[1]
Code reviser's note: Appendices A and B, attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter, are available for public review and examination in the city clerk's office.
A. 
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the city's police powers, the Growth Management Act as codified in Chapter 82.02 RCW, Chapter 58.17 RCW relating to platting and subdivisions, and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), Chapter 43.21C RCW.
B. 
The purpose of this chapter is to:
1. 
Develop a program to implement the parks, recreation, open space and trails chapter of the adopted comprehensive plan and appropriate parts of the adopted capital facilities chapter titled public safety, including fire and rescue services and the parks, recreation, open space and trails, including sections of the capital facilities plan;
2. 
Ensure adequate levels of service in public facilities in the city;
3. 
Create a mechanism to charge and collect fees to ensure that all new development bears its proportionate share of the capital costs reasonably related to new development, in order to maintain adopted levels of service at the time of new development;
4. 
Ensure that the city pays its fair share of the capital costs necessitated by public need of the facilities; and
5. 
Ensure fair collection and administration of such impact fees.
C. 
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effectively carry out its purpose in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
The requirements of this chapter apply to all development as defined in Chapters 19.04 and 20.04 PMC, with the addition of the definition of development as defined in PMC § 22.05.160.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
The boundaries within which impact fees shall be charged and collected are the same as the city limits. All unincorporated areas annexed to the city on and after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms used in this chapter shall have the meaning as set forth in Chapters 19.04 and 20.04 PMC unless the context clearly indicated otherwise.
B. 
The term "development" shall include:
1. 
Subdivision (plat) approval, short subdivision (plat) approval and/or any creation of a dwelling unit.
2. 
Planned unit developments, commercial, multiple use, office park and light industrial approvals with the issuance of any building permit of 800 square feet or larger in size, except the fire and rescue services impact fee shall have no minimum size.
C. 
The term "facilities" shall include a piece of equipment or other major asset, including land, that has a useful life of at least five years and for fire and rescue services the project or equipment cost must exceed $50,000.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
The city is hereby authorized to impose impact fees on new development.
B. 
Impact fees may be required pursuant to the impact fee schedule adopted through the process described herein, or mitigation may be provided through:
1. 
The purchase, installation, and/or improvement of facilities pursuant to the adopted comprehensive plan.
C. 
Impact fees:
1. 
Shall only be imposed for facilities that are reasonably related to new development;
2. 
Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of facilities that are reasonably related to new development;
3. 
Shall be used for facilities that will reasonably benefit or serve the need of new development;
4. 
Shall not be utilized to correct existing facilities;
5. 
Shall not be imposed to mitigate the same facility impacts that are being mitigated pursuant to any other law;
6. 
Shall not be collected for improvements to state or county facilities unless the state or county requests such improvements and an agreement to collect such fees has been executed between the state or county and the city;
7. 
Shall not be collected for any development with final approval prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter unless changes, revisions or modifications in the development requiring city approval are subsequently proposed which result in greater impacts on facilities than were considered when the development was first approved;
8. 
Shall be collected only once for each development, unless changes, revisions or modifications to the development are proposed which result in greater direct impacts on facilities than were considered when the development was first permitted;
9. 
May be imposed for system improvement costs previously incurred by the city, to the extent that new growth and development will be served by previously constructed improvements; and provided, that such fee shall not be imposed to make up for any system improvement deficiencies.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
The impact fee schedule setting forth the amount of the impact fees to be paid by developers is listed in Appendix A, titled "Impact Fee Rate Study to Provide Mitigation for Impacts of Proposed Developments to Assist in the Costs of Providing Facilities" attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter and incorporated herein by reference.
B. 
For the purpose of this chapter, the entire city shall be considered one service area.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
The director shall calculate the impact fee set forth in Appendix A, and as adopted in the comprehensive plan, category titled parks, open space, recreation and trails and public safety. The city council shall have the final decision on the calculation of the impact fees to be imposed under this chapter as set forth in Appendix A. These calculations shall:
1. 
Determine the standard fee for similar types of development, which shall be reasonably related to each development's proportionate share of the cost of the projects.
2. 
Reduce the proportionate share by applying the benefit factors described in this section.
B. 
In calculating the proportionate share, the following factors will be considered:
1. 
Identify all facilities that will be impacted by users from each development;
2. 
Identify when the capacity of each facility has been achieved or replacement need has been determined.
