This Chapter is adopted pursuant to the City's police powers
and the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code Section 66000 et seq.)
for the purpose of imposing fees on applicants seeking to construct
development projects. The purpose of such fees is to minimize, to
the greatest extent practicable, the impact that new development has
on the City's public services and public facilities. Toward that end,
the City intends that development projects pay their fair share of
the costs of providing such public services and public facilities.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
Unless expressly excepted or exempted, this Chapter applies
to all fees imposed by the City to finance public facilities attributable
to new development, including without limitation:
A.
General
facilities, vehicles, and equipment;
B.
Community,
activity and sports facilities, centers and equipment;
C.
Public
safety facilities, vehicles, and equipment;
D.
Road
project construction, right-of-way acquisition, and engineering.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
This Chapter does not apply to:
A.
Taxes
and special assessments;
B.
Fees
for processing development applications;
C.
Fees
for enforcing regulations;
D.
Fees
collected under development agreements;
E.
Fees
imposed pursuant to a reimbursement agreement between the City and
a property owner for that portion of the cost of a public facility
paid for by the property owner which exceeds the need for the public
facility attributable to, reasonably related to, and roughly proportional
to the development;
F.
Certain
accessory dwelling units identified by California law;
G.
Fees
to mitigate impacts on the environment; or
H.
Fees
imposed, levied or collected by other governmental agencies including
subdivisions of the state and federal government.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
Unless the contrary is stated or clearly appears from the context,
the following definitions will govern the construction of the words
and phrases used in this Chapter:
means the geographic area within which impact fees are collected
and expended for a particular type of capital improvement serving
development projects within such area.
means land or facilities for the collection and disposal
of stormwaters and for watershed preservation purposes; for purposes
of transportation and transit, including, without limitation, streets,
street lighting and traffic-control devices and supporting improvements,
roads, overpasses, bridges, airports, and related facilities; for
parks and recreational improvements; for public safety, including
police and fire facilities; for schools and child care facilities;
for libraries and public art; for public buildings of all kinds; and
for any other capital project identified in the City's Capital Improvements
Plan. Capital improvement also includes design, engineering, inspection,
testing, planning, legal land acquisition and all other costs associated
with construction of a public facility.
means the long-term plan for capital improvements, adopted
by the City Council, describing the estimated cost of capital improvement
projects and identifies sources of funding for capital improvement
projects.
means the list attached to a Council resolution setting the
base fee amount for each specific impact fee.
means the point in time at which the impact fee is actually
paid over to the City.
means earmarking impact fees to fund or partially fund capital
improvements serving new development projects.
means one or more rooms in a building or a portion of a room,
designed, intended to be used, or actually used for occupancy by one
family for living and sleeping quarters, and containing one kitchen
only, and includes a mobile home, but not hotel or motel units.
means any monetary exaction imposed by the City as a condition
of or in connection with approval of a development project for the
purpose of defraying all or some of the cost of or repayment of costs
previously expended from other City funds for capital improvements
relating to the project.
means to determine that a particular development project
is subject to the collection of impact fees as a condition of development
approval.
means and includes any project undertaken for the purpose
of development, including, without limitation, a project involving
requiring a permit for construction, reconstruction, or change of
use, but not a project involving a permit for operating, remodeling,
rehabilitating, or improving an existing structure, nor the rebuilding
of a structure destroyed or damaged through natural disaster, nor
the replacement of one mobile home with another on the same pad if
no dwelling unit is added.
means all development other than residential development
projects.
means, except as provided by applicable law, any development
undertaken to create a new dwelling unit or units.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
A.
Any
legislative action adopting an ordinance, resolution, or other legislative
enactment adopting a new impact fee or approving an increase in an
existing fee must be accomplished in accordance with Government Code
Section 66018.
B.
Any
costs incurred by the City in conducting public hearings required
by this section may be recovered as a part of the impact fees which
are the subject of the hearing.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
A.
Except
as otherwise provided, persons submitting applications seeking approval
for new development projects must pay the City impact fees, in an
amount set by City Council resolution, as a condition for the City
to approve such development projects.
B.
Except
as otherwise provided by law, no tentative or final subdivision map,
parcel map, grading permit, building permit, final inspection, or
certificate of occupancy, or other development permit, may be approved
unless the provisions of this section are fulfilled.
C.
