HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS-2775 - Temporarily Supersede Certain Provisions of Santa Ana Municipal Code and to Permit Developers to Defer Payment of Certain Development Impact FeesORDINANCE NO. NS-2775
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA ANA TO TEMPORARILY SUPERSEDE
CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL
CODE AND TO PERMIT DEVELOPERS TO DEFER
PAYMENT OF CERTAIN DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES,
AND TO PERMIT THE EXTENSION OF INACTIVE
BUILDING PERMITS AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines
and declares as follows:
A. The Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code section 66000, et seq.)
authorizes the City to adopt and regulate monetary exactions for the
purpose of defraying all or a portion of the public facility costs relating to a
development project. The development impact fees are charged as a
condition of approval and are used to alleviate the effects of development on
the community by financing public improvements, services, or programs that
bear a reasonable relationship to the development. Virtually all California
cities, including Santa Ana, require applicants to pay mitigation fees as a
precondition to issuing a building permit. The City may determine when
such fees are to be paid.
B. Due to recent changes in the economic conditions throughout the United
States relating to new residential, commercial and industrial development,
construction of development projects previously approved and fully
entitled by local cities have been put on hold by developers.
C. The City relies on new development to stimulate the local economy and to
provide direct and indirect benefits to its residents and business by
creating construction jobs, new market-rate and affordable housing, and
new tax-base and revenues for the City.
D. This ordinance is intended to alleviate certain barriers to development, in
light of the challenges facing the development industry in a fluctuating
market economy, by allowing eligible project applicants to defer certain
development impact fees.
Section 2. Definitions. The following words and phrases are defined for
purposes of this ordinance as follows:
"Applicant" means the owner or owners of record of the real property for which a
fee deferral is sought pursuant to this ordinance.
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"Code" means the Santa Ana Municipal Code.
"Executive Director" means the Executive Director of the Planning and Building
Agency of the City.
"Eligible Applicant" means an Applicant meeting the Eligibility Criteria for deferral
of impact fees.
"Eligibility Criteria" means an objective standard established by the Executive
Director with concurrence of the City Manager, which may be amended from time to
time as deemed necessary, used to determine appropriateness for incentives under this
Chapter.
"Fee Deferral Agreement" means an agreement, including a deed of trust, by and
between the Applicant and the City in a form acceptable to the City Attorney, which is a
prerequisite requirement for approval for any fee deferral under this ordinance. The Fee
Deferral Agreement shall include provision for the payment of the Ciry's reasonable
costs in preparing
"Nonresidential" means (a) those commercial business activities which are
permitted or allowed in the C1, C2, C3, C3A. C4, or C5, or in commercial CR, SP or SD
zoning districts as set forth in Title 41 of this Code, or (b) those industrial business
activities which are permitted or allowed in the M1 or M2 zoning districts as set forth in
Chapter 41 of this Code.
"Subject Property" means the real property owned by the Applicant subject to the
Fee Deferral Agreement.
"Residential" means those activities which are permitted or allowed in the RE,
R1, R2, R3, R4, PD, or in residential CR, SP or SD zoning districts, as set forth in
section 41-143 of this Code, and includes alive-work community as set forth in section
41-101.5 of the Code.
Section 3. Deferral of Development Impact Fees for Residential and
Nonresidential projects.
A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, some or all of the
development impact fees imposed on new Residential or Nonresidential buildings and
structures located in the City may, upon application by an Eligible Applicant and
approval of the Executive Director, be deferred subject to the provisions set forth below.
Fees eligible to be deferred shall be:
• Parks Acquisition and Development Fee
• Drainage Area Master Plan Fee
• Transportation System Improvement Fee (TSIP)
• Major Thoroughfare and Bridge Fee (to the extent, if any, it is both
collected and retained by the City)
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Fire Facilities Fee
• Sewer Connection Fee
B. Prior to the City's consideration of an application for deferral of impact
fees, the Applicant shall provide to the Executive Director, at the Applicant's sole cost
and expense, a current preliminary title report on the Subject Property.
C. No deferral shall be effective until the Applicant provides security to the
City in the form of a Fee Deferral Agreement as set forth in section 4 of this ordinance,
approved by the City Manager and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
D. The maximum deferral period shall be:
1. Prior to the final inspection or issuance of a temporary certificate of
occupancy or final certificate of occupancy for the new building or structure on the
Subject Property, whichever comes first, or
2. One (1) year from the date of issuance of the building permit for the
Subject Property.
E. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the deferred impact fees not
paid at the time of building permit shall be subject to:
1. Interest on unpaid fees at the annual rate of interest which the City
earns on its investment of pooled funds shall accrue from the date of issuance of the
initial building permit until the deferred impact fees and all accrued interest is paid, and
2. An additional up-front charge shall be added to the unpaid amount
to cover the administrative costs incurred in processing the fee deferral application and
administering the fee deferral program; and
Section 4. Form of Security for Unpaid Development Impact Fees.
A. As a condition of the deferral, the City shall require the property owner, or
lessee if the lessee's interest is of record, to execute prior to and as a condition of
issuance of a building permit, a Fee Deferral Agreement which shall provide that the
deferred development impact fees shall be paid within the time set forth in section 4.D.
of this ordinance, and secured by a obligation that shall inure to the benefit of, and be
enforceable by the City, evidenced by either:
1. a senior, unsubordinated recorded lien on the Subject Property
which shall be enforceable against successors in interest to the property owner or
lessee, releasable when the obligation is paid in full, which shall in the case of a
Residential project include requirement for an escrow instruction providing for payment
out of escrow from sale proceeds of the deferred fees prior to disbursing proceeds to
the seller, or, at the Applicant's option,
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2. an irrevocable letter of credit from the Applicant in a form approved
by the City Attorney, which shall be releasable when the obligation is paid in full.
B. The payment of such development impact fees shall be deemed a debt
due and owing to the City at such time as set forth herein, which debt shall only be
deemed satisfied and discharged upon payment in full to the City. The City may pursue
collection through all available legal and administrative means including, but shall not be
limited to, judicial or non-judicial foreclosure of the recorded lien against the Subject
Property, a demand upon the irrevocable letter of credit, and/or civil judgment against
the Applicant for breach of the Fee Deferral Agreement and/or the security provided
hereunder.
Section 5. Extension of Inactive Plan Check and Building Permits.
A. Notwithstanding Section 3 of Ordinance No. NS-2760, amending
Appendix Chapter 1, section 105.3.2 of the California Building Code, 2007 Edition, the
building official may grant (i) extensions of applications for a permit for a period of up to
one (1) year, and (ii) more than one extension per application, both without
resubmission of plans and payment of new plan review fee.
B. Notwithstanding Section 3 of Ordinance No. NS-2760, adopting Appendix
Chapter 1, section 105.5 of the California Building Code, 2007 Edition, the building
official may grant extensions of inactive building permits for a permit for a period of up to
one (1) year without resubmission of plans and payment of new fees.
Section 6. Applicability.
This ordinance and the incentives derived hereunder shall apply only to new
development projects that have not obtained a building permit from the City at the time
this ordinance is adopted by the City Council. This ordinance shall remain in effect until
October 1, 2009, and as of that date is repealed unless a City Council adopts a further
ordinance or resolution to extend that sunset date for an additional period not to exceed
twelve (12) months.
Section 7. Ordinance to Operate Exclusively.
Except as set forth in this ordinance, all other provisions of the Code shall remain
in full force and effect. Nothing contained in this ordinance is deemed to authorize or
permit the deferral of payment of any fee or charge imposed upon Residential or
Nonresidential development in the City except for those development impact fees
expressly set forth in section 2 above.
Section 8. Severability.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is
for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of
competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of
this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby declares that it would
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have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or
portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections,
sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
ADOPTED this 2"d day of September, 2008.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Joseph W. Fletcher, City Attorney
By:
Be )aq~/ m Kau an
C of ~(ssistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers: Alvarez Benavides Bustamante, Martinez,
Pulido Sarmiento. Tinaiero (7)
NOES: Councilmembers: None (0)
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers: None (O)
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers: None (0)
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, PATRICIA E. HEALY, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify that the
attached Ordinance No. NS-2775 to be the original ordinance adopted by the City
Council of the City of Santa Ana on September 2. 2008, and that said ordinance was
published in accordance with the Charter of the City of Santa Ana.
Date: / ~`~ ~~
/~~r.', '
-9/ - - - ~'/,c i
Patricia E. Healy
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Ordinance No. NS-2775
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