The provisions of this section shall apply to all of the territory within the jurisdiction of the City of Tontitown.
(A) Definitions. When used in this section, the terms listed below shall have the following meanings unless the context requires otherwise. Singular terms shall include their plural.
CITY. The City of Tontitown, Arkansas or its authorized representative.
CITY COUNCIL. The governing body of the incorporated City of Tontitown.
ELIGIBLE IMPROVEMENTS. Improvements that enhance the capacity of the transportation or public safety system, including planning, engineering, acquisition, and construction, and are included in the city's current capital improvements plan, but does not include the operation, maintenance, repair, or replacement of existing improvements, provided that replacement of an existing improvement or facility with a new improvement or facility of greater capacity shall be partially eligible based on the increase in capacity. Turn lanes or other improvements at the entrance to a new development needed to accommodate the development shall be the responsibility of the developer and shall not be eligible for credit against the transportation impact fees.
INDUSTRIAL. A facility primarily intended for the production or assembly of goods, processing of foods, mining of raw materials, or similar activities. Typical uses include factories, welding shops, wholesale bakeries, and water and wastewater treatment plants.
MINI-WAREHOUSE. An enclosed storage facility containing independent, fully enclosed bays that are leased to persons for storage of their household goods or personal property.
MULTI-FAMILY. A building containing two or more dwelling units. It includes duplexes, apartments, residential condominiums, townhouses, and timeshares.
OFFICE. A building exclusively containing establishments providing executive, management, administrative, financial, medical or professional services, and which may include ancillary services for office workers, such as a restaurant, coffee shop, newspaper or candy stand, or childcare facilities. It may be the upper floors of a multi-story office building, excluding ground floor retail uses. Typical uses include offices for medical services, real estate, insurance, property management, investment, employment, travel, advertising, secretarial, data processing, telephone answering, telephone marketing, music, radio and television recording and broadcasting studios; professional or consulting services in the fields of law, architecture, design, engineering, accounting and similar professions; interior decorating consulting services; and business offices of private companies, utility companies, trade associations, unions and nonprofit organizations. This category does not include an administrative office that is ancillary to the primary use of the site.
PUBLIC/INSTITUTIONAL. A governmental, quasi-public or institutional use, or a nonprofit recreational use, not located in a shopping center or separately listed in the impact fee schedule. Typical uses include schools, colleges, day care centers, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, prisons, city halls, courthouses, post offices, jails, libraries, fire stations, museums, military bases, airports, bus stations, parks and playgrounds.
PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEM. The set of eligible police and fire protection facilities, land, and capital equipment owned and operated by the city.
RETAIL/COMMERCIAL. An integrated group of commercial establishments planned, developed, owned or managed as a unit, or a free-standing retail or commercial use. A retail or commercial use shall mean the use of a building or structure primarily for the sale to the public of nonprofessional services, or goods or foods that have not been made, assembled or otherwise changed in ways generally associated with manufacturing or basic food processing in the same building or structure. This category includes but is not limited to all uses located in shopping centers and the following typical types of free- standing uses: amusement park, bank, camera shop, car wash, convenience store, department store, discount store, florist shop, health or fitness club, hobby/toy/game shop, hotel, laundromat, laundry or drycleaning, lawn and garden supply store, motel, movie theater, music store, newsstand, racetrack, recreation facility, restaurant, service station, spa, specialty retail shop, used merchandise store, variety store, or vehicle and equipment rental.
SINGLE FAMILY DETACHED. A building containing only one dwelling unit, including a mobile or manufactured home.
TECHNICAL REPORT. The "City of Tontitown Transportation and Public Safety Impact Fee Study" prepared by Duncan Associates in March 2024, or a subsequent similar study, which serves as the basis for the calculation of the transportation and public safety impact fees and is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference.
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. The set of existing collector and arterial roadways owned and operated by the city, including but not limited to associated right-of-way, drainage structures, traffic signals, turn lanes, sidewalks, and multi-use paths.
WAREHOUSE. An establishment primarily engaged in the display, storage and sale of goods to other firms for resale, as well as activities involving significant movement and storage of products or equipment. Typical uses include wholesale distributors, storage warehouses, moving and storage firms, trucking and shipping operations and major mail processing centers.
(B) Fee assessment and collection.
(1) No building permit shall be issued until the applicable transportation and public safety impact fees have been paid according to the following schedule. These represent 100% of the maximum fees calculated in the technical report. The fees will be adjusted annually to account for cost inflation, as provided in division (B)(2).
Land Use Type | Unit | Transportation | Public Safety | Total |
Land Use Type | Unit | Transportation | Public Safety | Total |
Single family detached | Dwelling | $3,397 | $2,399 | $5,796 |
Multi-family | Dwelling | $2,432 | $1,933 | $4,365 |
Retail/commercial | 1,000 sq. ft. | $4,455 | $3,115 | $7,570 |
Office | 1,000 sq. ft. | $3,677 | $1,772 | $5,449 |
Industrial | 1,000 sq. ft. | $1,331 | $376 | $1,707 |
Warehouse | 1,000 sq. ft. | $674 | $304 | $978 |
Mini-warehouse | 1,000 sq. ft. | $570 | $161 | $731 |
Public/institutional | 1,000 sq. ft. | $1,637 | $841 | $2,478 |
(2) To account for cost inflation, effective July 1 of each year following the year of adoption, the impact fees shall be multiplied by the ratio of the Engineering News-Record's Construction Cost Index for the most recent month for which it is available to the index for the same month from the previous year. If the cited index is no longer available, an equivalent index shall be used. The calculation and assessment of the inflation-adjusted fees shall be done administratively, and shall not require approval by the City Council.
