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DIVISION 1.
APPLICABILITY AND INTENT
APPLICABILITY AND INTENT
A. This article is adopted for the purpose of promoting the health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of the city by:
1. Requiring new development to pay its proportionate share of the costs incurred by the city that are associated with providing necessary public services to new development.
2. Setting forth standards and procedures for creating and assessing development impact fees consistent with the requirements of A.R.S. § 9-463.05.
3. Setting forth procedures for administering the development impact fee program, including mandatory offsets, credits, and refunds of development impact fees. All development impact fee assessments, offsets, credits, or refunds shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this article.
B. This article shall not affect the city's zoning authority or its authority to adopt or amend its General Plan, provided that planning and zoning activities by the city may require amendments to development impact fees as provided in section 23A-77.
(Ord. No. 11203, § 1, 10-9-14, eff. 12-23-14)
When used in this article, the terms listed below shall have the following meanings unless the context requires otherwise. Singular terms shall include their plural. The definitions used in this article shall supersede any definition for the same or similar term defined in Chapter 23A, Article IV.
1. Applicant: A person who applies to the city for a building permit.
2. Appurtenance: Any fixed machinery or equipment, structure or other fixture, including integrated hardware, software or other components, associated with a capital facility that are necessary or convenient to the operation, use, or maintenance of a capital facility, but excluding replacement of the same after initial installation.
3. Aquatic center: A facility primarily designed to host non-recreational competitive functions generally occurring within water, including, but not limited to, water polo games, swimming meets, and diving events. The facility may be indoors, outdoors, or any combination thereof, and includes all necessary supporting amenities, including but not limited to, locker rooms, offices, snack bars, bleacher seating, and shade structures.
4. Building permit: Any permit issued by the city that authorizes vertical construction, increases square footage, or authorizes changes to land use.
5. Capital facility: An asset having a useful life of three or more years that is a component of one or more categories of necessary public service provided by the city. A capital facility may include any associated purchase of real property, architectural and engineering services leading to the design and construction of buildings and facilities, improvements to existing facilities, improvements to or expansions of existing facilities, and associated financing and professional services. "Infrastructure" shall have the same meaning as "capital facilities."
6. Category of necessary public service: A category of necessary public services for which the city is authorized to assess development impact fees, as identified in the infrastructure improvements plans.
7. Category of development: A specific land use category against which a development impact fee is calculated and assessed. The city assesses development impact fees against residential, commercial, retail, high traffic retail, industrial, general office, medical facilities, institutional, and recreational land use categories, each of which is defined in this list of definitions.
8. City: The City of Tucson, Arizona.
9. Commercial/Retail: General land use category: Commercial/Retail: General includes general retail as well as shopping center type establishments, which are an integrated group of commercial establishments that is planned, developed, owned, and managed as a unit. General retail/shopping center composition is related to its market area in terms of size, location, and type of store. General retail/ shopping center also provides onsite parking facilities sufficient to serve its own parking demands. This category includes outparcels (peripheral buildings or pads located on the perimeter of the center adjacent to the streets and major access points). These buildings are typically drive-in banks, retail stores, or restaurants. See ITE code 820. Other uses may be assessed as Commercial/Retail: General as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
10. Commercial/Retail: Free Standing Discount Store land use category: A discount store is similar to a free-standing discount superstore. It is also similar to a department store with the exception that it generally offers centralized cashiering and sells products that are advertised at discount prices. Discount stores offer a variety of customer services and typically maintain long store hours seven (7) days a week. The stores included in this land use are often the only ones on the site, but they can also be found in mutual operation with a related or unrelated garden center and/or service station. Free-standing discount stores are also sometimes found as separate parcels within a retail complex, with or without their own dedicated parking (e.g., Costco, Walmart). See ITE Code 815. Other uses may be assessed as Commercial/Retail: Free Standing Discount Store as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
11. Credit: A reduction in an assessed development impact fee resulting from developer contributions to, payments for, construction of, or dedications for capital facilities included in an infrastructure improvements plan pursuant to section 23A-82 (or as otherwise permitted by this article).
