A. 
This title is enacted pursuant to the city's police powers, the Growth Management Act as codified in Chapter 36.70A RCW, the enabling authority in Chapter 82.02 RCW, Chapter 58.17 RCW relating to platting and subdivisions, and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Chapter 42.21C RCW.
B. 
The purpose of this title is to:
1. 
Develop a parks impact fee program consistent with the Bonney Lake comprehensive plan for joint public and private financing of parks improvements necessitated in whole or in part by development in the city;
2. 
Ensure adequate levels of parks service within the city consistent with the comprehensive plan;
3. 
Create a mechanism to charge and collect fees to ensure that all new development bears its proportionate share of the capital costs of off-site parks facilities directly necessitated by new development, in order to provide an adequate level of parks service consistent with the comprehensive plan;
4. 
Ensure that the city pays its fair share of the capital costs of parks facilities necessitated by public use of the parks system; and
5. 
Ensure fair collection and administration of such impact fees;
6. 
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effectively carry out its purpose in the interests of the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
The following are definitions provided for administering the parks impact fee. The public works director shall have the authority to resolve questions of interpretation or conflicts between definitions.
A. 
"Adequate level of parks service"
means a system of parks facilities which have the capacity to serve development without decreasing levels of service below the city's established minimums. See Chapter 19.02 BLMC and the parks plan.
B. 
"Development activity"
means any construction or expansion of a building, or structure, or use, or any changes in the use of land, that creates additional demand and need for public facilities.
C. 
"Director"
means the director of the department of public works of the city of Bonney Lake or his/her designee.
D. 
"Finance director"
means the finance director of the city of Bonney Lake or his/her designee.
E. 
"Impact fee or parks impact fee"
means a payment of money imposed upon development approval to pay for public parks needed to serve new growth and development, and that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public parks, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the public parks, and that is used for public parks that reasonably benefit the new development. "Impact fee" does not include a reasonable permit or application fee otherwise established by city council resolution.
F. 
"Jurisdiction"
means a municipality or county.
G. 
"Off-site parks improvement"
means improvement to an existing or proposed park facility outside the boundaries of a development, which improvement is required or recommended in accordance with this title.
H. 
"Parks"
means public parks; public recreational, community, cultural or civic facilities (including, without limitation senior centers and youth centers); public trails; and any other similar public facilities identified in the parks plan.
I. 
"Parks plan"
means those specific projects and/or classes of projects for the development and/or improvement of public parks identified within the parks element of the Bonney Lake capital facilities plan, as may from time to time be amended.
J. 
"Project improvements"
means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development project, that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements. No improvement or facility included in the capital facilities plan approved by the city council shall be considered a project improvement.
K. 
"Service area"
means a geographic area defined by ordinance or intergovernmental agreement in which a defined set of public parks provide service to the development within the area.
L. 
"System improvements"
means public facilities that are included in the capital facilities plan and are designed to provide service areas within the community at large, in contrast to project improvements.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
A. 
The requirements of this chapter apply to all development activity in the city of Bonney Lake.
B. 
Mitigation of impacts on parks facilities located in jurisdictions outside the city will be required when:
1. 
The other effective jurisdiction has reviewed the development's impact under its adopted impact fee/mitigation regulations and has recommended to the city that the city impose a requirement to mitigate the impacts; and
2. 
There is an interlocal agreement between the city and the effective jurisdiction specifically addressing parks impact identification and mitigation.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
The boundaries within which impact fees shall be charged and collected are co-extensive with the corporate city limits, and shall include all unincorporated areas annexed to the city on and after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. The parks plan includes a map of the corporate city limits and unincorporated areas likely to be annexed. After the adoption of interlocal agreements with other local and regional governments, geographic boundaries may be expanded consistent therewith.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
A. 
The director is hereby authorized to impose parks impact fees on new development according to the provisions of this chapter. Pursuant to BLMC § 19.06.070, impact fees are due at the time of building permit issuance. When a development used to exist on a parcel, and the owner applies for a permit to build a comparable or replacement development within five years of the previous development's demolition, destruction or removal, and the director determines that the new development will not substantially increase the impact upon park and recreation facilities, no impact fee will be charged.