(3) In the event of the replacement of a building or land use with a larger building or more intensive land use, the applicable impact fee shall be the difference between the fees for the existing and replacement building or land use.
(4) In the event that the proposed land use is not clear from the schedule set forth in division (B)(1) above and the associated definitions of the land use categories in division (A), the city shall determine the most appropriate impact fee category.
(5) The amount of the fees due will be net of the value of available credits pursuant to division (E) requested at time of payment.
(6) Publicly-owned improvements shall be exempt from payment of transportation and public safety impact fees.
(C) Accounting and expenditure of funds.
(1) For both transportation and public safety, special interest-bearing impact fee accounts that are distinct from the general fund of the city are created, and the impact fees received shall be deposited in the appropriate account, along with accrued interest. No other revenues or funds shall be deposited in the impact fee account.
(2) The funds in the transportation and public safety impact fee accounts shall be used only for the following purposes:
(a) To acquire or construct eligible improvements;
(b) To pay debt service on the portion of any current or future general obligation bond or loan used to finance eligible improvements and attributable to additional capacity available to serve new transportation or public safety demand.
(c) To pay fees to an independent qualified professional, who is not an employee of the city, for the preparation or updating of the technical report; or
(d) To make refunds pursuant to division (D).
(3) The city shall maintain accurate records of each impact fee paid, including the name of the person paying the fee, the tax parcel number and address for which the fee was paid, the date of payment, and the amount received in payment.
(D) Refunds.
(1) Excess fees paid due to errors by the city, or fees not spent within seven (7) years after the date on which the fee was paid, shall be eligible for refund according to the following provisions. Money in each impact fee account shall be considered to be spent in the order collected on a first-in/first- out basis.
(2) A refund shall be paid to the present owner of the property that was the subject of new development and against which the fee was assessed and collected.
(3) Notice of the right to a refund, including the amount of the refund and the procedure for applying for and receiving the refund, shall be sent or served in writing to the present owners of the property no later than thirty (30) days after the date on which the error was determined by the city to have occurred, or a refund of fees not spent within seven years was determined to be due. The sending by regular mail of the notices to the present owners of record shall be sufficient to satisfy the requirement of notice.
(4) The notified party must apply for the refund not later than thirty (30) days after the date the notice was sent.
(5) The refund shall be paid in full not later than thirty (30) days after the date the application for the refund is received by the city.
(E) Credits.
(1) An applicant may obtain credit for up to 100% of impact fees otherwise due or to become due by offering to dedicate land and/or construct eligible improvements. To receive a credit, applicants must file an impact fee credit application and provide required information and documentation as required by this section or as determined necessary by the city. Any claim to utilize credits must be made no later than the time of payment of the impact fee. Credits shall expire if not used within seven years of the date of creation. Credits shall only be available for use against fees otherwise due for the development project for which the dedication or improvement is made, and shall not be transferrable to another development project, unless otherwise provided in the credit agreement.
(2) An offer to make capital improvements or dedicate land in lieu of paying impact fees shall be made in an application filed with the city identifying the capital improvements and/or land dedications for which credits are requested. The applicant shall specify the dollar amount of the credit requested. The credit claimed by the applicant as the basis for the credit requested shall be no more than fair market value as determined by the city. It is the obligation of the applicant to submit documentation to the satisfaction of the city that supports the amount of the credit requested and indicates the basis on which the amount requested was calculated.
(3) If the city accepts such an offer, the credit shall be determined and provided in the following manner.
(a) The city shall determine credits for the dedication of land on the following values: 115% of the most recent assessed value for purposes of property taxation; or at the option of the applicant, by fair market value determined by the city, based on an appraisal accepted by the city.
(b) The city shall determine credits for the construction of a capital improvement from the engineering criteria and construction cost estimates as provided by the applicant and accepted by the city.
(4) Once the city has made a credit determination, a credit agreement shall be provided to the applicant. The applicant shall sign and date the agreement and return the document to the city, which shall be binding on the applicant as to the terms and conditions of the credit.
(5) Once the amount and terms of the credit are determined, credits for land dedication will be provided following delivery of a fully executed deed or other appropriate conveyance document, and acceptance of the dedication by the City Council. Credits for construction will be made upon completion in compliance with all applicable local state and federal design specifications, laws and regulations and acceptance by the City Council.
(6) Any person who offers land and/or improvements in exchange for credits may withdraw the offer of dedication at any time prior to the transfer of legal title to the land or improvements in question and pay the full impact fees required by this section.
(Ord. 2024-04-1108, passed 4-16-24)