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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05191992 - IO.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ��..SE' Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa County DATE: May 11, 1992 SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHILD CARE ORDINANCE AND POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Request the Community Development Department staff to prepare a report for our Committee to review on June 22, 1992 which includes the following elements : A. Documentation of the extent of the shortage of child care facilities/slots in each of the major unincorporated communities within the County. B. Documentation of a methodology which will justify a fee of at least $400 per unit for all minor subdivisions and for all subdivisions having 29 or fewer units in the unincorporated area of the County, averaging the cost of land and construction in various areas of the County so that there is a single fee which would apply to all unincorporated areas in the County. C. A progress report on options for facilitating a child care center at the Laurel Avenue and Highway 4 site in the Oakley area which would provide mitigation for subdivisions 6922 and 6935 . D. A progress report on listing all pending development applications and 'the status of. their child care mitigation. 2 . Request the County Counsel ' s Office to prepare an Ordinance which our Committee can review on June 22, 1992 which includes the following elements : CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _X_�J SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATIONOF CO NT ISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE SIGNATURE(S): RO . SCHRODER SUNNE WRIGHT McPEAK ACTION OF BOARD ON May APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN, CC: Please see Page 3 . ATTESTED "p PHIL BATCHELOR,CLAK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) -2- A. A finding that there is an inadequate amount of child care available in most, if not all, unincorporated communities in the County and that it is, therefore, appropriate for all new developments to mitigate the effects of their development on the community in terms of child care needs. B. Provides that the need for child care in each unincorporated community in the County shall be verified not less often than every three years . C. Concludes that because of the relatively high cost of an assessment study for developments of 29 or fewer units, the imposition of a flat fee is a more appropriate method of mitigating the effects on the need for child care in the County of developments proposing 29 or fewer units . D. Imposes a fee of $400 per unit for all minor subdivisions and for all subdivisions proposing 29 or fewer units, with the funds so received to be reserved to assist in meeting the child care needs in the community from which the fee is paid. BACKGROUND: On April 21, 1992, the Board of Supervisors adopted recommendations from our Committee, including additional data which was requested from the Community Development Department staff and a request to the County Counsel ' s Office to prepare an ordinance which would impose a fee of $400 per unit on developments of 29 or fewer units . On May 11, 1992, our Committee met with Assistant County Counsel Silvano Marchesi, Community Development Department staff member Linda Moulton, Contra Costa Child Care Council Executive Director Kate Ertz-Berger and Building Industry Association Executive Director for Local Governmental Affairs Guy Bjerke. We reviewed the attached report from Ms. Moulton, considered a draft ordinance from Mr. Marchesi and considered the attached letter from Mr. Bjerke. Ms . Moulton summarized her report as attached. Supervisor McPeak noted that the Board of Supervisors has concluded that it is not cost effective 'to do a child care study for a development of less than 30 units . As a result, it has been determined that a fee is a more appropriate way to mitigate the effect of the development on the child care needs in the County. Supervisor McPeak also noted her belief that a fee of $400 per unit was reasonable, given the level of fees being charged by other jurisdictions . Mr. Bjerke expressed his concern that a fixed fee prevents the level of analysis which is derived from a study of actual child care need. He also expressed the view that the County should adopt an established standard which should be achieved and maintained not only by new developments but by the current community., He noted that this is required with most other infrastructure elements, such as transportation. Only with child care does the County propose to require a higher standard from new development than is required of the balance of the community. He suggested that if there is an unmet need the existing community should be required to meet that need at the same time that new development is being required to mitigate the additional child care needs which they cause. Mr. Bjerke also expressed his concern that no documentation was being provided to justify the proposed $400 per unit fee for developments of 29 or fewer units . Supervisor McPeak responded that the child care standards in the General Plan are qualitative rather than quantitative and that a good deal of effort is being expended in meeting the existing child care needs and that considerable progress is being made. in meeting -3- the existing need. Ms . Ertz-Berger noted that the child care capacity in the County is being increased at 3000-4000 slots per year and that this has been happening for the past five years without taking into account anything which developers have contributed. ' y Based on further discussion of these issues, our Committee has formulated the above recommendations. We believe