Impact
fees will be imposed by including substantially the following language
in any document of development approval:
"All fees imposed pursuant to Chapter 3.40 of the Bellflower Municipal Code must be paid to the City before this project is approved."
D.
Except
for residential development projects, the City's Planning Director
or designee will collect impact fees before the City issues a building
permit, except that the connection fees are collected at the time
an applicant seeks to connect to the City's utility system. For residential
development projects, the City's Planning Director or designee will
collect impact fees upon final inspection or the date that a final
certificate of occupancy is issued, whichever comes last.
E.
Unless
otherwise provided by City Council resolution, the impact fees established
by this Chapter will be automatically adjusted on an annual basis
at the beginning of each fiscal year with a maximum annual increase
of five percent by applying the percentage change of the Los Angeles
Construction Cost Index (CCCI) for the prior 12-month period ending
on April 30 published by Engineering News-Record (ENR). The first
impact fee adjustment cannot be made before a minimum of 10 months
after the effective date of the ordinance codifiedin this Chapter.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
A.
The
City must establish an impact fee account for each benefit area and
for each type of capital improvement for which an impact fee is imposed.
Impact fees collected must be deposited in each such account according
to type of improvement and benefit area. The funds of the account
cannot be commingled with the City's other funds. Any account previously
established for the deposit of funds which would have been developer
impact fees under this Chapter are deemed an impact fee account for
the purposes of this Chapter.
B.
Each
impact fee account must be interest-bearing and the accumulated interest
will become a part of the account.
C.
The
funds of each account will be expended within the benefit area exclusively
for the capital improvements for which the impact fees were collected.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
Impact fees may be expended only for the type of capital improvements
for which they were imposed, calculated, and collected and according
to the time limits and procedures established in this Chapter. Impact
fees may be used to pay the principal, interest and other costs of
bonds, notes and other obligations issued or undertaken by or on behalf
of the City to finance such improvements.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
A.
Except
as described in this section, upon application of the property owner,
the City must refund that portion of any impact fee which has been
on deposit over five years and which is unexpended and uncommitted.
The refund will be made to the then-current owner or owners of lots
or units of the development project or projects, provided that the
then-current owner submits an application for a refund to the City
within 180 days before the five-year period expires.
B.
If fees
in any impact fee account are unexpended or uncommitted, starting
with the fifth fiscal year after the first deposit into the account
or fund, and every subsequent five years, the City Council must make
the findings required by Government Code Section 66001(d) for maintaining
funds on deposit. If the Council makes such findings, the fees are
exempt from the refund requirement.
C.
The
City may issue refunds through direct payment; offsetting the refund
against other impact fees due for development projects by the owner
on the same or other property; or otherwise by agreement with the
owner. If the costs of refunding the impact fees would exceed the
amount refunded, the City may instead comply with Government Code
Section 66001(f).
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
All protests, appeals, and audits must be conducted in accordance
with the procedures contained in the Mitigation Fee Act (commencing
at Government Code Section 66020 et seq.).
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
Before the City Council's adoption of the budget and revisions
to the Capital Improvements Project List, the City Manager, or designee,
must report to the City Council with:
A.
Recommendations
for amendments to this Chapter and to other parts of this Code and
to resolutions establishing impact fees;
B.
Proposals
for changes to the Capital Improvements Project List, identifying
capital improvements to be funded, in whole or in part, by impact
fees;
C.
Proposals
for changes in the boundaries of benefit areas; and
D.
Proposals
for changes to impact fee rates and schedules.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
A.
A property
owner who dedicates land or agrees to participate in an assessment
district or otherwise contributes funds for capital improvements,
as defined in this Chapter, may be eligible for a credit for such
contribution against the impact fee otherwise due.
B.
The
Planning Director must determine: (1) whether the contribution meets
capital improvement needs for which the particular impact fee has
been imposed; (2) whether the contribution will substitute for or
otherwise reduce the need for capital improvements anticipated to
be provided with impact fee funds; and (3) the value of the developer
contribution. In no event, however, will the credit exceed the amount
of the otherwise applicable impact fee.
C.
Any
application for credit must be submitted at or before the time of
development project approval on forms provided by the City. The application
must contain a declaration of those facts, under oath, along with
the relevant documentary evidence which qualifies the property owner
for the credit.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Chapter
and the provisions of any other ordinance or resolution establishing
or amending impact fees, the provisions of this Chapter govern.
(Ord. 1424 § 2, 2/27/23)
