorized
by City Law of the State of New York.
The practice or profession of a licensed professional engineer
in performing the following: consultation, investigation, evaluation,
planning, design or supervision of construction or operation in connection
with any utilities structures, sites, buildings, machines, equipment,
processes, works or projects wherein the safeguarding of life, health
and property is concerned, when such work requires the application
of engineering principles and data.
The alteration of land; the construction of a structure or
utility, either public or private; the laying out of a subdivision,
plat or parcel as defined by City local law; the construction of a
road, curb, sewer line, waterline, drainage facility, landfill, sidewalk
or other activity authorized by City local laws.
The branch of the engineering profession and applied mathematics
which includes the measuring and plotting of the dimensions and areas
of any portion of the earth, currently licensed by the State of New
York.
An individual, a corporation, a partnership or firm.
The implementing regulations of the State Environmental Quality
Review Act (New York State Environmental Conservation Law § 8-0111),
as set forth under Title 6 of the New York Compilation of Rules and
Regulations (6 NYCRR 617), which provide for incorporating environmental
review within the decision making of any agency of any governmental
unit in the State of New York.
Refers to gross square feet, the sum of enclosed areas on
all floors of a building or structure, including areas used for storage
or access above or below grade, including lobbies, stairways, porches,
balconies and garages.
A.
Any person who applies to the City of Batavia or its
duly constituted boards for the issuance of any permit, recommendation,
rezoning, approval and review shall be required to pay a fee in the
manner as set forth in this chapter for each improvement proposed.
B.
No approval, permit, recommendation or review shall
be processed until the required deposit is paid to the Engineering
Department.
C.
Such fee shall be in addition to all other fees required
by law.
|
Type of Zoning Class
|
Fee Required
|
Engineering Reimbursement Fee Deposit
|
|---|---|---|
|
Residential (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-IA)
|
As determined by Building Department
|
$500 per lot or living unit
|
|
Commercial (C-I, C-2, C-3)
|
All cases
|
$2,500 per building or structure
|
|
Industrial District (I-1, I-2, I-3)
|
All cases
|
$2,500 per building or structure
|
|
Planned Development Districts (P-1, P-2, P-3,
P-4)
|
All cases
|
$2,500 per building or structure
|
A.
In addition to the engineering deposit and fee schedule of § 21-5 of this chapter, where the City incurs additional engineering, administrative and legal costs pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the City shall recover the actual costs for preparing or reviewing all EIS or DEIS, including costs for scoping, when the City is the lead agency and requires a DEIS or EIS.
B.
The fee for nonresidential construction projects shall
not exceed 1/2% of the total project cost. The total project cost
shall be the cost of supplying utility service to the project, the
cost of site preparation and the cost of labor and materials as determined
with reference to a current construction cost data publication in
common usage, such as "Building Construction Cost Data" by Means.
All costs shall include any legal expenses, engineering and administrative
costs according to contract that are incurred by the City.
C.
The fee for residential projects shall not exceed
2% of the total cost, as estimated by the developer and verified by
the City. The total cost shall be the cost of land, plus the cost
of all site improvements required, not including the cost of buildings
and structures.
A.
The fee paid hereunder shall be deposited in a trust
account in the name of the City of Batavia.
B.
The applicant or person paying the fee shall be entitled
to the same rate of interest on the excess fees that are paid and
returned hereunder, if any, as is earned by the City on the trust
account.
C.
Procedure upon completion.
(1)
Within 120 days of final action by the City or board(s)
or the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever is later,
on an application for the improvement or SEQR review, the Engineering
Department shall report to the City Manager the actual cost to the
City for engineering.
(2)
The City Manager shall determine whether the City
costs exceed the total engineering fee charged. If the fee paid by
the City to its consulting engineers exceeds the fee paid by the applicant,
the moneys deposited shall become the property of the City of Batavia.
(3)
In the event that the deposit paid by the developer
is more than the actual amount paid by the City to its consulting
engineers or its attorney, then the excess shall be returned with
interest, as provided above. SEQR review fees shall be billed to the
applicant and paid prior to approval.
In no event shall the City charge against or
utilize a fee paid hereunder for deficiencies in City-owned improvements,
routine maintenance or matters not directly related to the engineering
cost for the specific improvement proposed.