13. Credit allocation: A term used to describe when credits are distributed to a particular development or parcel of land after execution of a credit agreement, but are not yet issued.
14. Credit issuance: A term used to describe when the amount of an assessed development impact fee attributable to a particular development or parcel of land is reduced by applying a credit allocation.
15. Developer: An individual, group of individuals, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, municipal corporation, state agency, or other person or entity undertaking land development activity and their respective successors and assigns.
16. Development agreement: An agreement prepared in accordance with the requirements of section 23A-83, A.R.S. § 9-500.05, and any applicable requirements of the City Code.
17. Development impact fee administrator: The person designated by the city manager and authorized to make determinations regarding the application, administration, and enforcement of the responsibilities and duties under this article.
18. Direct benefit: A benefit to a SU resulting from a capital facility that:
(a) addresses the need for a necessary public service created in whole or in part by the SU; and that,
(b) meets either of the following criteria:
(i) the capital facility is located in the immediate area of the SU and is needed in the immediate area of the SU to maintain the level of service; or,
(ii) the capital facility substitutes for, or eliminates the need for a capital facility that would otherwise have been needed in the immediate area of the SU to maintain the city's level of service.
19. Dwelling unit: A house, apartment, mobile home or trailer, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters or, if vacant, intended for occupancy as separate living quarters.
20. Equipment: Machinery, tools, materials, and other supplies, not including vehicles, that a capital facility needs to provide the level of service specified by the infrastructure improvements plan, but excluding replacement of the same after initial development of the capital facility.
21. Excluded park facility: Park and recreational facilities for which development impact fees may not be charged pursuant to A.R.S. § 9-463.05, including amusement parks, aquariums, aquatic centers, auditoriums, arenas, arts and cultural facilities, bandstand and orchestra facilities, bathhouses, boathouses, clubhouses, community centers greater than three thousand (3,000) square feet in floor area, environmental education centers, equestrian facilities, golf course facilities, greenhouses, lakes, museums, theme parks, water reclamation or riparian areas, wetlands, or zoo facilities.
22. Fee report: A written report developed pursuant to section 23A-79 that identifies the methodology for calculating the amount of each development impact fee, explains the relationship between the development impact fee to be assessed and the plan-based cost per SU calculated in the infrastructure improvements plan, and which meets other requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 9-463.05.
23. Final approval: For a nonresidential or multifamily development, the date of the approval of a site plan or, if no site plan is submitted for the development, the date of the approval of a final subdivision plat; for a single family residential development, the date that the first building permit is issued pursuant to an approved site plan or subdivision plat.
24. Financing or debt: Any debt, bond, note, loan, interfund loan, fund transfer, or other debt service obligation used to finance the development or expansion of a capital facility.
25. Fire facility: A category of necessary public services that includes fire stations, fire equipment, fire vehicles and all appurtenances for fire stations. Fire facilities do not include vehicles or equipment used to provide administrative services, or helicopters or airplanes. Fire facilities do not include any facility that is used for training firefighters from more than one station or substation.
26. General office land use category: A general office building houses multiple tenants; it is a location where affairs of businesses, commercial or industrial organizations, or professional persons or firms are conducted. An office building or buildings may contain a mixture of tenants including professional services, insurance companies, investment brokers, and tenant services, such as a bank or savings and loan institution, a restaurant, or cafeteria and service retail facilities. See ITE code 710. Other uses may be assessed as general office as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
27. General plan: The most recently adopted Tucson General Plan.
28. Gross impact fee: The total development impact fee to be assessed against a subject development on a per unit basis, prior to subtraction of any credits.
