The City Council of the city hereby finds the following to be true and correct:
(A) Effective August 9, 1994, the Cities of Antioch, Brentwood, and Pittsburg, together with the County of Contra Costa, entered into an Agreement pursuant to California Government Code Section 6500 et seq., entitled "East Contra Costa Regional Fee and Financing Authority Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement" (referred to as the "Agreement"), which provided for the creation of a separate Joint Powers Agency ("ECCRFFA" or "Authority"), to assist in the establishment of a Uniform Regional Development Fee Program and the funding and implementation of transportation improvement projects in the East County area. The ECCRFFA area of jurisdiction is defined as "Region" in the Agreement. With the incorporation of the City of Oakley, effective July 1, 1999, the Parties amended the Agreement to add Oakley as an additional member of the ECCRFFA, pursuant to Sections 3C and 16 of the Agreement, effective October 4, 1999. The four cities listed above and the County are the "Member Agencies" of ECCRFFA.
(B) Pursuant to the Agreement, ECCRFFA has established its purposes—namely:
(1) To establish a Uniform Regional Development Fee Program ("Fee Program") within the region, and to coordinate planning and implementation of the Fee Program within a single public agency.
(2) To identify projects to be funded by the fee program solely or in conjunction with other funding sources.
(3) To establish funding goals for identified projects, and to seek commitments from the parties to this agreement regarding funding for the projects.
(4) To establish an implementation schedule for projects.
(5) To establish fee collection, financing, and management mechanisms, and to formalize institutional arrangements for the implementation of the fee program.
(C) Pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act, California Government Code Section 66000, et seq., a local agency is authorized to charge a fee to development applicants in connection with approval of a development project for the purpose of defraying all or a portion of the costs of public facilities related to the development project.
(D) In furtherance of the its purposes and goals, ECCRFFA undertook the conduct of studies and the preparation and approval of reports, commencing with the "Development Program Report for the Eastern Contra Costa Sub Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee", prepared by and for the Contra Costa Public Works Department dated March 8, 1994.
(E) In 2001, ECCRFFA initiated a comprehensive update of the Program to help fund additional regional transportation improvements. That update, which was documented in a report entitled "East Contra Costa Fee Program Update", prepared by ECCRFFA's consultants (Fehr and Peers), dated May, 2001, included a list of capital improvement projects and an updated fee structure for new development. The update was not formally approved by ECCRFFA, but a modified report, the "East County Transportation Improvement Authority Fee Study", addressing similar transportation needs, facilities, costs, and fees, was approved by each of the four members (Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, and the County) pursuant to a new and separate Joint Powers Authority known as the East County Transportation Improvement Authority ("ECTIA"), in January 2002.
(F) From 1994 to date, ECCRFFA and its member agencies have used several different, but synonymous names to refer to the ECCRFFA developer fees for mitigation of transportation congestion and related impacts.
(G) In recognition of continuing growth and development in the areas of each of the member agencies, the ECCRFFA staff and Board of Directors determined that a further updating of all relevant data was appropriate, including the adoption, if necessary, of a revised and increased capital improvement plan and including Regional Transportation-Development Impact Mitigation Fees, hereinafter referred to as "RTDIM Fees", by each of the ECCRFFA Member Agencies.
(H) The initiative to update the fee program was discussed at public meetings of the ECCRFFA Board in the fall of 2003, and ECCRFFA contracted with Fehr & Peers, Transportation Consultants, on November 1, 2003, to prepare a detailed "East Contra Costa Regional Fee Program Update Report" ("Report"). The draft of the report dated June, 2005, has been completed and submitted to the Board of Directors for review and consideration.
(I) In the course of the study process and preparing the report, information and input was obtained from the Transplan technical Advisory Committee, the lead engineers from each Member City and the County of Contra Costa, the Executive Committee comprised of the City Managers of each Member City and the Chief Administrative Office of the County, as well as the County Counsel's office.
(J) In the course of the study, in discussions with the Advisory Committee and staff, and in the preparation of the Report, the contract Consultants referred to and utilized numerous professional and industry related publications, including but not limited to:
(1) Response to Proposed Route 4 Bypass Authority Development Fee Program, Korve Engineering, April 1993.
(2) Brief Guide of Vehicular Traffic Generation rates, San Diego Association of Governments, July 1998.
(3) Route 4 East Corridor Major Investment Study, Contra Costa Transportation Authority, May 1999.
(4) Projections 2000, Association of Bay Area Governments, 2000.
(5) East County Transportation Improvement Authority Fee Study, Final Report Fehr & Peers Associates, January 2002.
(6) SR 4 East Corridor Transit Study, Contra Costa Transportation Authority, December 2002.
(7) Trip Generation, 7th Edition, Institute of Transportation Engineers, 2003.
(8) Traffic Service Objectives Monitoring Report, Contra Costa Transportation Authority, December 2004.
(9) Action Plans for the Routes of Regional Significance, Transportation Planning Committee for East County.
(10) East County Travel Demand Model, a computer program of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority.
(11) These documents have been presented to the city and were available to all interested persons.
(K) In the course of the study and as one basis for the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in the report, the contract consultants reviewed regional land use forecasts provided by the Association of Bay Area Governments ("ABAG"), and the General Plans of each of the ECCRFFA Member Agencies reflecting land use projections, including future population and employment growth.
