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HomeMy WebLinkAbout22- Administrator's Office CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST r--OR COUNCIL ACTION From: Fred Wilson Subject: Consideration of request for Assistant City Administrator deferment of development impact Dept: Administrator ' s Office fees . Date: January 25, 1996 Synopsis of Previous Council action: 01/16/96 -- Housing Committee requested the City Administrator ' s Office prepare a report relative to the request of Michael John Enterprises, for a deferment of the development impact fees . Recommended motion: That the City Administrator be directed to establish guidelines for the deferment of development impact fees as noted in Attachment "A" ; and that the City Attorney be directed to amend the applicable ordinances and resolutions to authorize this action. �ik Signature Contact person: Fred Wilson Phone: 5122 Supporting data attached: Yes Ward: 5 FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) (Acct. Description) Finance: Council Notes: 2.15 BACKGROUND The Housing Committee at their January 15, 1996 meeting, requested that the City Administrator's Office prepare a report on the issue of deferment of certain development impact fees until final inspection and occupancy. The request for the deferral of fees was made by Michael John Enterprises (MJE) for Tract Map 14400, a 24 lot subdivision in the Verdemont area. The request was made by MJE due to their difficulty of obtaining construction financing for this project. Because of the long term downturn in the local real estate economy, MJE indicated that construction lenders are only providing limited financing for projects of this type. (see attached letter) . This issue was previously reviewed by the Legislative Review Committee in September of 1993 and discussed by the Mayor and Common Council in October 1993 . On October 21, 1993 , the request by MJE Enterprises to defer development impact fees was denied. Since that time, staff has received other requests from developers in the Verdemont area relative to the deferral of infrastructure fees. Discussion The City presently requires the payment of development impact fees at the time building permits are issued for development projects. These impact fees represent a significant portion of the combined cost of fees and permits paid by the developer. According to MJE's figures, the payment of the impact fees listed in Attachment A total approximately $5, 700 per lot. A survey of surrounding cities was made to determine other approaches to the collection of development impact fees. The following summarizes the results of the survey: CITY POLICY SECURITY Rialto At option of developer, payment of Developer signs development impact fees maybe statement acknowledging deferred until prior to the fees to be paid. issuance of the C of O or 18 months from the issuance of building permits, whichever time is shorter. Highland Payment of development impact fees Record lien on each can be delayed until issuance of C parcel . of 0. Yucaipa Payment of development impact fees Record lien on each can be delayed until issuance of C parcel . of 0. an Jacinto Payment of development impact fees "Green Tag" each parcel . conditioned upon close of escrow of each home. f If the Mayor and Common Council support the concept of deferral of development impact fees, a number of issues would need to be addressed including: 1. City Attorney's Office should review each of the fees listed on Attachment A to see if they can legally be deferred beyond the Building Permit issuance. 2 . A legal mechanism must be devised to ensure that certain safeguards are provided at the time of the issuance of the C of O to ensure payment by the developer. A maximum deferment period should be established (possibly 18 months) for the payment of fees. 3 . A processing fee should be established to cover the cost of preparing the necessary documents to defer fees. 4 . Should such a policy be established for a certain period of time only? (i. e until local economic conditions improve) . Although the developer had requested that consideration be given to the deferral of all the fees noted in the attached letter, it is staff's position that, consideration be given only to the deferral of the development impact fees noted in Attachment A. The other fees which are listed are either assessment district established fees or general fund fees. Recommendation Although the establishment of a program to defer certain development impact fees involves addressing a number of issues, it can be implemented. It is recommended that, if the Mayor and Council support the concept of deferral of certain impact fees, that a fee deferral program similar to the approach utilized by the City of Rialto be considered. Attachment A DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES Sewer Line Connection Fee Storm Drain Construction Fee Traffic Systems Fee Verdemont Infrastructure Fee Park Development Fee '0 MJEO Michael John Enterprises 1950 