As a condition of approval of a final plat of subdivision, or a final plat of a planned unit development or an application for a special use permit for a mobile home park, each subdivider, developer, or builder will be required to dedicate land within the school district boundaries for school sites, to serve the immediate and future needs of the residents of the development, or make a cash contribution in lieu of actual land dedication, or a combination of both, in accordance with the following criteria and formula:
(A) Criteria for requiring school dedication.
(1) Requirement and population ratio. The ultimate number of students to be generated by a subdivision, planned unit development or mobile home park shall bear directly upon the amount of land required to be dedicated for school sites. The land dedication requirement shall be determined by obtaining the ratio of:
(a) Estimated children to be served in each school classification as determined in accordance with the data for the estimated number of children entering school per type of dwelling unit seen in the latest edition of the Illinois School Consulting Service Reports;
(b) Maximum recommended number of acres of land needed to have sufficient land for school sites to serve the estimated increased number of children in each such school classification. The recommended number of acres of land needed for school sites shall be obtained from the most current Recommendations for Elementary and High School Spaces, published by the State of Illinois, Springfield, Illinois. If cash contribution is required, the following formula shall be used:
Cost of land as determined in accordance with division (B)(2) hereof multiplied by the number of square feet per pupil per school classification as determined in accordance with division (A)(2) hereof equals the cost per child.
(2) School classification and size of school site.
(a) School classifications and size of school sites within the city shall be determined in accordance with the following criteria:
School Classificati on by Grades | Maximum Number of Students for each such School Classification | Minimum Size in Acres for each School Site of such Classification |
Elementary Schools | 600 students | 11 acres |
Junior High Schools | 900 students | 29 acres |
Senior High Schools | 1,500 students | 45 acres |
(b) The comprehensive school plan and/or the standards adopted by the affected school district shall be used as a guideline in locating sites.
(B) Criteria for requiring a contribution in lieu of a school site.
(1) Where the development is small and the resulting school site is too small to be practical or when the available land is inappropriate for a school site, the city with the recommendation of the board of education of the school districts, affected, shall require, at the discretion of the school district, the subdivider, developer or builder, to pay a cash contribution in lieu of land dedication required. The word small in this section is defined as a total number of proposed dwelling units that will produce less than the maximum number of students for one school of each school classification as set forth in division (A)(2).
(2) The determination of whether available land is appropriate for a school site shall be made by the local school board. Notwithstanding the previous provision, a high school district may recommend more than one valuation which shall correspond and be identical to the valuations within the elementary feeder districts the high school district serves. Any builder, subdivider or developer affected may request a hearing before the corporate authorities on the question of whether the proposed land is appropriate as a school site. Any builder, subdivider or developer affected as well as the local school board may present evidence at said hearing and in addition, the corporate authorities, in its discretion, may hear evidence from other interested persons.
The approved fair market value of an improved acre accepted by the city for each school district prior to this amended ordinance shall be in effect as of the date that this chapter becomes effective. For purposes of this chapter, an improved acre shall be defined as an acre of land that is fine graded and made ready for construction with utilities, sewer, water and streets, including enclosed drainage and curb and gutter, brought along the entire street frontage of the land. Said multiple acre parcel to be defined in the same manner as an improved acre is defined above.
For every year thereafter, if a school district wishes to recommend an increased valuation, it must submit an updated appraisal to the corporate authorities. The valuation(s) determined by the corporate authorities shall be used unless the subdivider, developer or builder files a written objection with the corporate authorities prior to final plat approval. At the time of the filing of the written objection, the objector shall also file an appraisal or other evidence relating to the fair market value at the objector's expense. Upon the filing of a written objection, and upon written notice to the objector and the school district, a hearing shall be held before the corporate authorities. At said hearing, the objector and the school district shall be permitted to present valuation evidence to the corporate authorities. After the hearing the corporate authorities shall determine the fair market valuation of an improved acre of property to be used in calculating the cash contribution. If there is any change in the fair market value as determined by the corporate authorities after an appeal, it shall be used solely as to the land which is the subject of the objection.
(C) Criteria for requiring dedication and a fee. There will be situations in a subdivision, planned unit development or mobile home park when a combination of land dedication and a cash contribution is necessary. These occasions will arise when:
(1) Only a portion of the land to be developed is proposed as the location for a school site. That portion of the land within the subdivision, planned unit development or mobile home park falling within the school locations shall be dedicated as a site as aforesaid, and a cash contribution shall be required for any additional land that would have been required to be dedicated.
