A. The applicant for a development project may protest any fee imposed by this chapter on the project by filing a written protest with the city manager and the city council in accordance with California Government Code sections 66020 and 66021.
B. Concurrently with filing the written protest, the applicant must tender to the city manager the full amount of the fee under protest, together with payment of a non-refundable protest-filing fee in the amount established by resolution of the city council to offset the city's costs of processing the protest and any appeal. The applicant will be liable for the city's actual cost to process the protest, including the cost of any appeal to the city council, to the extent that the actual cost exceeds the filing fee. The city may deduct the excess amount from any refund found due and owing to the applicant or may add it to the amount of the fee found to be due or owing from the applicant, as the case may be.
C. The city manager shall consider the protest at an informal hearing held within 60 days after the filing of the protest notice. The city manager shall issue a written decision on the protest and send a copy of the decision to the applicant by first-class mail, postage prepaid, within 15 days after the later of the following: the date of the informal hearing or the date the city manager sets during the informal hearing for the applicant's submission of any additional evidence the city manager determines to be necessary to the decision. The applicant's failure to timely submit additional information requested by the city manager may result in denial of the protest. The city manager's decision is final and is not appealable, except as provided in subsections F and G.
D. The city manager shall consider the following when determining whether to approve or deny a protest:
1. The matters set forth in California Government Code section 66001, subdivisions (a) and (b).
2. The substance and nature of the evidence presented by the applicant.
3. The facts, findings, and conclusions stated in the applicable finance plan or nexus study, including technical information, studies, audited construction costs, and reports contained within and supporting the plan, together with findings supporting the resolution setting the amount of the fee in question. The applicant must present comparable technical information, studies, and reports to demonstrate that the fee is inappropriate for the development project involved.
E. If the city manager grants the protest and reduces the fee amount owed, and if the zoning for the development project involved is subsequently changed to allow a more-intensive use, then the applicant for the first building permit based on the more-intensive use shall pay, as a condition of approval for that permit, a supplemental fee equal to the difference between the applicable fee previously paid (adjusted by an automatic annual adjustment, if applicable) and the fee that applies when the building permit based on the more-intensive use is issued.
F. The applicant may appeal the city manager's decision to the city council in accordance with chapter 1.24 by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk within 10 days after the date the city manager mails the decision. In deciding the appeal, the city council or the appointed hearing examiner, as the case may be, shall consider the factors set forth in subsection D. The city clerk shall mail the city council's or hearing examiner's decision to the applicant by first-class mail, postage prepaid, within five days after the hearing on the appeal concludes. The decision will be final and not appealable, except as provided in subsection G.
G. The protest procedures in this section are administrative procedures that must be exhausted before the filing of any petition seeking judicial review. Such a petition must be filed under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 on or before the later of the following: the 90th day after the date on which the decision is mailed to the applicant, or the expiration of the 180-day limitation period in California Government Code section 66020, subdivision (d)(2).
H. This section does not apply to the extent a subsequent article in this chapter provides otherwise. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)