Sawtelle Blvd. Suite 280 • Los Angeles, CA 90025 Tel: 2+9- 479 4933 • FAX: 213 - 312 - 0830 January 17", 1996 Fred Wilson Assistant City Administrator City Administration City of San Bernadino 300 North"D"Street San Bernadino,CA 92418 Re: Deferral of Fees-Tract Map 14400-24 Lots Dear Fred: We would like to thank you and your staff for your effort in preparing a report to the City Council regarding the above referenced topic. Enclosed herewith is our 1996 Critical Path Schedule for Phase 1 (11 Lots) of Tract Map 14400. Please note that the critical date is three weeks prior to the recordation of the construction loan. The construction loan, as stated within the critical path, is scheduled to record in the second to third week of April, 1996. Our lender, however, is likely to require that the deferral of fees be approved prior to their final loan approval and preparation of the loan documents. Final loan approval and document processing is estimated to take approximately three weeks. Thus, if we are to maintain our schedule, it is important that the fee deferral be approved by the second to third week in March, 1996. From a sales and marketing standpoint, it is very important for us to maintain our schedule. As it stands, our model homes would open in August of 1996. Any delays would cause our sales efforts to begin much nearer the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays,which,as you know, is the poorest time of year to begin a marketing program. Listed below are fees that we request to be deferred by the City of San Bernadino,as follows: Description Per House Phase 1 (I1) Phase 2(13) Total 24 Parks&Recreation: $1,431 $15,741 $18,603 $34,344 Sewer Connection: 1,342 14,762 17,446 32,208 Tree Removal Permit: 176 1,936 2,288 4,224 Verdemont Infra Fee: 1,500 16,500 19,500 36,000 Electric Energy Fee: 180 1,980 2,340 4,320 Storm Drain Assess: 1,781 19,591 23,153 42,744 Traffic System: 149 1,639 1,937 3,576 Box Culver Fee: 250 2,750 3,250 6,000 Drainage Fee: 1,533 16,863 19,929 36,792 Palm Ave Assess: 516 5,676 6,708 12,384 Total Fees: $8,858 $97,438 $115,154 $212,592 A Real Estate Development Corporation • General Contractors License Nn_ 55P75P Finally,we would like to reemphasize the importance of the deferral. Five years ago, construction lenders would normally provide construction financing in an amount equal to 80% of the appraised value of the project. City and agency fees would be directly paid from the construction loan. However, due to the long-term downturn in the real estate economy, construction lenders are much more conservative and are currently limiting their loans to 65%to 70%of the appraised value. The problem is further compounded by very conservative fair market appraisals. You can see the problem. We expect that our largest home, as an example, will appraise for$200,000. The difference in Loan to Value Ratios is 10%to 15%. Thus, on this home, we would have to add $20,000 to $30,000 of our own cash to be able to proceed with the project. We, like most builders, do not have additional cash reserves necessary to make up the difference in the LTV Ratios. This is especially true considering the lean years experienced by the home building industry. In conclusion, I would like to suggest that the deferral of fees be conditioned upon our escrow providing you with irrevocable escrow instructions that would instruct escrow to disburse the fees directly to the City upon close of escrow. The City would be protected by withholding the C of O until such time as the escrow instructions for each individual house was received by the City. The City of San Jacinto has implemented a similar program and with positive results. They currently have 6 or 7 projects underway. I would further suggest that you talk to Brian McNabb, Assistant City Manager. His telephone number is (909)654-7337. Bill Bryden has asked to be included in the discussions for we also have a request to the Water District for fee deferrals. The ideal would be to have identical mechanical programs for the City and Water District. I will contact you in several days and would appreciate your comments and advice. Thanks. Yours Sincerely, C en. 6MML Ronald N.Goodwyn,Project Managtrt Spring Mountain Homes,Estate Series I, a California Limited Partnership, Michael John Enterprises,General Partner cc: Bill Bryden Dave Mylnarski r X X X Ail x x x x X x x x x x x x x x x x x x X X x X x X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X x x X X x x x X X x E X X X X X X X X X X x X X X X X X X X X X X X x x x x x x x x x x X X x x X X X X X _ x x m X X cl x X X a 222111 x X X X X X X X X X X x E X X X X X x X X X X X X X X x X X x X x X x X x X X X X X X X X X X x X x X X X x X X X x x x X X T x X x X fl X X X X x x X V RI X X Q ' X X X X C C W J to u7 0 �O `n ai iri c C E — Q = co = ai E S '� m J .gyp. Z W U o U = .3 0 p c a p �, 0 0 ui o p o Q N d= ) 0 m ° CL Np O 0 m c C c `p d U U F' O = cm c co U p ca c ai ri. c a� m as p , ca c 0 cu .. 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