3. 
Update the data as often as practicable, but at least biennially.
4. 
Estimate the cost of constructing the projects identified as of the time they are placed on the lists and the costs of maintaining the city's level of service for facilities, and update the costs as per the capital facilities plan update, considering the:
a. 
Availability of other means of funding facilities;
b. 
Cost of existing facilities improvements;
c. 
Methods by which facilities or improvements were financed.
C. 
The director shall reduce the calculated proportionate share for a particular development by giving credit for the following benefit factors:
1. 
The purchase, installation and/or improvement of facilities, if:
a. 
The facilities are located on land owned by the city or county; and
b. 
A designated public owner is responsible for permanent, continuing maintenance and operations of the facilities; and
c. 
The director determines that the improvement corresponds to the type(s) of facilities being impacted by the development as determined pursuant to this chapter; and
d. 
The director determines, after consultation and analysis of supply and demand data, the six-year capital facilities plan and any other applicable plan, that the proposed facilities and/or improvements better meet the city's need for facilities than would payments of funds to mitigate the impacts of the development.
2. 
The credit against the impact fee shall be equal to the fair market value of the purchase, installation and/or improvement.
3. 
Any applicable benefit factors, as described in RCW 82.02.060, that are demonstrated by the applicant not to have been included in the calculation of the impact fee.
4. 
A developer may receive credit only for facilities provided in addition to those normally required under SEPA for such developments pursuant to Chapter 16.70 PMC.
5. 
When the director has agreed to a developer's proposal to satisfy some or all of the impact fee through the purchase, installation and/or improvement of facilities, the developer shall prepare and submit a facility improvement plan to the director for review and after consultation with the developer (i.e., revisions, additions, acceptance), make recommendation to the city council for approval prior to preliminary subdivision plat (short or long plat) approval, or prior to issuance of a building permit for all other developments.
6. 
In determination of credit toward the impact fee, the director shall also consider the extent to which the proposed dedication or conveyance meets the following criteria:
a. 
The land should result in an integral element of the needed facilities;
b. 
The land is suitable for park and the proposed facilities;
c. 
The land is of appropriate size and of an acceptable configuration;
d. 
The land has public access via a public street or a permanent easement of an equivalent width (right-of-way width and pavement width) and accessibility;
e. 
The land is in or near areas designated by the city or county (in unincorporated areas) on land use plans for park, open space, recreation or trail purposes or fire and rescue services facilities;
f. 
The land provides linkages between the city of Pacific, county and/or neighboring cities' publicly owned existing or planned recreation and/or trail facilities;
g. 
The land has been surveyed or adequately marked with survey monuments, or is otherwise readily distinguishable from adjacent privately owned property as approved by the director in consultation with the city engineer;
h. 
The land has no known physical problems associated with it, such as the presence of hazardous waste, drainage, erosion, steep slopes, landslides or flooding which the director, with the assistance of the city engineer, determines would cause inordinate demands on public resources for maintenance and operations;
i. 
The land has no known safety hazards;
j. 
The developer is able to provide documentation, as nearly as practicable, of the land's compliance or needed facilities with the criteria of this subsection, acceptable to the director and of clear title; and
k. 
The developer is able to provide and fund a long-term method, acceptable to the director, for management and maintenance of the land, if applicable.
7. 
The amount of credit determined pursuant to this subsection shall be credited proportionately among all the units in the development, and the impact fee for each unit for which a permit or approval is applied shall be reduced accordingly.
8. 
Applicants may not request that an impact fee credit be provided for the proposed development based on taxes, user fees, assessments, improvements, payments or other benefit factors applicable to property or facilities that are not included within the proposed development.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
If a developer submits information demonstrating a significant difference between the age, social activity or interest characteristics of the population of the proposed subdivision or development and the data used to calculate the impact fee schedule, the director may allow a special calculation of the impact fee requirements for the subdivision or development to be prepared by the developer's consultant, at the developer's cost; provided, however, that the director shall have prior approval of the qualifications and methodology of the developer's consultant in making such calculation, and any time period mandated by statute or ordinance for the approving authority's decision on the subdivision or development shall not include the time spent in preparing the special calculation. Whether the director accepts the data provided by the special calculation shall be at the discretion of the director with recommendation for approval by the city council.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
All developers shall pay an impact fee in accordance with the provisions of this chapter which shall be calculated by the city prior to the issuance of a building permit.
B. 
The impact fee shall be recalculated if the development is revised, modified or conditioned in such a way as to alter park and related facilities impacts for the development.
C. 
The developer may obtain a preliminary determination of the impact fee before submitting an application for development through the preapplication process by providing the director with basic information needed for processing an application. However, because impact fees are not subject to the vested rights doctrine, the fee actually paid by the developer will be the impact fee in effect at the time of building permit issuance, regardless of any preliminary determination.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
Payment of any impact fees shall be made prior to the issuance of any building permit.
B. 
Impact fees may be paid under protest in order to obtain the necessary permits/approvals until an appeal of the final fee amount is finally resolved.
C. 
When a subdivision or development is conditioned upon the dedication of land, or the purchase, installation or improvement of park and/or related facilities, a final plat or short plat shall not be recorded, and a building permit within such plat or any other type of development shall not be issued until:
1. 
The director has determined in writing that the land to be dedicated is shown on the face of the plat, or a deed conveying the land to the city has been recorded with the appropriate county assessor/auditor or acceptance of a facility by the city council as recommended by the director.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
The director, with the assistance of the commission, board or appropriate department, shall annually review the city's parks, open space, recreation and trails plan and the six-year capital facilities plan category for parks and related facilities and shall:
1. 
Identify each project in the comprehensive plan that is growth-related and the proportion of each project that is growth-related;
2. 
Forecast the total money available from various sources for facilities improvements for the next six years;
3. 
Update the population, building activity and demand and supply data for facilities and the impact fee schedule for the next six-year period;
4. 
Calculate the amount of impact fees already paid;
5. 
Identify those comprehensive plan projects that have been or are being built but whose performance capacity has not been fully utilized.
B. 
The director shall use this information to prepare an annual draft amendment to the fee schedule in Appendix A for parks, etc., which shall comprise:
1. 
The projects in the comprehensive plan that are growth-related and that should be funded with forecast public moneys and the impact fees already paid; and
2. 
The projects already built or funded pursuant to this chapter whose performance capacity has not been fully utilized.
C. 
The council, at the same time that it adopts the annual budget and appropriate funds for capital improvement projects, shall, by separate ordinance, establish the annual project list by adopting with or without modification the director's draft amendment as recommended by the park board.
D. 
Once a project is placed on Appendix B, or if the city amends its level of park or related facilities service in the comprehensive plan, a fee shall be imposed on every development until the project is removed from the list by one of the following means:
1. 
The council by ordinance removes the project from Appendix B, in which case the fees already collected will be refunded if necessary to ensure that impact fees remain reasonably related to the park and related facilities of development that have been paid an impact fee; provided, that a refund shall not be necessary if the council transfers the fees to the budget of another project that the council determines will mitigate essentially the same park and related facilities impacts; or
2. 
The capacity created by the project has been fully utilized, in which case the director shall remove the project from the project list with notification to the park board and city council.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
The director, with the assistance of the fire department, shall annually review the city's fire and rescue services needs and the six-year capital facilities plan for fire and rescue needs and shall:
1. 
Identify each project in the comprehensive plan that is growth-related and the proportion of each project that is growth-related;
2. 
Forecast the total money available from the sources available for fire and rescue services and related facilities improvements for the next six years;
3. 
Update the population, building activity and demand and supply data for fire and rescue service facilities and the impact fee schedule for the next six-year period;
4. 
Calculate the amount of impact fees already paid;
5. 
Identify those comprehensive plan projects that have been or are being built but whose performance capacity has not been utilized.
B. 
The director shall use this information to prepare an annual draft amendment to the fee schedule in the appropriate appendix, which shall comprise:
1. 
The facilities in the comprehensive plan that are growth-related and should be funded with the forecast public moneys and the impact fees already paid; and
2. 
The facilities already built or funded pursuant to this chapter whose performance capacity has been utilized.
C. 
The city council, at the same time as adopting the annual budget and appropriate funds for the capital improvement projects, shall, by separate ordinance, establish the annual project list by adopting with or without modification the director's draft amendment as recommended by staff (director and fire department).
(Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
An impact fee trust and agency fund is hereby created for parks and related facilities fees and an impact fee trust and agency fund shall be created for fire and rescue services. The finance director shall be the manager of the funds. The city shall place the appropriate impact fees in each deposit account within the impact fee fund.