that it is appropriate to document that a fee of $400 is reasonable and to demonstrate that there is an unmet child care need in each unincorporated community within the County. Further, in order to insure that we keep the ordinance up to date, we are asking that the ordinance require that the extent of unmet need be documented every three years so that at any point that there is no longer any unmet need in a community the fee can be terminated in that community. We further are committed to keeping the funds which are raised in one community in that community to meet the child care needs in that community. There are other elements of our past requests of the Community Development Department which we are continuing to follow. We anticipate reviewing the ordinance and supporting documentation on June 22, 1992 and reporting the ordinance back to the Board of Supervisors immediately thereafter. cc: County Administrator Community Development Director County Counsel Linda Moulton, CDD Kate Ertz-Berger, Executive Director Contra Costa Child Care Council Guy Bjerke, Executive Director for Local Governmental Affairs, Building Industry Association of Northern California, P.O. Box 5160, San Ramon, CA 94583 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT DATE: May 6, 1992 TO: Internal Operations Committee FROM: Linda Moulton Community Development Department SUBJECT: Child Care Ordinance and Related Issues Several child care issues were discussed at the Internal Operations Committee meeting of April 13, 1992 and were continued to the meeting of May 11, 1992. 1. Applications for minor subdivisions have varied greatly over the last three years: 122 in 1989; 211 in 1990;.and 55 in 1991. 1 have researched the applications for 1990 and 1991. The following shows the number of applications and the total units by area of the County for 1990 and 1991: Area 1990 1991 of County (Applications/Units.) Antioch-Pittsburg 6/16 6/16 Bethel Island 5/14 -- Brentwood 19/55 2/4 Byron 16/55 4/13 Clayton 7/24 3/12 Concord 3/9 2/6 Crockett-Rodeo 7/18 -- El Sobrante 12/30 6/19 Knightsen 17/51 2/6 Lamorinda 10/26 1/2 Martinez 14/48 6/16 Oakley 17/48 7/13 San Ramon Valley 25/43 1/2 Walnut Creek 19/46 9/21 Other 34/84 6/16 TOTAL 211/567 55/146 In the last two years there were a total of 266 applications for minor subdivisions requesting 713 lots. 2. Staff has continued to work on the child care mitigation for subdivisions 6922 and 6935. On April 14th I met with Rob Lewis of Oakley Associates, Kate Ertz-Berger and Janet Traenkner of the Child Care 'Council and Linda Best to discuss possible options for facilitating a child care center at the Laurel and Highway 4 site. Oakley Associates has a site plan and architectural plans for a child care center for the parcel. Kate Ertz-Berger is drafting a letter to send to child care providers who might be interested in operating a facility in the Oakley area and we have been discussing the possibilities informally with child care providers. As soon as we have more concrete information Kate will draft an RFP to be sent to the providers. Linda Best, who has written child care mitigation plans, will continue to discuss the child care center with -developers as a possible option to satisfy their child care mitigations. -I will continue to work on this project in cooperation with the Child Care Council and Oakley Associates. 3. Both the Cities.of San Ramon and Martinez collect child care fees for non-residential construction. The amounts they collect are quite different as a result of both the purposes of their ordinances and the methodology involved in the calculations although both use the same employee density assumptions (i.e. the number of employees per square feet.) The child care fees in San Ramon are directed toward school-age children receiving care on school sites while Martinez's schedule of fees is based on the number of workers who are women with children and the direct cost of providing facilities. Non-residential fees for child care are collected by San Ramon based on gross square footage of the building (GSF) multiplied by projected number of employees (using employee density assumptions - EMP). The resulting number is then multiplied by the projected number of grade school child care arrangements per.employee and the cost of providing school-age child care. The employee density assumptions are: Office 1 employee per 260 sq.ft. _ .0038 Retail - 1 employee per 750 sq.ft. _ .0013 Manufacturing - 1 employee per 590 sq.ft. = .0016 Commercial Service - 1 employee per 490 sq.ft. = .0020 The projected number of school-age child care arrangements per employee was calculated to be .01036 and the cost of providing school-age child care, per child, in the City of San Ramon was calculated to be $2,490 at the time ordinance was drafted. The calculation of the .013036 factor for the projected ratio of school-age child care arrangements needed per employee is demonstrated on the attached sheet showing the Child Care fee structure for San Ramon. It only pertains to care of school-age children and is based on an assumption of 20% of residents desiring child care at the school site. 2 I have some reservations about the methodology for calculating the projected number of school-age child care arrangements per employee in San Ramon. Other child care arrangements besides on school site care may be needed by some families. The factor for % of children needing child care is partially calculated by adding the number enrolled on site to the number on the waiting list and dividing by the school enrollment. This method does not necessarily represent the true demand for child care. The fees collected in San Ramon for a 100,000 square foot building range from $3,354 for retail to $9,802 for office buildings. The non-residential fee formula for Martinez uses the same factors for employees per -square foot as San Ramon but approaches the calculations in a different manner. The Martinez fee is based on the number of employees multiplied by the percent of employees who are working women with children and then is multiplied by the cost per child for building a child care facility (land and building) which was calculated to be $3,164 in Martinez. Thus the fees for Martinez are as follows: Office - $.85/sq.ft. Retail - $.29/sq.ft. Manufacturing - $.36/sq.ft Commercial Services - $.45/sq.ft The Martinez ordinance applies to non-residential projects of more than 2500 square feet. The fee for a 100,000 square foot building would range from $29,000 for retail usage to $85,000 for offices in Martinez. 