A. A landowner subject to a fee established by this chapter may apply to the director, for a reduction, adjustment, or waiver of any one or more of the fees, or any portion thereof, based upon the absence of a reasonable relationship or nexus between the impacts of the landowner's development project and either the amount of the fee charged or the type of public facilities to be financed, or both. The application shall state in detail the factual basis for the claim of reduction, adjustment, or waiver, and shall include any and all written materials which the landowner deems appropriate in support of the application.
B. The application shall be made in writing and filed with the director at or before the time required for the filing of protests under California Government Code sections 66020 and 66021. For purposes of determining the applicable limitations period set forth in California Government Code section 66020, the date of the imposition of the fees under this chapter shall be the date of the earliest discretionary approval by the city of the subject development project. In the case of a development project where no discretionary approval is granted by the city, the date of the imposition of the fees under this chapter shall be the date of the earliest ministerial approval by the city of the subject development project. The time to file the application shall commence as of the date of city's written notice of the amount of the fees and the length of the protest period. The application shall be accompanied by the payment of a filing fee in an amount established by the city council. The applicant shall be liable for the actual cost of the city in processing and ruling upon the application to the extent such cost exceeds the filing fee. Such excess amount may be deducted from any refund found due and owing to the applicant or may be added to the amount of development impact fees found to be due or owing from the applicant, as the case may be.
C. Notwithstanding the filing of an application and the pendency of any hearing or procedure under this section, the landowner shall pay the development impact fees originally determined by the city in a timely manner pursuant to section 18.48.100. Such payment shall be deemed to be a payment under protest pursuant to California Government Code sections 66020 and 66021.
D. It is the intent of this section that:
1. The director may calculate a revised fee or require additional exactions where the impacts of a particular proposed development exceed the standards otherwise applicable in determining the public facilities necessitated by such development under the financing plan, expenditure plan, or nexus study referenced in section 18.48.040.A; and
2. The fee categories shall be considered individually. Therefore, it may occur that a fee adjustment or waiver may be made to one category of fees without affecting another.
E. The director shall consider the application at an informal hearing held within 60 days after the filing of the fee adjustment application. The decision of the director shall be final and not appealable, except as provided in subsections H and I. The director shall make his or her determination of the fee calculation within 15 days from the date of the informal hearing or the date on which said director sets for the submission of additional engineering or other studies, other information, or additional calculations as found necessary by the director during the course of the informal hearing. The applicant's failure to submit, on a timely basis, additional information requested by the director may result in a denial of the application. The applicant shall be notified of the director's decision, in writing, by the mailing of the decision by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to the address provided by the applicant.
F. The director shall consider the following factors in his or her determination whether or not to approve an application:
1. The factors identified in California Government Code section 66001:
a. The purpose and proposed use of the fee,
b. The type of development involved, including factors such as differences in factors relevant to the calculation of the fee,
c. The relationship between the fee's use and the type of development involved,
d. The need or demand for the public facilities to be funded by the fee and the type of development involved, and
e. The amount of the fee and the portion of it attributable to the development involved;
2. The substance and nature of the evidence presented by the applicant; and
3. The facts, findings, and conclusions stated in the financing plan, expenditure plan, or nexus study as referenced in section 18.48.040.A, including technical information, studies, and reports contained within and supporting said plans and study, together with findings supporting the resolution setting the amount of the fee or fees in question. The applicant must present comparable technical information, studies, and reports to demonstrate that the fee is inappropriate for the particular development involved.
G. If the application is granted, any change in use within the particular development involved in an application shall invalidate the reduction, adjustment, or waiver of the fee if such change in use would render the same inappropriate.
H. Within 10 days of the date of the mailing of the decision of director's decision, an applicant may appeal the director's decision to the city council, by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk. The provisions of chapter 1.24 shall govern the appeal to the city council. In reaching its decision, the city council or the appointed hearing examiner, as the case may be, shall consider the information contained in the application and the factors set forth in the subsection F of this section. The decision on the appeal shall be mailed within five days following the hearing held pursuant to this section by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to the address provided by the applicant. The written decision shall be final and not appealable, except as provided in subsection I of this section.
I. The protest procedures set forth in this section are administrative procedures which must be exhausted prior to the institution of any judicial proceeding concerning the fees protested. Any petition seeking judicial review of a decision by the city council shall be made under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 and shall be filed by or before: (1) 90 days following the date on which such decision is mailed to the applicant; or (2) the expiration of the limitation period set forth in of California Government Code section 66020(d), whichever occurs later. (Ord. 2017-0050 § 1; Ord. 2015-0015 § 14; Ord. 2009-005 § 4)