B. 
The impact fees paid to the city shall be held and disbursed as follows:
1. 
The fees collected for each project shall be placed in a deposit account within the appropriate impact fee fund;
2. 
When the council appropriates capital improvement project (CIP) funds for projects on each project list, the fees held in the impact fee fund shall be transferred to the CIP fund. The non-impact-fee moneys appropriated for the project shall comprise both the public share of the project cost and an advancement of that portion of the private share that has not been collected in 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 fund;
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 funds advanced for the private share of the project. The public moneys made available by such reimbursement shall be used to pay the public share of other projects;
5. 
All interest earned on impact fees paid shall be retained in the account and expended for the purposes for which the impact fees were imposed.
C. 
Projects shall be funded by a balance between impact fees and public funds, and shall not be funded solely by impact fees.
D. 
Impact fees shall be expended or encumbered for a permissible use for six years after receipt, unless there exists an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than six years. The director may recommend to the council that the city hold park and related facilities fees and/or fire and rescue service fees beyond six years in cases where extraordinary or compelling reasons exist. Such reasons shall be identified in written findings by the council.
(Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
All land dedicated or conveyed pursuant to this chapter shall be set aside for development of appropriate facilities. The city department to which land is dedicated or conveyed pursuant to this chapter shall make every effort to use, develop and maintain land dedicated or conveyed for designated facilities. In the event that use of any dedicated land is determined by the director to be infeasible for development of the designated facilities, the dedicated land may be sold or traded for another parcel of land. The proceeds from such a sale shall be used to acquire land or designated facilities.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
A developer may request and shall receive a refund from the city for appropriate facilities when the developer does not proceed with the development activity for which impact fees were paid, and the developer shows that no impact has resulted.
B. 
In the event that impact fees are refunded for any reason, they shall be refunded by the city with respect to the appropriate fees and such fees shall be returned with interest earned to the owners as they appear of record with the appropriate county auditor/assessor at the time of the refund.
C. 
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 determination and the availability of refunds in the official city newspaper at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first class mail to the last known address of claimants. 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 or must be expended on projects on adopted plans of the city. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within an account or accounts being terminated.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
Decision on the Impact Fee. The director shall issue a written decision on the parks and related facilities and/or fire and rescue services impact fees amount as described in this chapter.
B. 
Reconsideration by the Director.
1. 
In order to request reconsideration of the director's decision, the developer shall make a written request to the director for a meeting to review the fee amount, together with a written request for consideration. The request for reconsideration shall state in detail the grounds for the request, and shall be filed with the director within 15 calendar days after the issuance of the director's decision on the impact fees.
2. 
The director shall consider any studies and data submitted by the director seeking to adjust the amount of the fee. The director shall issue a written decision on reconsideration within 15 working days of the director's receipt of the request for reconsideration or the meeting with the developer, whichever is later.
C. 
Appeal of Decision on Reconsideration to Hearing Examiner. A developer may appeal the amount of the impact fee established in the decision on reconsideration of the director to the hearing examiner, who shall conduct a public hearing on the appeal.
1. 
An appeal of the impact fee after reconsideration may be filed without appealing the underlying permit. If the developer files an appeal of the underlying permit and the impact fee, the city may consolidate the appeals.
2. 
The developer shall bear the burden of proving:
a. 
That the director committed an error calculating the developer's proportionate share, as determined by an individual fee calculation, or, if relevant, as set forth in the impact fee schedule, or in granting credit from the benefit factors; or
b. 
That the director based his determination upon incorrect data.
3. 
An appeal of the decision of the director on reconsideration must be filed with the city community development department within 14 calendar days of issuance of the decision.
D. 
Appeals of Hearing Examiner's Decision. Appeals from the decision of the city's hearing examiner shall be to superior court as provided in Chapter 36.70C RCW.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A. 
As provided in RCW 82.02.100, a person required to pay a fee pursuant to RCW 43.21C.060 for system improvements shall not be required to pay an impact fee under this chapter for those same system improvements.
B. 
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the city's authority to deny a development when the proposal would result in probable significant adverse impacts identified in an environmental impact statement and reasonable mitigation measures are insufficient to mitigate the identified impacts.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)
A development permit issued after the effective date of the ordinance adopted in this chapter shall be null and void if issued without substantial compliance with this chapter by the director.
(Ord. 1607 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1633 § 1, 2006)