4. At the April 13th meeting of the Internal Operations Committee, a change in the child care ordinance was discussed which would cover subdivisions of 5-29 units. A fee of $400 was discussed at that time. I am substantiating the cost of providing child care facilities by calculating the amount of land and inside space needed per child. Factors which will be considered are: land value; building costs; classroom and play yard equipment; and landscaping. The City of Martinez calculated the cost of a facility as $3,164 per child under the following assumptions: 110 sq.ft. of land per child; 35 sq.ft of building space per child; land value at $225,000 per acre; building value of $67 per sq.ft; class room furnishings of $5 per sq.ft; landscaping of $3.50 per sq.ft. One problem at the County level is that the land costs may be quite variable depending on the location within the County. Also there is variability in the number of children per unit both by type of housing and area within the County. A County average could be used. 3 I propose calculating the amount of fee per unit based on the number of children age 0- 12 per unit, the proportion needing child care outside the home, and the average cost of providing child care facilities per child. I will report back at the next possible Internal Operations meeting. 5. I am continuing to develop a list of all pending projects and the status of their child care mitigation. I-misc/ml/intWer.mem 4 SAN I.,A M O N CHILD CARE FEE STRUCTURE "For residential development - the anticipated grade school pupil yield rate, per unit, multiplied by the number of units approved in the development, multiplied by the percent of residents anticipated to desire child care, multiplied by the per child cost of providing school-age child care in San Ramon, . . ." (.383) x (units) x (.22) x ($2,490) = Total Fee .383 = current grade school pupil yield rate, per unit units = number of units approved in development .22 = % of residents anticipated to desire child care (see attached table for computation) $2,490 = cost of providing school-age child care, per child in San Ramon 'tTj "For non-residential development - the gross square feet of the project, multiplied by the projected number of employees,multiplied by the projected number of grade school- . age child care arrangements per employee,multiplied by the per child cost of providing school-age child care in San Ramon." (GSF) x (EMP) x (.01036) x ($2,490) = Total Fee GSF = gross square footage of building EMP = projected number of employees, using employee density assumptions* (.01036) = projected number of school-age child care arrangements per employee** $2,490 = cost of providing school-age child care, per child, in San Ramon. * Employee Density Assumptions: Office - 1 employee per 260 sq'= .0038 ' Retail - 1 employee per 750 sq'= .0013 Manufacturing - 1 employee per 590 sq'= .0016 Commercial Service - 1 employee per 490 sq'= .0020 ** (.01036) (.37) x (.14) x (.2) # of employees, probability of % of total child care anticipated to having a school- requests represented live within 10 age child, ABAG by requests for school- miles of workplace. Projections 87. age child care. SCHOOL-AGE CHILD CARE SURVEY Existing Facilities CHILD CARE CHILD CARE TOTAL CHILD CARE NEED SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PLUS 1987 SCHOOL AS ENROLLMENT WAITING LIST ENROLLMENT % OF TOTAL BALDWIN 77 117 572 20.4 ELEMENTARY GREENBROOK 93 133 647 20.5 ELEMENTARY VISTA GRANDE ELEMENTARY 99 139 607 23.0 WALT DISNEY ELEMENTARY 113 153 624 24.5 AVERAGE 95 135 612 22.1 t 3 3 S i Cl .-7 ��94 CqZ/FO�� (D a P. O. BOX 5160 • 2641 CROW CANYON ROAD ou SAN RAMON, CA 94583 BUILDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (510) 820-7626 Fax (510) 820-7296 April 30, 1992 God Costa Count, RECEIVED Claude L. Van Marter Assistant County Administrator l��aY i9�2 Contra Costa County Office of 651 Pine Street, 11th Floor Martinez, CA 94553 Counter Administrator RE: Proposed Changes to Child Care Ordinance Dear /.— I am concerned that the proposal to establish a Child Care mitigation fee for subdivisions of between 5 to 30 units at $400 per unit has no factual basis in either a study or report that meets the requirements of AB 1600 (Government Code 66000 et seq.) A justification document must be prepared and available at least 10 days prior to the Board's consideration of any fee establishment or increase proposal. I look forward to reviewing that document when it is available and working with you on this issue. ,7ds Guy Bjerke Executive Director, Local Governmental Affairs c. Victor J. Westman, County Counsel Linda Moulton, Community Development Department Supervisor Sunne Wright McPeak Supervisor Robert I. Schroder EASTERN WEST BAY SOUTHERN NORTHERN DIVISIONAL OFFICES: (510)820-7626 (415)364-9008 (408)437-1390 (707)584-9133 San Ramon San Jose San Jose Rohnert Park AFFILIATED WITH NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS AND CALIFORNIA BUILDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION