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DIF Study 2005/2006 CITY OF LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEE STUDY FINAL ADOPTED: JUNE 7, 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CITY COUNCIL Don Adolph, Mayor Stanley Sniff, Mayor Pro Tern Lee Osborne, Council Member Ron Perkins, Council Member Terry Henderson, Council Member CITY MANAGER Thomas P. Genovese CITY STAFF Building and Safety Department Thomas Hartung, Building and Safety Director City Attorney's Office M. Katherine Jenson, City Attorney City Manager's Office Mark Weiss, Assistant City Manager Community Development Department Doug Evans, Community Development Director Community Services Department Dodie Horvitz, Community Service Director Finance Department John Falconer, Finance Director Public Works Department Tim Jonasson, P.E., Public Works Director/City Engineer OTHER ASSISTANCE NAI Consulting Nick Nickerson TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary A. Organization of the Report B. Facilities Addressed in this Report C. Development Projection D. Impact Fee Analysis E. Recovery of Study Cost F. Summary ofImpact Fees G. Proj ected Revenue H. Implementation 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 Section 1- Introduction A. Legal background B. Purpose ofthe Fees C. Use ofthe Fees D. Reasonable Relationship Requirement E. Impact Fee Methodology F. Facilities to be Addressed G. Relationship to the General Plan 1-1 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-4 1-6 1-6 Section 2- Land Use and Development Potential A. Background and Setting B. Study Area and Time Frame C. Residential Development and Population D. Non-Residential Development E. Measures of Demand F. Existing and Forecasted Development 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-3 2-3 2-4 Section 3- Transportation Impact Fees A. Service Area and Time Frame B. Demand Variable C. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation D. Impact Fees 3-1 3-1 3-2 3-5 Section 4- Parks and Recreation Impact Fees A. Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees 4-1 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-3 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 5- Civic Center Impact Fees A. Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees 5-1 5-1 5-1 5-2 5-4 Section 6- Library Impact Fees A Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees 6-1 6-1 6-1 6-2 6-3 Section 7 - Community Center Impact Fees A Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees 7-1 7-1 7-1 7-2 7-2 Section 8 - Maintenance Facility Impact Fees A Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees 8-1 8-1 8-1 8-1 8-3 Section 9 - Fire Protection Impact Fees A Service Area and Time Frame B. Level of Service C. Demand Variable D. Facility Needs and Cost Allocation E. Impact Fees F. Projected Revenue 9-1 9-1 9-2 9-3 9-3 9-5 Section 10 - Implementation A. Adoption B. Administration C. Training and Public Information 10-1 10-1 10-6 Appendix 1- Detailed Cost Estimates for Street Improvements Ap.pendix 2- Basis for Number of Trips Generated App.endix 3- County Road Conversion to Urban Arterial Appendix 4- Development Impact Fee Comparison Appendix 5 - Implementing Resolution No. 2005-47 111 City of La Quinta - Development Impact Fee Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is an update of the May 1999 Development Impact Fee report completed for the City by DMG-Maximus, Inc. It is intended to satisfy the requirements of the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code sections 66000 et seq.) which is commonly known as "ABI600" and to support findings necessary to satisfy both statutory and constitutional standards for the establishment and impositions of development impact fees. A. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT Section I of this report provides an overview of impact fees. It sets forth legal requirements for establishing and imposing such fees as well as methods used in this study to calculate the fees. Section 2 contains information on existing and planned uses and development in La Quinta, and organizes that data in a form that can be used in the impact fee analysis. Section 3 through 9 analyze the impacts of development on specific types of facilities. Those sections identify facilities eligible for impact fee funding and calculate recommended impact fees for each type of facility. Section 10 discusses procedures and legal requirements for implementing an impact free program under California law. It addresses adoption, administration, and training. B. FACILITIES ADDRESSED IN THIS REPORT The types of public facilities covered by this report are listed below, along with the report sections in which they are addressed Transportation Improvements Parks and Recreation Facilities Civic Center Libraries Community Centers Maintenance Facilities Fire (Section 3) (Section 4) (Section 5) (Section 6) (Section 7) (Section 8) (Section 9) C. DEVELOPMENT PROJECTIONS Development projections used in this study are intended to represent all additional development expected to occur in La Quinta from July 2004 to build-out of the City under the current General Plan. It is not necessary for purposes of this study to forecast the time at which build-out will occur. Estimated development potential of the study area was evaluated by the La Quinta Community Development Department and is based on the current La Quinta General Plan. Other data on development and demographics were taken from the 2000 Census, Department of Finance Population estimates, and the Residential and Commercial Development Status Reports prepared periodically by the Community Development Department. June 7, 2005 - Final 1 City of La Quinta - Development Impact Fee Study As shown in Section 2 of this report, La Quinta's population and development acreage at build- out are expected to reach twice their current levels. The number of vehicle trips generated in the City is also projected to double. The extent of that growth potential has important implications for the future City facility needs. D. IMPACT FEE ANALYSIS Each type of facility addressed in the report was analyzed individually. In each case, the relationship between development and the need for additional facilities was quantified in a way that allows impact fees to be calculated for various categories of development. For each type of facility, a specific, measurable attribute of development was used to represent the demand for additional capital facilities. Recommended impact fees for all types of facilities are summarized in Table S-I, page 4. The impact fees calculated in this report cover only capital costs. They do not include any ongoing costs for maintenance or operations. The following paragraphs briefly discuss factors considered in the analysis of each type of facility. Transportation Improvements. The recommended impact fees for street system improvements are based on the cost of improvements to major and primary arterial streets, bridges and interchanges, traffic signals, and sound attenuation walls required to serve future development in La Quinta. Those fees assume that developers will continue to be directly responsible for internal streets, and for certain arterial street improvements in cases where a project fronts on an arterial. Specific improvements to be funded by the impact fee are listed in the report. The relationship between development and the need for additional street capacity is defined in the study as a function of additional peak hour trip-miles generated by development (See Section 2 for a discussion on peak hour trip-miles). Park and Recreation Improvements. The recommended impact fee for park and recreation improvements is based on the cost of improvements needed to maintain the existing level of service, defined as the ratio of park acreage to population. The impact fee analysis addresses neighborhood and community parks only. The proposed impact fees do not include the cost of land acquisition, and are intended to be imposed in addition to land dedication or fee-in-lieu requirements under the Quimby Act. Since the need for park acreage is defined in terms of population, the impact fee for park improvements will apply only to residential development. Civic Center. The impact fee analysis for the Civic Center assumes that the existing facility and a planned expansion will be adequate to serve existing and future development in La Quinta. Impact fees were calculated by allocating total costs for the Civic Center facility on the same basis to all existing and future development. That method allows Civic Center costs to be shared proportionately by all users. The relationship between development and the need for additional space in the Civic Center is complex and indirect. For reasons explained in the body of the report, this study uses developed acreage to represent the demand for Civic Center facilities. June 7, 2005 - Final 2 City of La Quinta - Development Impact Fee Study Libraries. The impact fee for libraries was based on the cost of facilities needed to serve new development at a level of service somewhat lower than the standard specified in the La Quinta General Plan. The adopted standard calls for 0.5 square feet of library space and 1.2 volumes per capita. The impact fee analysis is based on 0.22 square feet of library space and 1.2 volumes per capita, and assumes that the City will ultimately construct a 20,000 square foot library to serve both existing and future development. Because of the deficiency in existing facilities relative to the standard used in the study, the City will have to contribute approximately $4.75 million from non-impact fee sources to justify impact fees at the recommended level, even after allowing a credit for the value of the collection in the existing storefront library. Because library facility needs are defined in term of population, impact fees for library facilities would apply only to residential development. Community Center Facilities. Impact fees for Community Center facilities are based on the cost of maintaining the City's current level of service in terms of square feet per capita. The only existing community center facility identified in the study is the multi-purpose room at the Senior Center, Because community center facility needs are defined in terms of population, impact fees for those facilities would apply only to residential development. Maintenance Facilities. Impact fees to fund capital cost for development-related street and park maintenance facilities and equipment are based on the City's current level of investment relative to existing development. Costs for street and park maintenance facilities are allocated separately, in a manner that reflects differences in their relationship to development. Costs for street maintenance facilities are allocated on the same basis as the cost of street improvements, using peak hour trip-miles to represent demand. Costs for park maintenance facilities are allocated on the same basis as the cost of park improvements, using population to represent demand. As a result, impact fees for street maintenance facilities apply to all types of development while impact fees for park maintenance facilities apply only to residential development. Fire Protection Facilities. The impact fees for fire protection facilities were based on the need to repay loans to the DIP for the new fire station and the expansion of one existing fire station to serve future development in La Quinta. Impact fees were calculated by dividing the future fire stations needs by the total acreage capable of for future development. E. RECOVERY OF STUDY COST As with other types of analysis needed to obtain funding for capital facilities, the cost of preparing this study may be recovered through impact fees, The fee summary shown in Table S-1 is based on the fees calculated in Sections 3-9, but the fees have been adjusted to incorporate the cost of a future study. That adjustment assumes it will be necessary to update the study in five years, and that the City will collect an average of $2 million per year in impact fees. Thus, the $53,000 cost of the study is divided by $10 million (the projected five year total of all impact fees to be collected by the City) to determine the percentage increase needed to recover the cost of the study. That percentage is 0.53.%, so the fees have been increased by just over one half percentage points to account for the cost of the study. To make that adjustment, fees calculated in subsequent sections of the report have been multiplied by 1.053 to arrive at the fees shown in table S-I. June 7, 2005 - Final 3 Citv of La Ouinta - DeveloDment ImDact Fee Studv SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION In 1996, the City of La Quinta retained DMG-MAXIMUS, INC (formerly David M. Griffith & Associates, Ltd.) to analyze the fiscal impacts of anticipated development on certain public facilities, and to prepare a schedule of development impact fees based on that analysis. DMG- MAXIMUS, INC. completed a study that was approved by the City Council in May 1999. This document is the second update of that study and is intended to satisfy the legal requirements governing such fees, including but not limited to those portions of the California Government Code known as The Mitigation Fee Act (Section 66000 et seq.) which govern the establishment and imposition of fees levied as a condition of development project approval. Development impact fees are one-time charges imposed on development projects to recover capital costs for public facilities needed to serve those new developments and the additional residents, employees, and visitors they bring to the community. The use of impact fees has become widespread in California in the last decade as a response to local government budget strains brought on by tax limitations, reallocation of revenues, and a loss of federal and state financial assistance. Many communities have increased their reliance on developers for funding of development-related public facilities. California law does not limit the type of capital improvements for which impact fees can be charged. However, with a few minor exceptions, it does prohibit the use of impact fees for ongoing maintenance or operation costs (see Government Code Section 65913.8). Consequently, the fees recommended on this report are based on capital costs only. A. LEGAL BACKGROUND The legal authority to impose fees on development may be specifically granted by statute, or it may be found in general grants of authority to local governments under most state constitutions. California's impact fee statutes do not contain specific enabling language, so cities and counties in this state depend in their police power or home rule powers for the authority to levy such fees. Constitutional Considerations. Like all exactions on development, impact fees are subject to constitutional limitations. Both state and federal courts have recognized the imposition of development impact fees as a legitimate form of land use regulation, provided they meet certain standards. Those standards are intended to insure, among other things, that impact fees do not violate Fifth Amendment limitation on the taking of private property. June 7, 2005- Final 1-1 City of La Guinta - Deve/ooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 2 LAND USE, DEMOGRAPHICS AND DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL Land use, demographics and development potential, both existing and projected, must be analyzed in preparing the City's impact fee program. This section of the report organizes and correlated information on existing land use, population and employment, as well as projected development, to form a basis for the impact fee analysis contain in subsequent sections of this report. The information in this section provides a framework for defining levels of service, for projecting public facilities needs, and for allocating the cost of new capital facilities between existing and future development, and among various types of new development. Information on land use and demographics for this study was prepared by the La Quinta Community Development Department. Sources of data include the 2004 La Quinta General Plan, the 2000 U.s. Census, California Department of Finance population estimates, and the Residential and Commercial Development Status Reports prepared periodically by the Community Development Department. Data on existing land use, and demographics and development used in this report have been updated through July 2004. A. BACKGROUND AND SETTING La Quinta is located in the desert resort area of the Coachella Valley in south-central Riverside County. The City is located along State Route 111, between the City of Indian Wells and City of Indio. In places, La Quinta is contiguous with both of these communities. Existing development in the City is primarily residential, and includes both conventional residential development and gated residential and resort communities, some of which contains one or more golf courses. Although a relatively small portion of the land in La Quinta is designated for commercial use, major regional commercial development is occurring along Highway 111, and more is planned. A significant portion of the City's total land area lies on the steep slopes of the Santa Rosa and Coral Reef mountains, and much of that land is reserved as open space. B. STUDY AREA AND TIME FRAME The analysis in this study addresses all development expected from the present time to build out of the area encompassed by the 2004 La Quinta General Plan. The impact fee analysis in this report does not depend on the rate or timing of development, so development projections in this section do not make assumptions about when build out will occur. C. RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION In this study, residential development is classified in one of three categories: Single Family Detached, Single Family Attached, which include condominiums and townhouses, and Multi- Family/Other which includes apartments and mobile homes. That breakdown is consistent with existing and anticipated patterns of residential development in La Quinta, Dwelling units are used as the basic measure of the amount of residential development in each category. According to the City's Residential Status Report, single family detached units accounted for about 77% of all residential units as of July 2004, with single family attached units making up about 17%. Thus together, the two categories make up approximately 94% of La Quinta's Existing residential units. Forecasts of future residential development indicate the percentage of Single-family detached units at build out will increase to 80%, with single-family attached and multi- family/other unit accounting for 14% and 6% respectively. June 7, 2005 - Final 2-1 City of La Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 3 TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEES This section of the report addresses impact fees for street system improvements needed to handle traffic that will be generated by future development in La Quinta. The capital projects covered by the recommended impact fees involve only the arterial street system, and include street improvements, bridges, traffic signals, sound attenuation walls, and right-of-way purchases. Improvements to collector and local streets are not included in the impact fee analysis. A. SERVICE AREA AND TIME FRAME This study addresses only improvements to the arterial street system, which serves the entire City. Consequently, the City will be treated as a single service area for purposes of calculating traffic impact fees. The time frame covered by this analysis is not defined as a certain number of years, but rather as the span of time required for build out of the undeveloped land designated for development in La Quinta General Plan, as amended. That time frame depends on the rate at which development occurs, and the timing of development fluctuates according to economic conditions and other factors. Since the rate of development does not affect the calculation of impact fees addressed in this section of the report, assumptions about that rate are unnecessary here. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE Level of service on the components of circulation systems is evaluated by transportation planners in terms of traffic flow on streets and operational conditions at intersections. As stated in the Circulation Element of the La Quinta General Plan, level if service is a qualitative measure of traffic flow and driver satisfaction. Level of Service (LOS) is graded on a scale from "A" to "F". LOS A is characterized by free flowing traffic and no delay at intersections. LOS F represents over-saturated conditions resulting in serious congestion and significant intersection delays. Policy 3-2.1.3 of the Circulation Element establishes LOS D as the minimum peak hour standard for streets in La Quinta, and provides that, no development project shall be approved, without adequate mitigation, if it will create conditions that violate the standard. The Circulation System Policy Diagram, which is part of the Circulation Element, identifies the street improvements that will be needed to serve anticipated development at the adopted minimum level of service standard. The Diagram is based on traffic modeling done in conjunction with preparation of the Circulation Element. The capital projects to be funded by traffic impact fees recommended in this section are consistent with the Policy Diagram, and do not include improvements needed to correct existing deficiencies in La Quinta's circulation systems. C. DEMAND VARIABLE The demand variable used to represent the impact of development on La Quinta' s circulation system are peak hour-trip miles. That variable, which is discussed in Section 2 of this report, is the product of the number of peak hour trips per unit of development and average trip length by development type. The use of peak hour-trip miles as a demand variable is intended to reflect the need for additional street system capacity resulting from new development. June 7, 2005- Final 3-1 City ofLa Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 4 PARKS & RECREATION IMPACT FEES This section of the report addressed impact fees for parks required to serve future development in La Quinta. Land (or fees in lieu of land) for future parks, will be acquired by the city from sub dividers under the provisions of the Quimby Act (Government Code 66477). Park impact fees calculated in this section of the report are intended to cover only the cost of the park improvements, and will be levied in addition to any land dedication or fee-in-lieu requirements imposed pursuant to the Quimby Act. A. SERVICE ARE AND TIME FRAME The facilities addressed in this section include both neighborhood and community parks. Functionally, neighborhood parks are intended to serve a specific part of the City while community parks serve the entire City. However, some parks in La Quinta serve both functions. As a result, the impact fees calculated in this section are based on a combined level of service standard for neighborhood and community parks. Those fees will be calculated on a citywide basis, and applied to new development in all parts of the City. No specific time frame is specified in this analysis because the method used to calculate park impact fees does not depend on the timing of development of the total amount of development to be served. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE At present, parks and recreation facilities in La Quinta are provided both by the City, and by the Coachella Valley Recreation and Parks District (CVRPD). Because parks owned by both entities were funded by residents of La Quinta, all existing facilities will be considered in establishing the existing level of service. This study does not distinguish between neighborhood and community parks because only basic park improvements are covered by the impact fees. Table 4-1 lists La Quinta's existing parks. Not included is 845-acre Lake Cahuilla Regional Park, which is located in La Quinta, but owned by Riverside County. The regional park will not be considered in calculation park impact fees. June 7, 2005 - Final 4-1 City ofLa Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 5 CIVIC CENTER IMPACT FEES This section of the report addressed impact fees for the La Quinta Civic Center. The existing Civic Center was completed in 1993. It has adequate space to serve a portion on the City's anticipated growth, but expansion will be required prior to build out. A. SERVICE AREA AND TIME FRAME The Civic Center has a citywide service area, so the impact fees for that facility will be calculated on a citywide basis. The time frame for this analysis is from July 1, 2004 through build-out of all development contemplated in the General Plan. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE For facilities of the type addressed in this section, level of service standards is generally implied rather than explicit. That is, decisions are typically made to build out required facilities without formally adopting a standard. The level of service used in establishing impact fees will be based on specific existing and proposed facilities and will be discussed in more detail later in this section. C. DEMAND VARIABLE In order to calculate impact fees, it is necessary to specify formulas that quantify the relationship between development and the need for facilities. In those formulas, demand variables are used to represent the effect of various types of development on the need for a particular type of facility. Demand variables are measurable attributes of development which drive, or at least correlate with, the need for additional capital improvements. For facilities such as water and sewer systems, service usage can be physically measured and attributed to specific types of development. However, the relationship between development and the need for Civic Center facilities is complex and, in some cases, indirect. It is self-evident that the need for administrative facilities in any city generally increases as the city grows. Nevertheless, the relationship between specific types of development and the need for administrative facilities is difficult to quantify. In La Quinta, the Civic Center houses staff from all City departments. Given the multiplicity of services supported by the Civic Center, and the indirect relationship between development and the demand for some of those services, no single attribute of development neatly represents the effect of development on space needs in that facility. Under the circumstances, it is reasonable to use generalized measure of development to approximate service demand for purposes of calculating impact fees. June 7, 2005 - Final 5-1 City of La Ouinta - Develooment Impact Fee Study SECTION 6 LIBRARY IMPACT FEES This section of the report addresses impact fees for library facilities required to serve future development in La Quinta. Library services in the City are currently provided by the Riverside City-County Library System. Existing libraries serving La Quinta include a leased storefront facility in the City and branch libraries in adjacent communities. The Tri-City County Library System has no plans to construct a library in La Quinta. This study, assumes that the City will construct a library to serve its residents, and that any library constructed in La Quinta will have to be funded by the City. It is not clear at this time whether La Quinta will ultimately choose to operate its own library, or make arrangements with the Riverside City-County Library System to operate a library owned by the City, but that decision does not affect the capital costs or the impact fee calculations. A. SERVICE ARE AND TIME FRAME The facilities addressed in this section have a citywide service area, so impact fees will be calculated for the City as a whole. The time frame for this analysis is from July 2004 through the build out of all development contemplated in the General Plan. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE The public facilities element of the La Quinta General Plan includes the following planning standard for libraries: 0.5 square feet of library space per capita and 1.2 volumes, per capita. However, for purposes of establishing impact fees, the City has chosen to use a lower standard of 0.22 square feet of library space per capita, which equates to a 20,000 square foot library to serve the population projected at build out. That standard will be used to establish an impact fee for library buildings in La Quinta. The adopted standard of 1.2 volumes per capita will be used for library materials. It is important to note that the City's existing level of service is lower than the standard used in this analysis. That existing deficiency will be addressed later in this section. C. DEMAND VARIABLES In order to calculate impact fees, it is necessary to specify formulas that quantify the relationship between development and the need for facilities. In those formulas, demand variables are used to represent the effect of various types of development and the need for a particular type of facility. Population is the universally accepted basis for defining library facility needs, and will be used as the demand variable in allocating the cost of those facilities. June 7, 2005 - Final 6-1 City of La Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 7 COMMUNITY CENTER IMPACT FEES This section of the report addresses impact fees for the community center facilities required to serve future development in La Quinta. The City has one existing community center facility, the multipurpose room at the La Quinta Senior Center. A. SERVICE AREA AND TIME FRAME The facilities addressed in this section have a citywide service area, so impact fees will be calculated for the City as a whole. The time frame for this analysis is from the present through build out of all development contemplated in the General Plan. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE The City has adopted a level of service standard for the community center facilities. In this analysis, the current ratio of community center building area to population will be used as the level of service standard. In other words, the level of service used in computing impact fees for future development will be identical to the current level of service for existing development. The existing ratio of facilities to population is shown in Table 7-1. C. DEMAND VARIABLE Population is used here to define the relationship between development and facility needs, and will be used as the demand variable in calculating impact fees for community center facilities. 2 Based on multi-purpose room of La Quinta Senior Center See Table 2-1 June 7, 2005 - Final 7-1 City of La Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 8 MAINTENANCE FACILITY IMPACT FEES This section of the report addresses impact fees for maintenance facilities required to serve future development in La Quinta. At present, the City's corporation yard is no longer meeting the existing need caused by new development. The City's corporation yard requires expansion to meet the demands of future development. A. SERVICE AREA AND TIME FRAME The facilities addressed in this section have a citywide service area, so La Quinta will be considered a single benefit area in assessing impact fees for those facilities. The time frame for this analysis is from July 2004 through build out of all development contemplated in the General Plan. B. DEMAND VARIABLE For the type of facilities addressed in this section, level of service standards is generally implied rather than explicit. That is, decisions are typically made to build required facilities without formally adopting a standard. The level of service used in establishing impact fees will be based on specific existing and proposed facilities and will be discussed in more detail later in this section. C. DEMAND VARIABLES In calculating impact fees, it is necessary to specify formulas that quantify the relationship between development and the need for facilities. In those formulas, demand variables are used to represent the effect of various types of development on the need for particular type of facility. The City corporation yard includes facilities for parking and maintaining vehicles and equipment employed in street and park maintenance operations. The Public Works Department estimates that the street maintenance accounts for 80% ofthose facility needs. Facility costs related to street maintenance will be allocated using the same variable applied to street improvements, that is, peak hour trip-miles. The remaining 20% of facility costs, which supports park maintenance, will be allocated in the same manner as park facilities costs, using population as the demand variable. D. FACILITY NEEDS AND COST ALLOCATION The existing corporation yard facilities are not adequate to meet the City's current needs. The existing level of service, that is, the relationship between existing development and the City's investment in current facilities are calculated in Table 8-1. June 7, 2005 - Final 8-1 Citv of La Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 9 FIRE PROTECTION FACILITIES IMPACT FEES This section addresses impact fees for fire protection facilities required to serve future development in La Quinta. Fire protection in La Quinta is the responsibility of the Riverside County Fire Department, and is contracted to the California Department of Forestry. Three fire stations exist in La Quinta at present. The newest of these stations was recently constructed with funds that were advanced, or loaned to the DIF, from other funding sources. One of the existing stations needs to be expanded because it is too small to meet future urban fire protection needs. A. SERVICE AND TIME FRAME Although individual fire stations have specific service areas where they are designated to provide first response emergency calls, all fire protection facilities operate as part of an integrated citywide system. The resources of the entire system are needed to provide adequate fire protection in any part of the City. Thus, it makes sense to treat the entire City as a single service area for purposes of calculating fire protection impact fees. That approach is further supported by the fact that calculating separate impact fees for individual fire station service areas may well impose significantly different charges on similar development projects in different parts of the City for essentially the same level of service. This analysis will allocate costs for fire protection facilities citywide, so that the impact fees for a particular type of development project would be the same regardless of its location in the study area. The time frame for this analysis is from July I, 2004 through build out of all development contemplated in the General Plan. B. LEVEL OF SERVICE Level of service for fire protection is typically defined in terms of maximum response times. Response times, in turn, depend largely on the maximum distance that must be traveled in responding to an emergency call, and that distance is determined by the size of the area covered by a particular fire station. For purposes of this analysis, level of service must be translated to facility needs. The number of fire stations needed to serve an area with acceptable response times is typically determined by analysis of specific conditions within the area served. The number of fire stations needed to serve La Quinta at build-out has been determined by the City, and will be used as the basis for the impact fee analysis. June 7, 2005 - Final 9-1 City of La Ouinta - Develooment Imoact Fee Study SECTION 10 IMPLEMENTATION This section of the report contains recommendations for adoption and administration of development impact fee program based on this study, and for the interpretation and application of impact fees recommended herein. A. ADOPTION Adopt a resolution amending Resolution 2002-34 to implement the changes reflected in this update. For reasons discussed below, each impact fee should be adopted as a charge per unit of service, rather that as scheduled of fees per unit of development. Thus, an impact fee for street improvements would be adopted as a charge per peak hour trip-mile, rather than as a flat fee per dwelling unit or other unit of development. Additional discussion of this point is presented under Administration, below. B. ADMINISTRATION Several requirements of the Mitigation Fee Act (Government Code Section 66000 et seq.) address the administration of impact fee programs, including collection and accounting procedures, refunds, updates and reporting. References to code sections in the following paragraphs pertain to the Government Code. Application of Impact Fee Rates. In general, impact fees recommended in this report are calculated initially in terms of a cost per unit of service, and then converted into fees per unit of development. Service units are attributes of development, such as population and trip generation, which are used to represent demand for various types of public facilities. To apply impact fees to a development project, it is necessary to estimate how many units of service are required by that project. For the administrative convenience of the City, and to facilitate cost estimating by builders and developers, it is useful to convert impact fee rates into standardized fees for common units of development, e.g., dwelling units for residential development, or building area for commercial development. All impact fee rates calculated in this study have been converted to standardized fees per unit of development for the land use categories defined in this study. However, as indicated above, it is recommended that the adopted impact fees state the amount of the fees in terms of service units (e.g., dollars per peak hour trip-mile) instead of, or in addition to, adopting a schedule of fees per unit of development (e.g., dollars per Single Family Dwelling Unit). Adopting fees in terms of service units provides a basis for adjusting fees in cases where a development project has demand characteristics that vary significantly from the norms used to characterize the land use categories in this report. June 7, 2005 - Final 10-1 APPENDIX 1 DETAILED COST ESTIMATED FOR STREET IMPROVEMENTS June 7, 2005 -Final Appendix -1 APPENDIX-2 BASIS FOR NUMBER OF TRIPS GENERATED The trip generation rates used in this Study were taken from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Manual "Trip Generation." The sixth edition was used as the primary source and was supplemented by data from the fourth edition. Peak hour trips are identifies in the manual in a number of different modes. One mode is known as the average daily trip (ADT) in which each type of land use generated an average daily amount of trips in a 24-hour period. Another mode is peak hour trips in which analysis has been completed for the morning peak hours (P.M. Peak) hours (A.M. Peak) which are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and the evening peak hours (P.M. Peak) which are 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p. m. A complete analysis indicated that the maximum load of traffic occurs during the P.M. peak hours. For this reason the trip generation rates for the P.M. peak hour were utilized so a nexus could be established based on the time of the highest load on the City's circulation system. In order to provide a more accurate nexus, average trip lengths for each type of land use was utilized in the calculation. The best available information on average trip lengths by land use types is published by the Sand Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) on its publication "Traffic Generators" Although the trip lengths presented in that publication do not apply specifically to La Quinta; it is believed they reasonably represent trip lengths for various types of development. CV AG has completed trip lengths on the regional facilities; however, they indicate the trip lengths on the regional facility equate to an approximate 1: 1 proportionality between residential use and commercial use. Although this may be accurate for the traffic trip lengths on the regional system