(2) A major part of the school site has already been acquired and only a small portion of land is needed from the development to complete the site. Dedication of the remaining portions of the school site and a cash contribution shall be required.
(D) Density formula.
The amount of required dedication of land or the cash contributions in lieu thereof shall be calculated based on a prorated basis using the table of population density developed by the Illinois School Consulting Service/Associated Municipal Consultants, Inc. of Naperville, Illinois, dated 1996 or as updated from time to time by the same consulting firm, unless a written objection is filed thereto by the subdivider, developer, builder, or school district with the corporate authorities. Said objection shall be filed by a subdivider, developer, builder or school district prior to final plat approval.
In the event a subdivider, developer, builder, or school district files a written objection to the table of population density, it shall submit its own demographic study showing the estimated additional population to be generated from the subdivision planned unit development. In that event, final determination of the density formula to be used in such calculation shall be made by the corporate authorities after a hearing. At such hearing the builder, subdivider, developer, school district, and other interested persons, in the discretion of the corporate authorities, may present demographic information. If there is any change in the density formula as determined by the corporate authorities after an appeal, it shall be used solely as to the land which is the subject of the objection.
(E) Dedicated sites. In addition to the requirements listed in division (B)(2) of this chapter, all dedicated sites shall be improved in accordance with all other requirements of the City of Lockport Development Code.
(F) Time of conveyance or payment. The subdivider or developer shall convey to the respective school districts the land required under this agreement within thirty days after any subdivision plat or final plat or a planned unit development is recorded in the Recorder's Office of Will County, Illinois, or special use permit is granted by the corporate authorities. All improvements to the site shall be completed within such time as required by the city. A subdivider, developer, or builder shall make any cash contributions required under this chapter upon the issuance of any building permit by the city. Payments shall be made directly to the school district or districts wherein the development, subdivision or building is located and evidence of said payment shall be made at the time of application for the building permit. The amount of each payment of cash shall be determined by the city at the time of the approval of the final subdivision plat, or final plat of a planned unit development.
(G) Expenditure of monies.
(1) The monies collected pursuant to this chapter are intended for school land acquisition costs or school facility costs. School land acquisition costs means a school district's costs of acquisition of school land, by purchase, lease, or other contractual arrangement. School land acquisition costs may include:
(a) The planning, design, and legal costs incurred by a school district in connection with the formulation or adoption of a school land acquisition program; and
(b) The reasonable title and survey expenses, brokerage fees, attorneys' fees, architect fees, engineering fees, and environmental investigation fees, and any other costs incurred by a school district in connection with the acquisition of school lands.
(2) School facility costs means those costs attributable to the projected increase in student population resulting from the development of a proposed subdivision, planned unit development or mobile home park, including the following:
(a) The costs incurred by a school district that are directly associated with the construction of school facilities, including expenditures for equipment.
(b) The costs incurred in the renovation or improvement of school facilities.
(c) The costs incurred by a school district that are directly related to construction of additions.
(d) The costs incurred by a school district that are directly associated with the acquisition of buildings that are to be devoted to use as a school building.
(e) Expenditures made by a school district for installment payments or lease payments on contracts or agreements that have a defined term and that result in the acquisition or leasing of a school building by the school district or in the leasing of temporary classrooms by the school district.
(f) Special assessments payable by a school district for capital improvements such as streets, curbs, and drains.
(g) The architectural, engineering, and legal costs incurred by a school district in constructing school facilities.
(H) Accounting of expenditures. All monies collected pursuant to this chapter shall be maintained in a separate bank account or other fund by the receiving school district.
(I) Failure to convey or contribute. Failure to provide sufficient evidence of the required conveyance or cash contribution to the city shall result in denial of the application for a building permit or, when a building permit has already been issued, revocation of the building permit.
(J) Indemnification. Any public body designated by the city to receive the cash contribution required hereunder or to be the grantee of any conveyance required hereunder shall agree to indemnify and hold the City of Lockport harmless from any cash payments or land conveyances required by any court of competent jurisdiction if any part of this chapter is held invalid.
(Ord. 18-008, passed 2-7-18)