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HomeMy WebLinkAboutD-3 Staff Report - Planning Fees DiscussionSCHEDULED ITEM D-3 TO: VIA: FROM: DATE: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL SERGIO GONZALEZ, CITY MANAGER JOSE D. JIMENEZ, DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (“ECD”) FEBRUARY 6, 2023 SUBJECT: DISCUSSION REGARDING PLANNING FEES, INCLUDING POSSIBLE SEGEMENTING OF BUILDING FEES FOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (“ADU”) BACKGROUND: At its Tuesday, January 17, 2023 meeting, the City Council considered and approved a resolution adopting updated fees for the City of Azusa. During the evening’s presentation, a couple questions were raised specific to Planning Fees. The first one was a question regarding the potentially high recommended Conditional Use Permit Fees (“CUP”), while a second question asked about possibly segmenting ADU fees. At the meeting, ECD staff requested an opportunity to return at a later date to share some findings on these items. This evening, staff is prepared to share those findings. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council take the following actions: 1)Receive and File report on Fees ANALYSIS: In preparation for this report, ECD Staff researched numerous communities within a limited radius from the City of Azusa. The chosen communities were derived because of their similarities with the City of Azusa, such as having well-defined urban cores, which include a definable downtown area that is vibrant with development, as well as opportunity. In addition, staff attempted to best identify communities that provide “value-added” amenities, such as in-house utility services. It is APPROVED CITY COUNCIL 2/9/2023 Fee Follow-Up Discussion February 6, 2023 Page 2 of 3 important to note, that this was not intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather a simple compilation of communities for solely this exercise. Conditional Use Permit Fee The City of Azusa collects a fee when receiving a request for a conditional use permit. Typically, a CUP is required when someone is interested in establishing alcohol sales, or a wireless telecommunications facility, among other possible requests. The fee is intended to cover the cost of staff time, including all noticing requirements associated with a request. As recommended during the January 17th council meeting, the CUP fee will be going up to $7,008. By comparison, below are the comparable fees from the Cities that were analyzed as part of this exercise: City CUP Fees Notes Alhambra $1,500 Deposit fee, additional $71 required for each 2,500 square feet of building area. La Verne $2,000 Deposit, may be higher depending on complexity of project. Impact fees assessed for Art and Parking Mitigation. Monrovia $3,360 May be subject to Traffic Impact Fees, $2,353 per net new afternoon peak hour trips. Pasadena $5,875 Specialized CUP up to $7,080. Impact fees (Traffic and Housing.) Rancho Cucamonga $8,518 Can go up to $10,731, if council review is required. Impact fees assessed (Library, Animal, Police, and Park.) Ontario $6,505 Impact fees assessed. As observed, the City of Azusa fees may appear high when compared to some of our neighboring cities. Some of the staff findings show that one other community has a higher CUP fee when compared to Azusa, while others appear to be a bit more favorable. Of those with more favorable pricing, it is worth noting that those fees are treated as initial deposits, for which the final fee may be higher than what is advertised. Other observations note that some of these communities have a series of impact fees, which are not typical to the City of Azusa. Continuing on, the City of Azusa’s Conditional Use Permit fee is an all-encompassing fee that allows the City the ability to process multiple requests under one site with one fixed price. For example, a restaurant wishing to provide for alcohol sales and requesting to be open beyond midnight would be processed under one CUP fee in the City Azusa. By comparison, a similar request in other communities may be subject to additional processing fees in order to cover the cost of analyzing multiple CUP’s that associated with one project. Also worth mentioning, the City of Azusa does have in-house services, such as utilities and police which can be seen as a value-added service, when compared to other communities that are required to work with outside partners, for services such as water and power. Last, a conditional use permit runs with the land. Therefore, if a use ceases to exist, a new incoming use may have the ability to retain the use of that CUP, and thus, will not be required to pay a new fee. Fee Follow-Up Discussion February 6, 2023 Page 3 of 3 Accessory Dwelling Unit Fees Similar to many communities in the region, the City of Azusa is diligently working to address ADU’s. When a new ADU request is received, the City collects two fees, one is a development fee (planning and plan check) that is required at plan submittal, while a second fee is collected to allow for the issuance of a building permit. The latter occurring only when a construction (building) permit is ready to issue. In its research, staff determined that the fees and collection method are consistent with many other communities in the San Gabriel Valley region, and by extension the County. As a potential cost- cutting exercise, ECD staff is closely working with the San Gabriel Valley Council of Government to possibly implement a universal set of ADU construction plans that may be used by members of the community, rather than paying an architect, or draftsperson to prepare plans. It is believed this can result in a significant cost-savings to property owners, while also allowing for an expeditious review by City Staff. More information on this matter will be presented to council as it becomes available. Also, planning staff is currently putting the finishing touches to the latest set of updates to the ADU Ordinance. Of significance, staff is looking to limit the administrative and discretionary review-time of these applications. This should result is less review time, while providing a cost-savings. Last, over the course of this year, ECD staff will be working with members of the City’s Finance Team to carefully determine and stress-test our fees when comparing them to similar communities. The findings of the study will come at a later time. To conclude, staff is diligently working to move closer to a more business-friendly environment that should benefit any budget-conscious individual that is interested in developing in the City of Azusa. As that information starts to take shape, staff will report back with any updates and directives. FISCAL IMPACT: Presenting a discussion regarding CUP and ADU fees will have no direct fiscal impact related to this item. Any future recommendations shall be reviewed based on merits of those potential directives. Prepared by: Reviewed by: Jose D. Jimenez Nico De Anda-Scaia Director of Economic Deputy City Manager and Community Development Fiscal Review by: Reviewed and Approved by: Talika M. Johnson Sergio Gonzalez Director of Administrative Services City Manager