Adequate Public Facilities Policy. Dedication and construction requirements imposed by this GDC are in accordance with the City’s stated Adequacy of Public Facilities policies as set forth in Chapter 3, Article 4 (Dedication and Construction Policies).
(Ordinance 6773 adopted 5/19/15)
(A)
Purpose.
A proportionality appeal from a dedication or construction requirement
is used to provide relief where the application of a uniform dedication
and construction requirement on a proposed development is not roughly
proportional to the nature and extent of the impacts created by the
proposed development, or does not meaningfully support a legitimate
public purpose.
(B)
Applicability.
A petition for relief under this Section must be filed in writing by a property owner or applicant in order to contest any requirement to dedicate land or to construct one or more required public improvements. The dedication or construction requirements must be for dedication to the public, and must be imposed by the City as a condition of approval for a development application. The construction requirements being appealed must either be requirements under uniform standards, or construction requirements attached as a condition to approval of the development application. A petition under this Division 2 must not be used to waive standards on grounds applicable to any waiver application as found in other Sections of this GDC.
(C)
Effect.
If the relief requested under the petition is granted in whole
or in part by the City Council, the dedication or construction requirement
which was initially imposed shall be modified accordingly. The standards
applied or the conditions attached to initial approval of the development
application shall be thereafter applied in accordance with the relief
granted. In the event the original application was denied by the decision-maker
based upon the property owner’s failure to incorporate the dedication
or construction requirement in the proposed development application,
the application shall be remanded to the original decision-maker for
a decision consistent with the relief granted by the Council.
(Ordinance 6773 adopted 5/19/15)
(A)
Who
May Apply.
A proportionality appeal can only be made
by a property owner or applicant by filing a written petition for
relief from a dedication or construction requirement when a dedication
or construction requirement has been applied to a development application,
or is the basis for denying the development application.
(B)
Form
of Petition.
The written petition for relief from a dedication
or construction requirement must allege either that application of
the standard relating to the dedication or construction requirement
is not roughly proportional to the nature and extent of the impacts
created by the proposed development, or that application of the standard
relating to the dedication or construction requirement does not meaningfully
support a legitimate public purpose.
(C)
Information
Required.
The petitioner must provide the following additional
written information in support of the petition for relief, as is applicable
to such petition:
(1)
Total
capacity of the City’s water, wastewater, stormwater, or roadway
system to be utilized by the proposed development, employing standard
measures of capacity and equivalency tables relating the type of development
proposed to the quantity of system capacity to be consumed by the
development. If the proposed development is to be developed in phases,
such information also must be provided for the entire development
proposed, including any phases already developed.
(2)
Total
capacity to be supplied to the City’s water, wastewater, stormwater,
parks or roadway system by the proposed dedication of an interest
in land or construction of capital improvements. If the development
application is part of a phased development, the information must
include any capacity supplied by prior dedications or construction
of capital improvements.
(3)
Comparison
of the capacity of the City’s public facilities system(s) to
be consumed by the proposed development with the capacity to be supplied
to such system(s) by the proposed dedication of an interest in land
or construction of capital improvements. In making this comparison,
the impacts on the City’s public facilities system(s) from the
entire development must be considered.
(4)
The
effect of any City participation in the costs of oversizing the capital
improvement to be constructed in accordance with the City’s
requirements.
(5)
Any
other information that shows the alleged disproportionality between
the impacts created by the proposed development and the dedication
or construction requirement imposed by the City.
(D)
Time
for Filing Petition and Supporting Information.
A petition for relief from a dedication or construction requirement, as provided for in Chapter 3 of this GDC and the City’s Technical
Standards, must be filed with the responsible official within
fifteen calendar days following the Plan Commission’s decision
to conditionally approve or deny an application for approval of a
development application. The additional information in support of
the petition must be filed within sixty calendar days following the
initial decision, unless the applicant (petitioner for relief) seeks
and is granted an extension in writing. The responsible official may
extend the time for submitting the study for a period not to exceed
an additional thirty calendar days for good cause shown.
(Ordinance 6773 adopted 5/19/15)
(A)
Responsible
Official.
The Director of Engineering is the responsible
official for a petition for relief from a dedication or construction
requirement.