29. Hotel land use category: A hotel is a place of lodging that provides sleeping accommodations and supporting facilities such as restaurants, cocktail lounges, meeting and banquet rooms or convention facilities, limited recreational facilities (pool, fitness room), and/or other retail and service shops. All suites hotel, business hotel, motel, and resort hotel are related uses. See ITE code 310. Other uses may be assessed as hotel as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
30. Industrial: light industrial land use category: A light industrial facility is a free-standing facility devoted to a single use. The facility has an emphasis on activities other than manufacturing and typically has minimal office space. Typical light industrial activities include printing, material testing, and assembly of data processing equipment. See ITE code 110. Other uses may be assessed as industrial: light industrial as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
31. Industrial: manufacturing land use category: A manufacturing facility is an area where the primary activity is the conversion of raw materials or parts into finished products. Size and type of activity may vary substantially from one facility to another. In addition to the actual production of goods, manufacturing facilities generally also have office, warehouse, research, and associated functions (e.g., Raytheon Company). See ITE code 150. Other uses may be assessed as industrial: manufacturing as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
32. Industrial: warehousing land use category: A warehouse is primarily devoted to the storage of materials, but it may also include office and maintenance areas (ex. Amazon Fulfillment Center). See ITE code 140. Other uses may be assessed as industrial: warehousing as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
33. Infrastructure improvements plan: A document or series of documents that meet the requirements set forth in A.R.S. § 9-463.05, including those adopted pursuant to section 23A-79 to cover any category or combination of categories of necessary public services.
34. Institutional: schools land use category: This land use consists of schools where bus service may be provided to students living beyond a specified distance from the school. Public, charter and private schools are included in this land use. See ITE code 520. Other uses may be assessed as institutional: schools as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
35. Institutional: religious facilities land use category: Proxy land use is a church. A church is a building in which public worship services are held. A church typically houses an assembly hall or sanctuary; it may also house meeting rooms, classrooms, and, occasionally, dining, catering, or party facilities. Synagogue and mosque are related uses. See ITE code 560. Other uses may be assessed as institutional: religious as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
36. Institutional medical (nursing home/ assisted living) land use category: Nursing home is the proxy land use. A nursing home is any facility whose primary function is to provide care for persons who are unable to care for themselves. Skilled nurses and nursing aides are present twenty-four (24) hours a day at these sites. Nursing homes are occupied by residents who do little or no driving; traffic is primarily generated by employees, visitors, and deliveries. Assisted living and continuing care retirement community are related uses. See ITE code 620. Other uses may be assessed as institutional: medical (nursing home/assisted living) as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
37. Institutional: medical (clinic, hospital): A clinic is any facility that provides limited diagnostic and outpatient care but is unable to provide prolonged in-house medical and surgical care. Clinics commonly have lab facilities, supporting pharmacies, and a wide range of services (compared to the medical office, which may only have specialized or individual physicians). Hospital, free-standing emergency room, and medical-dental office building are related uses. See ITE code 630. Other uses may be assessed as institutional: medical (clinic, hospital) as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
37. Interim fee schedule: The Tucson development impact fee schedule as established prior to January 1, 2012, in accordance with then-applicable law and which shall expire not later than August 1, 2014.
38. ITE land use categories: Land use categories found in the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Trip Generation Manual (9th Edition, 2012).
39. Land use assumptions: Projections of changes in land uses, densities, intensities and population for a service area over a period of at least ten (10) years as specified in section 23A-77.
40. Level of service: A quantitative and/or qualitative measure of a necessary public service that is to be provided by the city to development in a particular service area, defined in terms of the relationship between service capacity and service demand, accessibility, response times, comfort or convenience of use, or other similar measures or combinations of measures. Level of service may be measured differently for different categories of necessary public services, as identified in the applicable infrastructure improvements plan.
41. Necessary public services: Has the meaning prescribed in A.R.S. § 9-463.05(T)(7).
42. Offset: An amount which is subtracted from the overall costs of providing necessary public services to account for those capital components of infrastructure or associated debt that have been or will be paid for by a development through taxes, fees (except for development impact fees), and other revenue sources, as determined by the city pursuant to section 23A-78.
