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166.35 DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION PARK LAND DEDICATION.
   1.   This Park Land Dedication section is effective for any plat that has not received final approval prior to adoption.
   2.   For purposes of this section the term “development application” means any presentation or filing with the City for residential development purposes of any subdivision of land over which the City has subdivision review and approval authority, or the filing or presentation of any site plan, PUD, PUD specific plan, permitted conditional use plan or development, subdivision master plan or area development plan, over which the City has approval authority or a declaration of horizontal property (condominium) regime pursuant to Code of Iowa Chapter 499B.
   3.   All persons making a development application shall dedicate to the City, within the land covered by the development application, land for park and recreational purposes sufficient to meet the requirements of this section.
   4.   In each tract of land covered by a development application, there shall be reserved and dedicated to public use 10 acres of land for park purposes for each 1,000 people, based upon the projected population of the completed development application as calculated in accordance with this section. Such dedication shall be prorated to the amount indicated by the projected population to the nearest 1,000 square feet of land to be dedicated, but in any event, no dedication of land for park use shall contain a total for park usage of less than 10,000 square feet of land so dedicated. For purposes of this section, property subject to a horizontal property condominium regime under Code of Iowa Chapter 499B shall be treated as single-family detached.
   5.   For purposes of this section, population in the completed area covered by the development application will be determined by multiplying the number of housing units projected in the area covered by the development application for each use category times the anticipated average per unit as given below. The quantity calculated for each residential type shall be added together and the sum shall be the projected population for purposes of the development application. For the purposes of this section, the following population estimates per residential type will be used:
      A.   Single-family detached: 2.90 people.
      B.   Single-family attached: 2.59 people.
      C.   Multi-family unit: 1.82 people.
   6.   The City may require that all land dedicated under this section be configured or located to optimize aggregations of land and thus may require that the dedicated land be adjacent to the land affected by other development applications or to otherwise maximize usefulness of the land in accordance with the City's Comprehensive Plan and Parks and Trails Master Plan.
   7.   This section shall not apply to any development application which does not include residential development, provided, however, to the extent any development application includes residential uses then dedication of park land shall be required to the extent determined in accordance with this section.
   8.   For purposes of this section the water area of ponds, streams, retention basins, detention basins and other bodies of water, or the land area of buffer park easements and site plan open space requirements, shall not be included in determining any area dedicated for park purposes.
   9.   The dedication of land for park purposes shall include dedication of a corridor or point of connection for public pedestrian access, the areas of which shall be included in determining compliance with this section.
   10.   The required land dedication under this section shall be reduced when the person making the development application provides public access by easement to recreational facilities, playgrounds, unobstructed open spaces, ball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, picnic shelters, recreational trails and other similar non-duplicated recreational facilities which have been (or will be) constructed and maintained by the applicant. There shall not be any credit for swimming pools, clubhouses, and other similar facilities. In order to determine the credit the City shall ascertain the fair market value of the land required to be dedicated under this section and from such value subtract the cost of the recreational facilities constructed by the applicant and provided under this section. The person making the development application shall then only be required to dedicate land equal in value to the remainder.
   11.   As an alternative to dedication under this section, any person filing a development application may provide jointly with other persons for the dedication of land in an amount at least equal to the amount required under this section, at a location which is not part of the land for which approval is sought, provided such alternative is within the same neighborhood park area as the land for which a development application has been made, that the alternative jointly provided will provide for a park with a total land area of at least five (5) acres, consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and that such alternative dedication of land is or has actually been dedicated to the City and has been accepted by the City for use in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan and Parks and Trails Master Plan.
   12.   Where application of the formula set forth in subsection 4 of this section results in a dedication requirement of less than 10,000 square feet the person making or filing the development application may elect to dedicate 10,000 square feet of land or fulfill their obligation by participating in an option provided by Subsection 10 of this section, but such alternative participation shall be based upon the actual calculation under Subsection 4 of this section and not upon the equivalent of 10,000 square feet of land.
   13.   Subsections 10 and 11 of this section notwithstanding, any entity required to comply with this section may present an alternate plan which meets the purposes of this section as a means of complying herewith. It will be the burden of the entity presenting such plan to establish that such plan meets the purposes of this section. Any such plan shall be first reviewed by the Planning Commission. Any alternate proposal must directly and proportionately benefit the development. A plan may include a payment in lieu of land dedication equal to the fair market value of the land to be dedicated. Such payment may be used only for park and recreation facility purposes consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
   14.   This section shall not apply to any development application containing three or fewer single-family residential units. A person making or filing a development application shall not divide land into separate plats in order to seek a waiver under this provision. Where a development application is made for multiple contiguous tracts within any two years the City may treat all the development applications as one for purposes of this section.
   15.   No declaration of a condominium regime and under Code of Iowa Chapter 499B, nor any conversion of an apartment to a condominium under Code of Iowa Section 499B.3 shall be completed before the person or entity filing the declaration shall have complied with the land dedication requirements of this chapter.
   16.   If any subsection or provision of this section is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of any other provisions of this section which can be given effect without the invalid portion or portions and to this end each subsection and provision of this section is severable.
   17.   Any person making or filing a development application or any person, entity, or developer affected by any decision made by any department acting under this chapter, may appeal to the City Council by filing notice of appeal with the City Clerk and a filing fee of $100.00 payable to the City of Adel to be credited to the general fund of the City. Such appeal shall be taken within 10 days from the decision of the department acting under this chapter and shall set out in detail the reasons and grounds for the appeal. The City Clerk shall forthwith transmit to the City Council all papers constituting the record upon which the action appeal is taken. An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the appeal.
   18.   The City Council shall upon the filing of an appeal fix a reasonable time for a hearing, giving public notice thereof as well as due notice to the parties in interest. All interested persons may offer oral or written testimony at the public hearing on the appeal. A vote of three members of the City Council may affirm, modify, or reverse any decision of any department acting under this chapter.
   19.   Any person, entity, or developer aggrieved by any appeal decision of the City Council may within 30 days from the date of the City Council rendering a decision, appeal therefrom to the district court of Dallas County, Iowa, in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, Division XIV, entitled Certiorari.