(B)
Evaluation
and Recommendation.
(1)
The
Director of Engineering shall evaluate the petition and supporting
information, and shall make a recommendation to the City Council based
upon the information provided by the applicant and any comments submitted
by a person(s) affected by the dedication or construction requirement.
(2)
In
evaluating the petition and supporting information, the Director of
Engineering shall take into account the maximum amount of any impact
fees to be charged against the development for the type of capital
improvement that is the subject of the petition, or similar developments
on the City’s water, wastewater, roadway or drainage systems.
The Director of Engineering may utilize any reasonable methodology
in evaluating the petitioner’s supporting information, prepared
by a professional engineer licensed in the state of Texas. The Director
of Engineering may use any reasonable methodology to evaluate what
has been submitted, including impact fee methodologies.
(3)
Where
the petition is for relief from dedication of rights-of-way or construction
of a facility in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction that
is to be dedicated to Dallas, Collin, or any other County, the Director
of Engineering shall coordinate a recommendation with the appropriate
County official responsible for reviewing plats and public improvements
in that County.
(C)
Decision-Maker.
The City Council shall decide the petition for relief from a
dedication or construction requirement.
(D)
Consideration.
The City Council shall consider the petition for relief within sixty calendar days after all of the information supporting the petition (see Section 5.06) is filed with the Director of Engineering.
(E)
Burden
of Proof.
The City bears the burden of proof to demonstrate
that the application of a dedication or construction requirement that
is uniformly applied imposes a disproportionate burden on the petitioner.
(F)
Decision.
The City Council shall base their decision on a petition for
relief from a dedication or construction requirement upon the following
criteria:
(1)
The
City Council shall determine whether the application of the standard
or condition requiring dedication of an interest in land for public
improvements or construction of capital improvements is roughly proportional
to the nature and extent of the impacts created by the proposed development
on such City’s water, wastewater, stormwater, or roadway system,
and reasonably benefits the development.
(2)
In
making such determination, the City Council shall consider the evidence
submitted by the petitioner, the Director of Engineering’s report
and recommendation, other information submitted by interested persons,
and any recommendations from an applicable County in situations where
the property is located within the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(G)
Action.
Based on the criteria in Subsection (F) above, the City Council shall, within thirty calendar days following the final submission of any testimony or evidence by the developer, take one of the following actions:
(1)
Grant
the petition for relief, and waive any dedication or construction
requirement to the extent necessary to achieve proportionality;
(2)
Grant
the petition for relief, and direct that the City participate in the
costs of acquiring land or property interests for, or constructing,
the capital improvement under standard participation policies;
(3)
Deny
the petition for relief, and impose the standard or condition in accordance
with the initial decision; or
(4)
Deny
the petition for relief, and if upon finding that the proposed dedication
or construction requirement is inadequate to offset the impacts of
the development on the City’s water, wastewater, stormwater,
or roadway system, either wholly deny the development application
or require that additional dedications for, or improvements to, such
systems be made as a condition of approval of the application.
(Ordinance 6773 adopted 5/19/15)
(A)
Expiration
or Failure to File Application.
Where a development application
which was denied by the Director of Engineering based upon the imposition
of the regulation requiring dedication of land or construction of
a capital improvement, and the City Council decision is to grant some
level of relief, the petitioner must re-submit the application within
ninety calendar days following the date the petition for relief is
granted, in whole or in part, and said application must conform with
the City Council’s decision on the petition.
(1)
If
such re-submittal of the application is not made within the ninety-day
period, the relief granted by the City Council on the petition shall
expire and the initial decision of the Director of Engineering will
be binding.
(2)
If
the re-submitted application is modified in any way by the Director
of Engineering, a new petition for relief may be filed by the applicant.
(3)
If
the re-submitted application is denied by the Director of Engineering
on other grounds, a new petition for relief may filed by the applicant.
(B)
Effect.
(1)
The
relief granted on the petition shall remain in effect for the period
the development application is in effect, and shall expire upon expiration
of the plat or related application.
(2)
The
Director of Engineering may require the applicant to submit a modified
application or supporting materials in order to conform the application
to the relief granted by the City Council on the petition.
(Ordinance 6773 adopted 5/19/15)