43. Parks and recreational facilities: A category of necessary public services including but not limited to parks, swimming pools, and related facilities and equipment located on real property not larger than thirty (30) acres in area and park facilities larger than thirty (30) acres where such facilities provide a direct benefit. Parks and recreational facilities do not include excluded park facilities although parks and recreational facilities may contain, provide access to, or otherwise support an excluded park facility.
44. Plan-based cost per SU: The total future capital costs listed in the infrastructure improvements plan for a category of necessary public services divided by the total new equivalent demand units projected in a particular service area for that category of necessary public services over the same time period.
45. Pledged: Where used with reference to a development impact fee, a development impact fee shall be considered "pledged" where it was identified by the city as a source of payment or repayment for financing or debt that was identified as the source of financing for a necessary public service for which a development impact fee was assessed pursuant to the then applicable provisions of A.R.S. § 9-463.05.
46. Police facilities: A category of necessary public services, including vehicles and equipment, that are used by law enforcement agencies to preserve the public peace, prevent crime, detect and arrest criminal offenders, protect the rights of persons and property, regulate and control motorized and pedestrian traffic, train sworn personnel, and/or provide and maintain police records, vehicles, equipment, and communications systems. Police facilities do not include vehicles and equipment used to provide administrative services, or helicopters or airplanes. Police facilities do not include any facility that is used for training officers from more than one (1) station or substation.
47. Qualified professional: A professional engineer, surveyor, financial analyst, or planner providing services within the scope of that person's license, education, or experience.
48. Residential land use category: Includes all uses which are described as single unit, single-family, mobile home, 2+ unit, duplex, multi-family, as well as other types (boats, RVs, vans, etc., occupied as a housing unit or units that do not fit into the other categories). (Recreational vehicles, boats, vans, railroad cars, and the like are included only if they are occupied as a current place of residence.) Other uses may be assessed as residential as determined by the development impact fee administrator.
49. Service area: Any specified area within the boundaries of the city within which:
(a) the city will provide a category of necessary public services to development at a planned level of service; and
(b) within which:
(i) a substantial nexus exists between the capital facilities to be provided and the development to be served, or
(ii) in the case of a park facility larger than thirty (30) acres, a direct benefit exists between the park facilities and the development to be served, each as prescribed in the infrastructure improvements plan.
Some or all of the capital facilities providing service to a service area may be physically located outside of that service area provided that the required substantial nexus or direct benefit is demonstrated to exist.
50. Service unit (SU): A unit of development within a particular category of development, defined in terms of a standardized measure of the demand that a unit of development in that category of development generates for necessary public services in relation to the demand generated by a detached single-family dwelling unit. For all categories of necessary public services, the SU factor for a detached single-family dwelling unit is one (1), while the SU factor for a unit of development within another category of development is represented as a ratio of the demand for each category of necessary public services typically generated by that unit as compared to the demand for such services typically generated by a detached single-family dwelling unit.
51. Street facilities: A category of necessary public services including arterial or collector streets or roads that have been designated on an officially adopted plan of the city, traffic signals, and rights-of-way and improvements thereon, including but not limited to, sidewalks, bus pullouts, grade separations, intersection reconstruction, lane additions, roadway extensions, bridges, culverts, irrigation, tiling, storm drains, and regional transportation facilities.
52. Subject development: A land area linked by a unified plan of development, which must be contiguous unless the land area is part of a development agreement executed in accordance with section 23A-83.
53. Substantial nexus: A substantial nexus exists where the demand for necessary public services that will be generated by an SU can be reasonably quantified in terms of the burden it will impose on the available capacity of existing capital facilities, the need it will create for new or expanded capital facilities, and/or the benefit to the development from those capital facilities.