(L) The report establishes that projected new development in the Cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, and Pittsburg and the unincorporated eastern portion of the County of Contra Costa will further congest the freeways and arterial roadways and place additional demand on the regional transportation system.
(M) Future development in the service area of ECCRFFA will generate the need for the additional regional traffic improvements specified in the report, and that these regional traffic improvements are consistent with the general plans of the member agencies.
(N) Travelers on some of the regional transportation facilities described in Table 3 of the report, currently experience congestion and delays which are expected to increase in severity as the result of projected development. Expansion and construction of related improvements to the identified transportation facilities will increase the flow of traffic, reduce congestion and noise, and improve safety and air quality throughout the regional area. Based upon this data, the City Council finds that there is a reasonable relationship between the need for the expansion and other transportation improvements to the identified transportation facilities projects and to the types of development on which the fee is imposed.
(O) The report finds that a total of 26 regional traffic/transportation projects are necessary to accommodate future growth and its associated traffic demand. The specific transportation improvements to be financed by the fees are described in Table 3 of the Report which is deemed to be the capital improvement plan of ECCRFFA.
(P) The estimated costs of the capital improvements, the continued need for those improvements, and the reasonable relationship between such need and the impacts of the various types of development pending or anticipated and for which the fee is charged, were studied and reviewed as a part of the report project.
(Q) The regional traffic/transportation projects are necessary for the safety and capacity of the transportation system as determined by planned growth forecasted by ABAG for the agencies participating in the agreement relating to the ECCRFFA.
(R) The projects will be funded by RTDIM Fees uniformly assessed over the entire east county region on a per dwelling unit or per square foot of gross floor area basis. The fee-funded portion of the cost of the projects has been distributed between the individual land use categories based on a peak hour trip generation factor, all as specified in the report. The fees are also calculated in the report.
(S) The purpose of this fee program is to generate monies that will fund the projects. The projects will improve safety and provide additional transportation capacity. In this way, the transportation system can keep pace with the planned growth in the areas of each of the member agencies by providing assistance for the transportation needs and improved infrastructure contained in the general plans of the member agencies.
(T) The RTDIM Fees will enable the ECCRFFA to construct and to provide regional traffic improvements and to provide road and transportation facilities to meet the needs of new residents and employees in the communities served by the ECCRFFA.
(U) Adoption of increased RTDIM fees, together with other sources of revenue, will provide for the implementation of a transportation system that provides access to the major developed areas of East County and maintains acceptable travel conditions on the regional roadway and freeway system.
(V) The RTDIM fees will be used to pay for administration of the fee area and for the planning, environmental documentation, design, acquisition of right-of-way, and construction of the projects.
(W) Revenues received from RTDIM fees imposed by the member agencies and transmitted to ECCRFFA at the current rates are not sufficient to meet the funding needs for the regional traffic/transportation projects identified in the project list, Table 3 of the report.
(X) That the cost estimates set forth in Table 3 of the Report are reasonable cost estimates for constructing the projects, and the fees expected to be generated by future developments will not exceed the total costs of constructing the regional traffic improvements. There is a reasonable relationship between the amount of the RTDIM Fees set forth in Exhibit "A" and the cost of the public facility or portion of the public facility attributable to the development on which the fee is imposed.
(Y) The report establishes, by use of a six-step technical analysis, that ECCRFFA-wide uniform RTDIM Fees are justified as being reasonably related to the types of development on which the fees are to be imposed, and that there is a reasonable relationship between the need for the facilities described in Table 3 of the report and the types of development on which the fees are imposed, i.e., single family, multiple family, commercial, office, industrial, and other uses. The method of allocation of the fee schedule in Exhibit "A" to a particular development within a class, bears a fair and reasonable relationship to each development's burden on, and benefit from the regional transportation improvements to be funded by the fees.
(Z) There is a reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the type of development projects on which the fees are imposed, in that the types of development subject to the fees will generate additional traffic which will place additional demand on the regional transportation system. The additional traffic generated by the development projects will result in a need to expand, extend, or improve existing transportation facilities and a need to construct new facilities to mitigate the adverse traffic effects that would otherwise result from such development. Construction of the improvements specified in the report will result in improved traffic flow, reduced congestion and noise, and improved safety and air quality in the study area.
(AA) The fees collected pursuant to the adopted ordinances or resolutions of the member agencies will be used for transportation improvements that will mitigate impacts and reduce traffic congestion and delays, and improve noise, safety and air quality through the regional area, and the City Council finds that there is a reasonable relationship between the use of the RTDIM Fees (transportation improvements) and the type of development projects upon which the fees are imposed.
(BB) The City Council determines that the adoption of the RTDIM Fees resolution is statutorily exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Section 21080(b)(8) of the Public Resources Code and Section 15273(a)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines because the fees collected from this action will be used for transportation infrastructure necessary to maintain an acceptable level of service within existing service areas. Once sufficient funds are collected and prior to approval of the final alignment and configuration of the individual transportation improvement projects, ECCRFFA or the affected member agencies must comply with CEQA.
(Ord. 1054-C-S, passed 8-9-05)