B. 
Parks impact fees:
1. 
Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;
2. 
Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;
3. 
Shall be used for system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development;
4. 
May be collected and spent only for system improvements which are addressed by the parks plan, as a subset of the Bonney Lake capital facilities plan, identifying:
a. 
Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period of time;
b. 
Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by new developments; and
c. 
Additional public facility improvements required to serve new development;
5. 
Shall not be imposed to mitigate the same off-site parks facility impacts that are mitigated pursuant to any other law;
6. 
Shall not be collected for improvements to state parks facilities outside the city boundaries unless the state requests such improvements and an agreement to collect such fees has been executed between the state/county and the city;
7. 
Shall not be collected for improvements to parks facilities in other jurisdictions unless the affected jurisdiction requests such improvement and an interlocal agreement has been executed between the city and the affected jurisdiction for the collection of such fees;
8. 
Shall be collected only once for each building permit, unless changes or modifications to the building permit are proposed which result in greater direct impacts on parks facilities than were considered when the building permit was first approved; and
9. 
Shall not be collected from any new or expanded city facilities, post offices or libraries.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1123 § 2, 2005; Ord. 1230 § 27, 2007)
A. 
Subject to the provisions of BLMC § 19.06.060, the parks impact fee assessed pursuant to this chapter shall be $5,227.06.
B. 
The impact fee set out in subsection A of this section shall be updated annually at a rate adjusted in accordance with the Engineering News Record (ENR) Construction Cost Index for the Seattle area, using an October through October annual measure to establish revised fee schedules effective January 1st of the subsequent year.
C. 
For the purpose of this chapter, the entire city shall be considered one service area.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1157 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1179 § 1, 2006; Ord. 1210 § 2, 2006; Ord. 1273 § 2, 2008)
[1]
Code reviser's note: Effective January 1, 2026, the rates in this section have been updated pursuant to subsection B of this section, which permits this update without an adopting ordinance.
A. 
The director shall calculate the parks impact fees as set forth in BLMC § 19.06.050, subject to the provisions of this chapter.
B. 
In determining the proportionate share, the method of calculating impact fees shall incorporate, among other things, the following:
1. 
The cost of public parks necessitated by new development;
2. 
An adjustment to the cost of the public parks for past or future payments made or reasonably anticipated to be made by new development to pay for particular system improvements in the form of user fees, debt service payments, taxes, or other payments earmarked for or proratable to the particular system improvement;
3. 
The availability of other means of funding public parks improvements;
4. 
The cost of existing public parks improvements; and
5. 
The methods by which public parks improvements were financed.
C. 
A credit, not to exceed the impact fee otherwise payable, shall be provided for the value of any dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of any system improvements provided by the developer, to facilities that are identified in the parks plan and that are required by the city as a condition of approving the development activity. The determination of "value" shall be consistent with the assumptions and methodology used by the city in estimating the capital improvement costs.
D. 
The director may adjust the standard impact fee at the time the fee is imposed to consider unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly.
E. 
The amount of fee to be imposed on a particular development may be adjusted by the director giving consideration to studies and other data available to the director or submitted by the developer demonstrating to the satisfaction of the director that an adjustment should be made in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
F. 
The impact fee shall provide for system improvement costs previously incurred by the city to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed improvements; provided, that such fees shall not be imposed to make up for any system improvement deficiencies.
G. 
As applies to residential development activity, the amount of the impact fee calculated pursuant to this section shall be charged:
1. 
For each single-family residential unit, and for each dwelling unit included in a multifamily residential development (e.g., duplex, apartment, condominium, mobile home park), the rate shall be 100% of the fee for a single-family residential unit.
2. 
For each accessory dwelling unit, the rate shall be shall be 50% of the fee for a single-family residential unit.
3. 
For each dwelling unit affordable to a very low-income or extremely low-income household, as defined in Chapter 18.04 BLMC, the rate shall be 20% of the fee for a single-family residential unit, until such time that the affordable housing sales tax fund, adopted in Chapter 3.32 BLMC, is depleted. The remaining 80% shall be transferred from the affordable housing sales tax fund to the parks capital improvement fund, established in Chapter 3.34 BLMC.
