(a) No building permit shall be issued for a dwelling unit to any owner, subdivider, or the agent of either, until a fee of eight hundred dollars ($800.00) is paid to the City for each such dwelling unit to be constructed, which fee is to be used for City recreational purposes. Each such fee shall be deposited in a separate City Recreation Capital Improvement Fund and shall be used for recreational capital improvements.
(b) Any owner or subdivider, or the agent of either, of a subdivision, single family detached and cluster development or multifamily complex, may also provide private recreation facilities for a specific development in accordance with the following:
(1) The owner or subdivider, or the agent of either, submits a detailed plan and estimates of cost of construction for a recreational facility to the Planning Commission for its review and approval;
(2) The detailed plan and estimates of cost of construction are approved by the Planning Commission as sufficient to serve the recreational needs of the population intended to reside in the subdivision or multifamily complex;
(3) The estimated cost of construction of the recreational facility shall equal at least eight hundred dollars ($800.00) times the number of dwelling units proposed to be constructed in the subdivision or multifamily complex. Estimated cost of construction shall mean an estimate by an architect or engineer of the price for material to be used and labor to be furnished to construct the facility based upon current prevailing material and labor costs in Northeast Ohio on or about the date of submission of the estimate. Cost shall not include grading, seeding, utilities or landscaping expenses; and
(4) The owner, subdivider or the agent of either, completes the construction of the recreational facility as approved by the Planning Commission prior to the issuance of any building permits for residences within the sub division or multifamily complex, or, at the time of approval by Council for record purposes of the first plat of lands within the subdivision, secures the completion of the entire recreation facility, or secures the completion of construction of the recreational facility as approved by the Planning Commission within a time period fixed by the Planning Commission through a cash deposit or a surety bond issued by a compensated surety or other form of security approved by the Director of Law and Council. It shall be a condition of any such security that it shall remain in full force and effect until the entire recreation facility is complete. In no event shall actual construction costs in excess of the estimated cost of construction or increases in the estimated cost of construction relieve, alter or modify an obligation of an owner, subdivider, the agent of either, his or its successors or assigns, or his or its surety to complete an approved proposed recreational facility for which security has been provided.
(5) Where an owner, subdivider, the agent of either, or his or its successors or assigns propose any alteration or modification to a recreational facility plan previously approved by the Planning Commission, such alteration or modification shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for its review, and its determination that the proposed change(s) will serve the recreational needs of the population intended to reside in the subdivision or multifamily complex and do not constitute a significant reduction in the nature and scope of the recreational facilities previously approved.
(6) The owner or subdivider may propose recreation improvements less than eight hundred dollars ($800.00) times the number of dwelling units proposed; however, in that event the owner or subdivider shall pay into the City recreational capital improvement fund the difference between the estimated cost and the eight hundred dollars ($800.00) per unit requirement.
(c) The Director of Finance is hereby directed to submit reports to Council by the first regular meeting of December of each even numbered year, setting forth:
(1) The amount of funds paid, under the provisions of this section, into the Recreational Capital Improvement Fund for the preceding twenty-four month period; and
(2) The amount and value of any equipment furnished, repaired or replaced, or improvements made, or City land provided or current payments made for land or improvements previously built for any new or existing public recreational facility paid from the General Fund or other fund during the same preceding twenty-four month period. Council shall, from such report, compare the amounts described in paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) hereof, and shall, by the next regular meeting in December, appropriate from the General Fund, if necessary, to the Recreational Capital Improvement Fund, an amount substantially equal to the difference between the amounts described in paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) hereof. If Council finds, from the reports described herein, that the City has contributed or paid, from sources other than the Recreational Capital Improvement Fund for the items set forth in paragraph (c)(2) hereof, an amount greater than the funds received under this section, then Council shall carry over the excess amount for credit for the City contribution in the next twenty-four month period.
(d) The additional fee requirements of this section shall not be applicable to those dwelling units in a subdivision where the recreational facilities have already been approved by the Planning Commission and have been installed or secured by the owner or subdivider to be installed pursuant to Section 1224.06(b)(4) prior to the effective date of this section, which recreational improvement cost included the dwelling unit(s) for which the applicant is seeking a building permit. (Ord. 2002-124. Passed 4-21-03.)