This Article shall be known as the “School Facilities Dedication Ordinance of the City of San Juan Bautista.” The purpose is to provide a method for financing interim school facilities necessitated by new residential developments causing conditions of overcrowding.
This Article is enacted pursuant to Chapter 4.7, Title 7, Division 1 (Government Code Sections 65970 et seq.), and constitutes the ordinance referred to in Sections 65972 and 65974 of Chapter 4.7. In the case of any conflict between the provisions of this Article and those of Chapter 4.7, the latter shall prevail.
The Land Use Element of the City’s General Plan provides for the location of public schools. Interim school facilities to be constructed from fees or land required to be dedicated, or both, shall be consistent with the General Plan.
The City Council may, from time to time, by resolution, issue regulations to establish administration, procedures, interpretation and policy direction for this Article.
(B) “Conditions of overcrowding”
means that the total enrollment of a school, including enrollment from proposed development, exceeds the capacity of such school as determined by the governing body of the district.
(C) “Dwelling unit”
means a building or a portion thereof, or a mobile home, designed for residential occupancy by one (1) person or a group of two (2) or more persons living together as a domestic unit.
(D) “Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding”
include, but are not limited to, agreements between a subdivider and the affected school district whereby temporary-use buildings will be leased to the school district or temporary-use buildings owned by the school district will be used. The City Council may establish by resolution additional methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding which should be considered by school districts.
(E) “Residential development”
means a project containing residential dwellings, including mobilehomes, of one (1) or more units or a subdivision of land for the purpose of constructing one (1) or more residential dwelling units. Residential development includes, but is not limited to rezonings, conditional use permits, site development review, and any other discretionary permit for new residential use, and building permits for new residential use.
Pursuant to Chapter 4.7 of the Government Code, the governing body of a school district shall make all of the following findings supported by clear and convincing evidence that:
(A)
Conditions of overcrowding exist in one (1) or more attendance areas within the district which will impair the normal functioning of educational programs including the reason for such conditions existing;
(B)
All reasonable methods of mitigating conditions of overcrowding have been evaluated; and
(C)
No feasible method for reducing such conditions exist.
Upon making these findings, the school district shall provide the City with notice of its findings.
Any notice of findings sent by a school district to the City shall specify:
(A)
Findings specified in SJBMC 10-2-1225.
(B)
Mitigation measures considered by the district and any determination made concerning them by the district.
(C)
A map delineating the overcrowded attendance area or areas, and other attendance areas in the district.
(D)
Recommendations for standards for land dedication and fees based on SJBMC 10-2-1270, General Standards.
(E)
Such other information as may be required by City Council’s resolution.
After the receipt of any notice of finding complying with the requirement of SJBMC 10-2-1225, the City Council shall determine whether it concurs in such school district findings. The Council shall schedule and hold a public hearing on the matter of its proposed concurrence prior to making its determination.
Within an attendance area where the City Council has concurred in a school district’s findings that conditions of overcrowding exist, no discretionary permit for residential use and no building permit for new residential construction shall be approved in the attendance area, unless the City Council makes one of the following findings:
(A)
That this Article is an ordinance adopted pursuant to Section 65974 of Chapter 4.7.
(B)
That there are specific overriding fiscal, economic, social, or environmental factors which in the judgment of the Planning Commission would benefit the City, thereby justifying the approval of a residential development otherwise subject to the interim school facilities dedications provisions of this division.
Following the concurrence and decision by the City to require the dedication of land or the payment of fees, or both, for an attendance area, the governing body of the involved school district shall submit a schedule specifying how it will use the land or fees, or both, to solve the conditions of overcrowding. The schedule shall include the school and the times when such facilities will be available. In the event the governing body of the school district cannot meet the schedule, it shall submit modifications to the City Council and the reasons for the modification.
In an attendance area where the City Council has concurred as provided in SJBMC 10-2-1240, the developer of applicable residential projects shall dedicate land, pay fees in lieu thereof, or do a combination of both, for classroom and related facilities for mandated educational programs for elementary, middle/junior high, and/or high schools.
Only payment of fees may be required for approval of projects containing fifty (50) parcels or less. In subdivisions larger than fifty (50) lots, this requirement may be satisfied by dedicating land and/or payment of fees as determined by the Planning Commission.
Residential developments shall be exempt from the requirements of this Article when they consist only of the following:
(A)
Any modification or remodel of an existing legally established dwelling unit that does not create an additional dwelling unit.
(B)
A condominium project converting an existing apartment building into a condominium where no new dwelling units are added.
(C)
Any rebuilding of a legally established dwelling unit destroyed or damaged by fire, explosion, act of God or other accident or catastrophe.
(D)
Any rebuilding of an historical building recognized, acknowledged and designated as such by the City Council, County of San Benito, State of California, or Federal Government.
Any agreement existing prior to the effective date of this Chapter between a school district and a developer pertaining to the dedication of land and/or payment of fees for school facilities shall be considered as satisfying this Article’s requirements.
The location and amount of land to be dedicated or the amount of fees to be paid, or both, shall bear a reasonable relationship and will be limited to the needs of the community for interim elementary, middle/junior high, and/or high school facilities including all mandated educational programs and shall be reasonably related and limited to the need for schools caused by the development.
A schedule for fees required to be paid in lieu of land dedication or in combination with land dedication shall be established by the City Council for each attendance area where the Council has concurred with the school district that conditions of overcrowding exist. The school district’s governing body shall recommend the fees for providing interim facilities that are to be assessed on a development as a condition of City approval of a subdivision.
When land is required to be dedicated, land shall equal in monetary value fees which would otherwise be market value of all the land in the residential project as determined by the most recent appraisal made at the direction of the City Council at the time of discretionary action on the application. If the developer, or the school district, objects to this determination, either may present evidence for a different dedication requirement based on a recent appraisal of the property by a qualified real estate appraiser.
When land is to be dedicated, it shall be offered for dedication in the same manner as prescribed in the City of San Juan Bautista Subdivision ordinance for park dedication.
Land required to be dedicated as a condition of a tentative maps shall be conveyed at the time of filing the final map. All other dedication of land or payment of fees shall be made at the time the building permit is issued.
Land and fees shall be held in trust by the City of San Juan Bautista until such time as request for release of land or fees is made by the subject school district. Release of land or fees shall occur upon determination by the City Council that the land or fees shall be used for appropriate interim school facilities and that said facilities would be consistent with the General Plan.
Where two (2) or more separate school districts operate schools in an attendance area where the City Council concurs that overcrowding conditions exist for the school districts, the Council will enter into an agreement with the governing body of each school district for the purpose of determining the distribution of revenues from the fees levied pursuant to this division.
If any residential development permit covered by this Article is voided or vacated, and if the applicant so requests, any land or fees collected for the development in trust by the City of San Juan Bautista shall be returned to the applicant.
Any school district receiving funds or land pursuant to this Article shall maintain a separate account for any fees paid and disposition of land received and shall file a report with the City Council on the balance in the account at the end of the previous fiscal year and the facilities leased, purchased, or constructed during the previous fiscal year. In addition, the report shall specify which attendance areas will continue to be overcrowded when the fall term begins and where conditions of overcrowding will no longer exist. Such report shall be filed by August 1st, of each year and shall be filed more frequently at the request of the City Council.
When it is determined by the City Council that overcrowding conditions no longer exist in an attendance area, the City shall cease levying any fee or requiring the dedication of any land pursuant to this Article for the area. The Council shall schedule and hold a public hearing on the proposed termination prior to making its determination.