(A) Collection. Development impact fees, together with administrative charges assessed pursuant to division (A)(6) of this section, shall be calculated and collected prior to issuance of permission to commence development; specifically:
(1) Unless otherwise specified pursuant to a development agreement adopted pursuant to § 151.51, development impact fees shall be paid prior to issuance of a building permit according to the current development impact fee schedule for the applicable service area(s), or according to any other development impact fee schedule as authorized in these provisions.
(2) If a building permit is not required for the development, but water or wastewater connections are required, any and all development impact fees due shall be paid at the time the water service connection is purchased. If only a wastewater connection is required, the development impact fees shall be paid prior to approval of a connection to the sewer system. If determined to be in the best interests of the town, in its sole discretion, wastewater development impact fees shall be assessed if a development either: (i) connects to the public sewer; or (ii) as determined by the Town Manager or designee, is capable of discharging sewage to a town public sewer.
(3) If the development is located in a service area with a storm water, drainage, and flood control development impact fee, and a building permit, water, or sewer service connection is required, the storm drainage development impact fee due shall be paid at the time any permit is issued for the development.
(4) No building permit, water or sewer connection, certificate of completion, or certificate of occupancy shall be issued if a development impact fee is not paid as directed in the previous divisions. If a building permit is issued in error, or if construction is commenced without proper authorization, the building permit may be revoked and work on the property ceased until the development impact fee is paid in full.
(5) If the building permit is for a change in the type of building use, an increase in square footage, a change to land use, or an addition to a residential or non-residential point of demand to the water or wastewater system, the development impact fee shall be assessed on the additional service units resulting from the expansion or change, and following the development impact fee schedule applicable to any new use type.
(6) For issued building permits that expire or are voided, development impact fees and administrative charges shall be as follows:
(a) If the original permittee is seeking to renew an expired or voided permit, and the development impact fees paid for such development have not been refunded, then the permittee shall pay the difference between any development impact fees paid at the time the permit was issued and those in the fee schedule at the time the permit is reissued or renewed.
(b) If a new or renewed permit for the same development is being sought by someone other than the original permittee, the new permit applicant shall pay the full development impact fees specified in the fee schedule in effect at the time that the permits are reissued or renewed. If the original permittee has assigned its rights under the permits to the new permit applicant, the new permit applicant shall pay development impact fees as if it were the original permittee.
(B) Exceptions. Development impact fees shall not be owed under either of the following conditions:
(1) Development impact fees have been paid for the development and the building permit(s) that triggered the collection of the development impact fees have not expired or been voided.
(2) The approval(s) that trigger the collection of development impact fees involve modifications to existing residential or non-residential development that do not: (a) add new service units; (b) increase the impact of existing service units on existing or future capital facilities; or (c) change the land-use type of the existing development to a different category of development for which a higher development impact fee would have been due. To the extent that any modification does not meet the requirements of this division, the development impact fee due shall be the difference between the development impact fee that was or would have been due on the existing development and the development impact fee that is due on the development as modified.
(C) Temporary freezing of development impact fee schedules. New developments in the town shall be temporarily exempt from increases in development impact fees that result from the adoption of new or modified development impact fee schedules as follows:
(1) On or after the day that the first building permit is issued for a single-family residential development, the town may, and at the permittee's request shall, provide the permittee with an applicable "grandfathered" development impact fee schedule that shall be in force for a period of 24 months beginning on the day that the first building permit is issued, and which shall expire at the end of the first business day of the 25th month thereafter. During the effective period of the applicable "grandfathered" development impact fee schedule, the developer shall pay the fees on that schedule, and any building permit issued for the same single-family residential development shall not be subject to any new or modified development impact fee schedule.
(2) On or after the day that the final approval, as defined in A.R.S. § 9-463.05(T)(4), is issued for a commercial or multifamily development, the town shall provide an applicable development impact fee schedule that shall be in force for a period of 24 months beginning on the day that final development approval of a site plan is given, and which shall expire at the end of the first business day of the 25th month thereafter. During the effective period of the applicable development impact fee schedule, any building permit issued for the same development shall not be subject to any new or modified development impact fee schedule.
(3) Any category of development not covered under divisions (C)(1) and (2) shall pay development impact fees according to the fee schedule that is current at the time of collection as specified in division (A) of this section.
(4) Notwithstanding the other requirements of this section, if changes are made to a development's final site plan that will increase the number of service units after the issuance of a "grandfathered" development impact fee schedule, the town may assess any new or modified development impact fees against the additional service units.
(5) If the town reduces the amount of an applicable development impact fee during the period that a grandfathered development impact fee schedule is in force, the town shall assess the lower development impact fee.
(D) Option to pursue special fee determination. Where a development is of a type that does not closely fit within a particular category of development appearing on an adopted development impact fee schedule, or where a development has unique characteristics such that the actual burdens and costs associated with providing necessary public services to that development will differ substantially from that associated with other developments in a specified category of development, the town may require the applicant to provide the Town Manager or designee with an alternative development impact fee analysis. Based on a projection of the actual burdens and costs that will be associated with the development, the alternative development impact fee analysis may propose a unique development impact fee for the development based on the application of an appropriate service unit factor, or may propose that the development be covered under the development impact fee schedule governing a different and more analogous category of development. The Town Manager or designee shall review the alternative impact fee analysis and shall make a determination as to the development impact fee to be charged. Such decision shall be appealable pursuant to § 151.52 below. The Town Manager or designee may require the applicant to pay an administrative fee to cover the actual costs of reviewing the special fee determination application.
(Res. R2019-07, passed 5-6-19; Am. Ord. O2019-03, passed 5-20-19)