(a) The preservation of vegetation communities and natural areas within the City and western Riverside County which support species covered by the MSHCP is necessary to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of all the citizens of the City by reducing the adverse direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of urbanization and development and providing for permanent conservation of habitat for species covered by the MSHCP.
(b) It is necessary to update certain development impact fees to ensure that all new development within the City pays its fair share of the costs of acquiring and preserving vegetation communities and natural areas within the City and the region which are known to support plant and wildlife species covered by the MSHCP.
(c) A proper funding source to pay the costs associated with mitigating the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of development to the natural ecosystems within the City and the region, as identified in the MSHCP, is a development impact fee for residential, commercial, and industrial development. The amount of the fee is determined by the nature and extent of the impacts from the development to the identified natural ecosystems and or the relative cost of mitigating such impacts.
(d) The MSHCP and the 2020 Nexus Study, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's office, provides a basis for the imposition of development impact fees on new construction.
(e) The use of the development impact fees to mitigate the impacts to the City's and the region's natural ecosystems is reasonably related to the type and extent of impacts caused by development within the City.
(f) The costs of funding the proper mitigation of natural ecosystems and biological resources impacted by development within the City and the region are apportioned relative to the type and extent of impacts caused by the development.
(g) The facts and evidence provided to the City establish that there is a reasonable relationship between the need for preserving the natural ecosystems in the City and the region, as defined in the MSHCP, and the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to such natural ecosystems and biological resources created by the types of development on which the fee will be imposed, and that there is a reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the types of development for which the fee is charged. This reasonable relationship is described in more detail in the MSHCP and the 2020 Nexus Study.
(h) The cost estimates for mitigating the impact of development on the City's and the region's natural ecosystem and biological resources, as set forth in the MSHCP, are reasonable and will not exceed the reasonably estimated total of these costs.
(i) The fee set forth herein does not reflect the entire cost of the lands which need to be acquired in order to implement the MSHCP and mitigate the impact caused by new development. Additional revenues will be required from other sources. The City Council finds that the benefit to each development project is greater than the amount of the fee to be paid by the project.
(j) The fees collected pursuant to this Chapter shall be used to finance the acquisition and perpetual conservation of the natural ecosystems and certain improvements necessary to implement the goals and objectives of the MSHCP.
(Ord. 207, passed 6-2-2021)