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)