54. Swimming pool: A public facility primarily designed and/or utilized for recreational non-competitive functions generally occurring within water, including, but not limited to, swimming classes, open public swimming sessions, and recreational league swimming/diving events. The facility may be indoors, outdoors, or any combination thereof and includes all necessary supporting amenities.
55. Useful life: The period of time in which an asset can reasonably be expected to be used under normal conditions, whether or not the asset will continue to be owned and operated by the city over the entirety of such period.
56. Vehicle: Any device, structure, or conveyance utilized for transportation in the course of providing a particular category of necessary public services at a specified level of service, excluding helicopters and other aircraft.
(Ord. No. 11203, § 1, 10-9-14, eff. 12-23-14; Ord. No. 11759, § 1, 6-9-20, eff. 8-23-20)
A. Except as otherwise provided in this article, this article shall apply to all new development within any service area, except for the development of any public school or city facility.
B. The provisions of this article shall apply to all of the territory within the corporate limits of the city.
C. The development impact fee administrator is authorized to make determinations regarding the application, administration, and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(Ord. No. 11203, § 1, 10-9-14, eff. 12-23-14)
DIVISION 2.
FEE CALCULATION
FEE CALCULATION
A. Fee report and implementation. The city may assess and collect a development impact fee for costs of necessary public services, including all professional services required for the preparation or revision of an infrastructure improvements plan, fee report, development impact fee, and required reports or audits conducted pursuant to this article. Development impact fees shall be subject to the following requirements:
1. The city shall develop and adopt a fee report that analyzes and defines the development impact fees to be charged in each service area for each capital facility category, based on the infrastructure improvements plan and the plan-based cost per SU.
2. Development impact fees shall be assessed against all new commercial, residential, and industrial developments, provided that the city may assess different amounts of development impact fees against specific categories of development based on the actual burdens and costs that are associated with providing necessary public services to that category of development. No development impact fee shall exceed the plan-based cost per SU for any category of development.
3. No development impact fees shall be charged, or credits issued, for any capital facility that does not fall within one of the categories of necessary public services for which development impact fees may be assessed.
4. Costs for necessary public services made necessary by new development shall be based on the same level of service provided to existing development in the same service area. Development impact fees may not be used to provide a higher level of service to existing development or to meet stricter safety, efficiency, environmental, or other regulatory standards to the extent that these are applied to existing capital facilities that are serving existing development.
5. Development impact fees may not be used to pay the city's administrative, maintenance, or other operating costs.
6. Projected interest charges and financing costs can only be included in development impact fees to the extent they represent principal and/or interest on the portion of any financing or debt used to finance the construction or expansion of a capital facility identified in the infrastructure improvements plan.
7. Except for any fees included on interim fee schedules, all development impact fees charged by the city must be included in a "fee schedule" prepared pursuant to this article and included in the fee report.
8. All development impact fees shall meet the requirements of A.R.S. § 9-463.05.
B. Costs per SU. The fee report shall summarize the costs of capital facilities necessary to serve new development on a per SU basis as defined and calculated in the infrastructure improvements plan. The fee report shall also include all required offsets and shall recommend a development impact fee structure for adoption by the city. The actual impact fees to be assessed shall be disclosed and adopted in the form of impact fee schedules.
(Ord. No. 11203, § 1, 10-9-14, eff. 12-23-14)
A. Separate accounts. Development impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be placed in separate, interest-bearing accounts for each capital facility category within each service area.
B. Limitations on use of fees. Development impact fees and any interest on them collected pursuant to this article shall be spent to provide capital facilities associated with the same category of necessary public services in the same service area for which they were collected, including costs of financing or debt used by the city to finance those capital facilities and other costs authorized by this article that are included in the infrastructure improvements plan.
C. Time limit. Development impact fees collected after July 31, 2014 shall be used within ten (10) years of the date upon which they were collected for all categories of necessary public services.
(Ord. No. 11203, § 1, 10-9-14, eff. 12-23-14)
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