a City system with its local street network reacts in a different way. The basis of City development usually includes separate core "village" areas with different levels of commercial to support each separate village. The study completed by SANDAG was established by surveying 1,700 commuters to determine their destination and average trip length. This provided a proportional trip length of commercial to residential at approximately one mile for commercial every 1.975 miles for residential (1: 1.975). The CV AG trip length study indicated a one mile commercial to one mile residential ration (1:1) In order to estimate the ratio for trip lengths in the City of La Quinta's City map was prepared with one mile radius permeating out from the intersection of Washington Street and Highway 111 as the origin. The percent of development remaining was identified in each one mile radius circle radiating out from the origin. Trip lengths for each destination were then scaled. These include destinations of leaving town, food shopping, and trips to school, and across town trips. The estimate for the rations in La Quinta was one mile for commercial for every 1.667 miles for residential (1:1.667). These numbers are closer to SANDAG calculations. Therefore, the published SANDAG numbers were utilized for average trip lengths. June 7, 2005 -Final Appendix -2 APPENDIX-3 COUNTY ROAD CONVERSION TO URBAN ARTERIAL Former county-owned roads, that were designed and constructed to a county road standard. are sufficient to continue functioning as designed if the land use served remains unchanged, but the existing roads typically lack key design attributes to accommodate simplistic conversion to an urban arterial street by just adding a new lane to the existing pavement and installing curbs to redirect drainage flow. Specifically, higher intensity land uses increase the number of trucks using the roadway (ie a higher Traffic Index). As a result, urban arterial streets must have a sturdier structural section than the existing structural section encountered on county roads serving low intensity land uses. Often, the structural section can be augmented and bolstered by simply overlaying the existing pavement with additional asphalt paving. The other key design attribute that must be addressed is the flowline gradient in the gutter. County road design procedure disregards the flowline gradient aspect because the county road standard does not include a curb that contains drainage flow in the street to convey it to a relocated discharge point. Instead. the county road standard simply has a centerline profile and a crowned pavement cross section that sheds storm water falling on the pavement to the side of the road. Thus when curbs and gutters are added to make the street function like an urban street, the flowline gradient becomes a critical design aspect that cannot be ignored. La Quinta has 0.5% as its standard minimum allowable flowline gradient in the gutter. The minimum standard applies to former county roads that are converted to urban arterial streets, as well as new onsite local roads, unless waived by the City Engineer in writing with substantive reason. In order to implement the required flowline gradient, the centerline profile must be revised. The latter aspect typically requires the roadway to be reconstructed wherever the existing centerline profile is less than 0.5%. June 7, 2005 - Final Appendix - 3 RESOLUTION NO. 2005-047 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING RESOLUTION NUMBER 2002-34, RELATING TO THE DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES WHEREAS, the City of La Quinta was incorporated in 1982; and WHEREAS, since its incorporation, the City has been and continues to experience significant development activity in the form of applications and proposals for new residential and commercial land development within the City; and WHEREAS, there is a lack of public improvements and facilities, including a deficiency in public safety facilities, and the City is responsible for maintaining an appropriate level of service to the present and future citizens of La Qúinta; and WHEREAS, the City's existing circulation system is inadequate to handle current and future traffic patterns and it is essential to widen City streets which have inadequate width, improve the circulation system to accommodate an anticipated increase in traffic, and improve and develop bridges and traffic signals suitable for traffié flow and to minimize conflicts between vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian movement; and WHEREAS, the continued and cumulative development of the City, with the consequent increase in population and demand for the use of public facilities, will impose increased requirements for such facilities, including but not limited to fire stations, park and recreation facilities, major thoroughfares and bridges and traffic signalization, public safety facilities and other public buildings directly from new development and the need cannot be met and financed from ordinary City revenues; and WHEREAS, the most practicable and equitable method of paying for such needed facilities is to impose a fee upon new development within the City and the payment of such a fee enables the City to fund a construction program to provide such public facilities as they are required and demanded; that when a development pays the . Development Impact Fee established by this policy, the City Council will be able to find that all necessary public facilities and services will be available concurrent with the need and, in the event such finding cannot be made, the City Council will be required to disapprove the development as being inconsistent with the General Plan; and June 7, 2005 - Final Appendix - 5 (J of 6)