Once the affordable housing sales tax fund is depleted, the rate for each dwelling unit affordable to a very low-income or extremely low-income household shall be 100% of the fee for a single-family residential unit.
H. 
As described in this section, the impact fees set forth in BLMC § 19.06.050 shall be the presumptive impact fees, subject to revision as required by subsections C through E of this section.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1123 § 5, 2005; Ord. 1737 § 26, 6/10/2025; Ord. 1745, 12/9/2025)
A. 
All developers shall pay an impact fee in accordance with the provisions of this chapter at the time that the applicable building permit is ready for issuance; except:
1. 
When a development proposal is subject to a development agreement approved by the city council, said agreement may contain alternate terms and conditions under which the impact fees shall be paid; or
2. 
When a deferral is granted for a single-family home consistent with the requirements and limitations provided in subsection E of this section.
B. 
If the development is modified or conditioned in such a way as to alter the development's impact on the parks' level of service after building permit issuance, the impact fee will be recalculated accordingly.
C. 
No building permit shall be issued until the impact fee is paid. If the building permit expires through suspension or abandonment, the impact fee shall be refunded at the request of the applicant as provided in BLMC § 19.06.090(A); provided, that if the applicant reapplies for a new permit, the impact fee shall be recalculated at current rates and the amount of the impact fee already paid and not refunded may be credited toward the new impact fee.
D. 
Impact fees may be paid under protest in order to obtain a permit or other approval of development activity.
E. 
An applicant for a building permit for a single-family detached or attached residence may request a deferral of the full impact fee payment until final inspection or 18 months from the date of original building permit issuance, whichever occurs first. Deferrals of impact fees are considered under the following conditions:
1. 
The applicant shall submit to the city a written request to defer the payment of an impact fee prior to issuance of the building permit.
2. 
To receive a deferral an applicant shall:
a. 
Submit an impact fee deferral application form for each building permit;
b. 
Pay an administrative fee of $350.00 for each impact fee deferral application;
c. 
Grant and record at the applicant's expense a deferred impact fee lien in a form approved by the city against the property in favor of the city in the amount of the deferred impact fee that:
i. 
Includes the legal description, tax account number, and address of the property;
ii. 
Requires payment of the impact fees to the city prior to final inspection or 18 months from the date of original building permit issuance, whichever occurs first;
iii. 
Is signed by all owners of the property, with all signatures acknowledged as required for a deed and recorded in Pierce County;
iv. 
Binds all successors in title after the recordation; and
v. 
Is junior and subordinate to one mortgage for the purpose of construction upon the same real property granted by the person who applied for the deferral of impact fees.
3. 
The amount of impact fees deferred shall be determined by the fees in effect at the time the applicant applies for a deferral.
4. 
The city shall withhold final inspection until the impact fees have been paid in full. Upon receipt of final payment of impact fees deferred under this subsection, the city shall execute a release of deferred impact fee lien for each single-family attached or detached residence for which the impact fees have been received. The applicant, or property owner at the time of release, shall be responsible for recording the lien release at his or her expense.
5. 
The extinguishment of a deferred impact fee lien by the foreclosure of a lien having priority does not affect the obligation to pay the impact fees as a condition of final inspection.
6. 
Any application for deferral must be submitted prior to building permit issuance. Any request not so made shall be deemed waived.
7. 
If impact fees are not paid in accordance with the deferral and in accordance with the term provisions established herein, the city may institute foreclosure proceedings in accordance with Chapter 61.12 RCW.
8. 
An applicant is entitled to defer impact fees pursuant to this section for no more than 20 single-family attached or detached home building permits per year in the city.
9. 
For purposes of this section, an "applicant" includes an entity that controls the applicant, is controlled by the applicant, or is under common control with the applicant.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1123 § 6, 2005; Ord. 1230 § 24, 2007; Ord. 1555 § 3, 2016; Ord. 1558 § 3, 2016)
A. 
Parks impact fees shall be placed in appropriate deposit accounts within the parks capital improvement fund.
B. 
The parks impact fees paid to the city shall be held and disbursed as follows:
1. 
The parks impact fees collected shall be deposited in accordance with subsection A of this section;
2. 
When the council appropriates parks capital improvement fund funds for a project in the parks plan, impact fees held within such fund may be used in accordance with the parks plan. The non-impact fee moneys appropriated for the project may comprise both the public share of the project cost and an advancement of that portion of the private share that has not yet been collected in parks impact fees;
3. 
The first money spent by the director on a project after a council appropriation shall be deemed to be the fees from the impact fee account;
4. 
Fees collected after a project has been fully funded by means of one or more council appropriations shall constitute reimbursement to the city of the public moneys advanced for the private share of the project;
5. 
All interest earned on parks impact fees paid shall be retained in the account and expended for the purpose or purposes for which the parks impact fees were imposed.
C. 
Projects shall be funded by a balance between parks impact fees and other sources of public funds, and shall not be funded solely by parks impact fees.
D. 
Parks impact fees shall be expended or encumbered for a permissible use within 10 years of receipt, unless there exists an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than 10 years. The finance director may recommend to the council that the city hold fees beyond 10 years in cases where extraordinary or compelling reasons exist. Such reasons shall be identified in written findings by the council.
E. 
The city shall prepare an annual report on the parks impact fee account showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned or received and projects that were financed in whole or in part by parks impact fees.
F. 
If the city fails to expend or encumber the impact fees within 10 years of when the fees were paid or other such period of time established pursuant to subsection D of this section, the city shall notify the current owner of property on which an impact fee was paid by first-class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service that there is a potential that the impact fee paid may be refunded and requesting that the property owner submit a request for a refund if the property owner believes they are entitled to a refund.
G. 
The request for a refund must be submitted to the city in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever is later. Any impact fees that are not expended within these time limitations, and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period, shall be retained and expended on the indicated capital facilities. Refunds of impact fees under this subsection shall include interest earned on the impact fees.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1185 § 2, 2006; Ord. 1521 § 1, 2015)
A. 
A developer may request and shall receive a refund when the developer does not proceed with the development activity for which parks impact fees were paid, and the developer shows that no impact has resulted; however, any administrative fee shall not be refunded.
B. 
If an owner appears to be entitled to a refund of parks impact fees, the finance director shall notify the owner by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at their last known address. The owner must submit a request for a refund to the finance director in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date the notice is given, whichever is later. Any parks impact fees that are not expended or encumbered within the time limitations established by Chapter 19.06 BLMC and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period shall be retained and expended on any project.
C. 
In the event that parks impact fees must be refunded for any reason, they shall be refunded with interest earned to the owners as they appear of record with the Pierce County assessor at the time of refund.
D. 
When the city seeks to terminate any or all impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds shall be refunded pursuant to this section. Upon the finding that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the city shall place notice of such termination and the availability of refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first class mail to the last known address of claimants. Claimants shall request refunds as in subsection B of this section. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one year. At the end of one year, any remaining funds shall be retained by the city, but must be expended on any city projects. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within an account or accounts being terminated.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
A developer may appeal the amount of an impact fee determined by the director as provided in BLMC § 14.120.020. The developer shall bear the burden of proving:
A. 
That the director committed material and substantial error in calculating the developer's proportionate share, as determined by an individual fee calculation or, if relevant, as set forth in the fee schedule, or in granting credit for the benefit factors; or
B. 
That the director's decision was based on data that was materially and substantially incorrect and which, therefore, necessarily resulted in an erroneous decision.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
A. 
All development shall be subject to environmental review pursuant to SEPA and other applicable city ordinances and regulations.
B. 
Payment of the impact fee shall constitute satisfactory mitigation of those parks impacts related to the specific improvements identified in the parks plan.
C. 
Further mitigation in addition to the impact fee shall be required for identified adverse impacts appropriate for mitigation pursuant to SEPA that are not mitigated by an impact fee.
D. 
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the city's authority to deny building permits when a proposal would result in significant adverse parks impacts identified in an environmental impact statement and reasonable mitigation measures are insufficient to mitigate the identified impact.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)
A building permit issued after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be null and void if issued without substantial compliance with this chapter by the department, the approving authority and the director.
(Ord. 1018 § 1, 2004)