This article of the Code of the City of Cypress may be referred
to as the "Regional Traffic Impact Fee Ordinance" of the City of Cypress.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
This article is intended to impose a regional 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 regional traffic impacts caused
by new development within the city. Impact fees shall not exceed the
cost of providing traffic improvements for which the need is substantially
attributable to those developments for which the fees are to be paid.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
As used in this article, the following words and terms shall
have the following meanings, unless another meaning is plainly intended:
"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 or other change which is likely to increase the trip generation potential.
"Certificate of occupancy"
shall mean an entitlement to occupy and use a building granted
pursuant to the Code of the City of Cypress.
"City"
shall mean the City of Cypress, a municipal charter corporation
of the State of California.
"Council"
shall mean the duly constituted governing body of the City
of Cypress, State of California.
"Development"
shall mean any manmade change to improved or unimproved real
property, or the making of any material change in the use or appearance
of any structure or land.
"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.
"P.m. 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 p.m.
peak hour. The peak hour is the one-hour period of highest traffic
volume during the p.m. peak period.
"Regional 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 regional traffic improvements.
"Site"
shall mean the land on which development takes place.
"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:
(1)
Access roads leading to the development;
(2)
Driveways and roads within the development;
(3)
Acceleration and deceleration lanes, and right and left turn
lanes leading to those roads and driveways; and
(4)
Traffic control measures for those roads and driveways.
"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:
(1)
Construction of new through lanes;
(2)
Construction of new turn lanes;
(3)
Construction of new bridges;
(4)
Construction of new drainage facilities in conjunction with
street improvements;
(5)
Purchase and installation of traffic signalization (including
new and upgraded signalization);
(6)
Construction of curbs, medians, and shoulders; and
(7)
Relocating utilities to accommodate street improvements.
"Zoning ordinance"
shall mean the officially adopted zoning map and text regulating
all development and land use in the City of Cypress.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
This article shall be uniformly applicable to development that
occurs within the city.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
(a) Upon
[September 26, 1994,] the effective date of this ordinance [article],
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 regional impact fee is imposed, calculated,
and collected pursuant to this article.
(b) Regional
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.
(c) Regional
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 regional impact
fee.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
The payment of fees required by this article shall be made according
to the following procedures:
(1) 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:
a. 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
b. At least
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 (4) of this section, shall be paid
in three equal annual installments.
Should an applicant elect to pay the fees as provided in this subsection
(b), 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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. 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 shall be enforceable against successors
in interest of the initial holder of the building permit.
The contract shall also require the building permit holder 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.
(4) Interest. Payment of fees pursuant to subsection
(1)(b) 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.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
(a) The planning director shall be responsible for calculating the fees established under section
5-53 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.
(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.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
(a) Except
as otherwise provided in this article, developers of residential development
shall pay a regional 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 a regional impact fee in an amount established
by resolution of the city council.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
(a) Transfer of funds to finance department. Upon receipt of
regional 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 regional 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 exclusively for
the provision of regional traffic improvement projects; and shall
provide an annual account for each regional impact fee account showing
the source and amount of all funds collected and the regional 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 development potential and make such
modifications as deemed necessary as a result of:
(1) Development
occurring in the prior year;
(2) Traffic
improvements actually constructed;
(3) Changing
circulation needs;
(5) Revised
cost estimates for traffic improvements;
(6) Changes
in the availability of other funding sources applicable to traffic
improvements;
(7) Such
other factors as may be relevant.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
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 regional
traffic improvements. Funds pledged toward retirement of bonds, revenue
certificates, or other obligations of indebtedness for such regional
traffic projects may include regional impact fees and other city revenues
as may be allocated by the city council. Regional 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 regional traffic improvements.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
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.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
The regional impact fee is in addition and supplemental to,
and not in substitution of, any other siterelated improvement requirements
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 regional traffic improvements in conjunction with the
development of land. In no event, shall a property owner be obligated
to pay for traffic improvements in an amount in excess of the amount
calculated pursuant to this article; provided, however, 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
regional impact fee for regional traffic improvements as specified
herein.
(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)
The following developments shall be exempt from the requirements
of this article:
(1) Governmental
or public facilities;
(2) Developments
on real property owned by a government transportation agency which
are used exclusively for public transportation purposes;
(3) Public
elementary schools and secondary schools;
(4) Accessory
uses creating no increase in traffic;
(5) Reconstruction
or remodel development where there is to be no increase in use or
intensity likely to cause 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.
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(Ord. No. 926, § 2, 9-26-94)