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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08132013 - D.3PDF Return D.3 To: Board of Supervisors From: Catherine Kutsuris, Conservation and Development Director Date: August 13, 2013 Contra Costa County Subject:Amendments to Land Development Fee Schedule APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 08/13/2013 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact:Will Nelson, (925) 674-7791 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: August 13, 2013 David Twa, BY:Chris Heck , Deputy RECOMMENDATION(S): 1. ACCEPT the report from the Director of Conservation and Development related to proposed changes to the Land Development Fee Schedule to: A. Establish a $1,000 fee, subject to staff time and materials costs, for administrative permits to establish temporary meteorological towers; RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D) B. Increase the fee for administrative permits in the former Redevelopment areas from a $150 flat fee to a $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs; C. Establish an administrative permit fee for the newly-adopted El Sobrante Planned Unit District; 2. OPEN the public hearing, ACCEPT any written or oral public testimony related to the proposed fee changes, and CLOSE the public hearing; 3. DETERMINE, for purposes of compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), that the project is statutorily exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15273(a)(1) – fees established by public agencies to meet operating expenses; 4. ADOPT Resolution No. 2013/340, which incorporates revisions to the Land Development Fee Schedule; and 5. DIRECT staff to file a CEQA Notice of Exemption with the County Clerk. FISCAL IMPACT: There will be no impact to the General Fund. All fees discussed herein would be collected by the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) for the purpose of offsetting costs associated with providing certain services. BACKGROUND: As authorized under Government Code § 65941.5, DCD collects a fee with each permit or development application. As discussed below, recent and pending Ordinance changes necessitate adoption of two new fees and a fee increase is necessary in former Redevelopment areas. New Administrative Permit Fee for Temporary Meteorological Towers Proposed New Fee: Initial deposit of $1,000, subject to staff time and materials costs A general Land Use Permit is currently required to construct a meteorological (MET) tower, regardless of whether the tower will be permanent or temporary. The fee is a $2,700 initial deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. DCD staff is currently processing an amendment to the County Ordinance Code that would allow for administrative approval of temporary MET towers that meet certain prescribed standards. The administrative process would generally be simpler than the Land Use Permit process as it is anticipated that most temporary MET towers would be exempt from environmental review. Therefore, staff proposes to reduce the up-front cost for temporary MET Tower permits by $1,700 by adding an administrative permit fee to the Land Development Fee Schedule consisting of a $1,000 initial deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. Administrative approval of MET towers is a new process. However, based on experience processing other administrative applications which follow the same process prescribed for the MET tower permits, many applications are expected to require in excess of 10 hours of staff time. DCD anticipates that the actual cost to process the administrative permits will typically exceed $1,000, hence the permits would be subject to any additional staff time and materials costs that are incurred. Increase Administrative Permit Fee in Former Redevelopment Areas Proposed Fee Increase: $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs, up from $150 flat fee In four of the five former unincorporated Redevelopment areas – North Richmond, Bay Point, Rodeo, and Montalvin Manor – administrative permits are required for minor projects such as those involving modifications to development standards (building height, setbacks, parking requirements, etc.), occupancy changes, temporary uses, and residential design reviews. The County’s Redevelopment Agency was the entity that processed these administrative permits. Following the dissolution of Redevelopment in California on February 1, 2012, the Department reviewed its costs to process administrative permits in these areas. The current fee was adopted in 1998 for the North Richmond area and was subsequently applied to the other Redevelopment areas. The Redevelopment Agency partially financed a planner to process these types of permits, but as the Redevelopment Agency no longer exists and staff costs generally exceed the current fee, staff proposes to increase the fee to a $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. New Administrative Permit Fee for New El Sobrante Planned Unit District Proposed New Fee: $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs On July 16, 2013, the Board of Supervisors adopted the El Sobrante Planned Unit District (P-1), a zoning district which establishes new zoning regulations and application processes for a portion of the El Sobrante area. The new zoning district is modeled largely after the P-1 districts adopted for the aforementioned former Redevelopment areas. As the administrative permit review process for the El Sobrante P-1 District is anticipated to be similar to the process in the former Redevelopment areas, staff proposes to amend the Land Development Fee Schedule to add the same administrative permit review fee for the El Sobrante P-1 District. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: The Land Development Fee Schedule would not include fees for new permits types (i.e., El Sobrante Planned Unit District Administrative Permit and temporary meteorological tower permit) and the Administrative Permit fee in former Redevelopment areas would continue to be insufficient to cover DCD's processing costs. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: N/A CLERK'S ADDENDUM CLOSED the public hearing; ACCEPTED the report from the Director of Conservation and Development related to proposed changes to the Land Development Fee Schedule; ESTABLISHED a $1,000 fee, subject to staff time and materials costs, for administrative permits to establish temporary meteorological towers; INCREASED the fee for administrative permits in the former Redevelopment areas from a $150 flat fee to a $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs; ESTABLISHED an administrative permit fee for the newly-adopted El Sobrante Planned Unit District; DETERMINED, for purposes of compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), that the project is statutorily exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15273(a)(1) – fees established by public agencies to meet operating expenses; ADOPTED Resolution No. 2013/340, which incorporates revisions to the Land Development Fee Schedule; and DIRECTED staff to file a CEQA Notice of Exemption with the County Clerk. AgendaQuick©2005 - 2022 Destiny Software Inc., All Rights Reserved 1 BASIS OF NEW AND INCREASED FEES FOR DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT The Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) is proposing to modify the Land Development Fee Schedule for Community Development Division services as follows: 1. New Administrative Permit Fee for Temporary Meteorological Towers Proposed New Fee: Initial deposit of $1,000, subject to staff time and materials costs Basis of Fee Change: A general Land Use Permit is currently required to construct a meteorological (MET) tower, regardless of whether the tower will be permanent or temporary. The fee is a $2,700 initial deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. DCD staff is currently processing an amendment to the County Ordinance Code that would allow for administrative approval of temporary MET towers that meet certain prescribed standards. The administrative process would generally be simpler than the Land Use Permit process as it is anticipated that most temporary MET towers would be exempt from environmental review and a staff report would not be required. Therefore, staff proposes to reduce the up-front cost for temporary MET Tower permits by $1,700 by adding an administrative permit fee to the Land Development Fee Schedule consisting of a $1,000 initial deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. For the purpose of illustrating processing costs, we assume that an administrative MET tower permit application is assigned to a Planner II, whose average hourly billing rate is $135.50. The steps involved in reviewing the application would include reviewing the plans for accuracy and completeness; visiting the site; preparing the public notification; preparing the permit and conditions of approval; and miscellaneous tasks such as corresponding with the project applicant, answering questions from the public, and attending to any other issues that may arise. The Planner II is supervised by a Senior Planner, whose average hourly billing rate is approximately $169. If the Planner I I requires five hours completing the review and the Senior Planner requires one hour reviewing the work, then the cost for six hours of staff time will be $846.50. Administrative approval of MET towers is a new process, so DCD has no direct experience. However, based on experience processing other administrative applications which follow the same process prescribed for the MET tower permits, the scenario described above is best-case, as most applications require in excess of 10 hours of staff time. DCD anticipates that the actual cost to process the administrative permits will typically exceed $1,000, hence the permits being subject to staff time and materials costs. 2. Increase Administrative Permit Fee in Former Redevelopment Areas Proposed Fee Increase: $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs, up from $150 flat fee Basis of Fee Change: In four of the five former unincorporated Redevelopment areas – North Richmond, Bay Point, Rodeo, and Montalvin Manor – Administrative Permits are 2 required for low-impact projects such as those involving modifications to development standards (building height, setbacks, parking requirements, etc.), occupancy changes, temporary uses, and residential design reviews. The County’s Redevelopment Agency was the entity that processed Administrative Permits. Following the dissolution of Redevelopment in California on February 1, 2012, and the subsequent reduction of staff assigned to the former Redevelopment areas, DCD reviewed its costs to process Administrative Permits in these areas. DCD’s Current Planning staff now processes Administrative Permits and the complexity of the review is such that it can be completed by a Planner I or Planning Technician, under the supervision of a Senior Planner. Tasks include reviewing the plans for accuracy and compliance with zoning, preparing the permit and conditions of approval, corresponding with the project applicant, and miscellaneous tasks such as answering any questions that might arise. DCD’s cost review showed that staff time and costs vary on a case-by-case basis, but it typically takes two to three hours of staff time to complete the review. For the purpose of illustrating processing costs, we assume that an Administrative Permit application is assigned to a Planner I, whose starting hourly billing rate, at approximately $103, is the lowest for all planners. The Planner I is supervised by a Senior Planner, whose average hourly billing rate is approximately $169. If the Planner I requires two hours to complete the review and the Senior Planner requires 15 minutes to review the work, then the cost for two and one quarter hours of staff time will be $248.25. Since the current $150 fee is a flat fee, DCD would absorb $98.25 in this example. The current fee was adopted in 1998 for the North Richmond area and was subsequently applied to the other Redevelopment areas. The costs reasonably associated with processing Administrative Permits have increased due to inflation since the fee was originally adopted. The Redevelopment Agency partially financed a planner to process these types of permits, but as the Redevelopment Agency no longer exists and staff costs generally exceed the current fee, staff proposes to increase the fee to a $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs. 3. New Administrative Permit Fee for New El Sobrante Planned Unit District Proposed New Fee: $300 deposit, subject to staff time and materials costs Basis of Fee Changes: On July 16, 2013, the Board of Supervisors adopted the El Sobrante Planned Unit District (P-1), a zoning district which establishes new zoning regulations and application processes for a portion of the El Sobrante are a. The new zoning district is modeled largely after the P-1 districts adopted for the aforementioned former Redevelopment areas. As the Administrative Permit review process for the El Sobrante P-1 District is anticipated to be similar to the process in the former Redevelopment areas, staff proposes to amend the Land Development Fee Schedule to add the same Administrative Permit review fee for the El Sobrante P-1 District.