(a) Conditions of issuance. The County Department of Community Services, or a city so authorized pursuant to Section 3-14.05(d), shall issue a county facilities and services authorization, upon: (1) payment of a fee in the amount set forth in subsection (b)or (h), whichever applies; (2) a determination that the impacting development is exempt from the fee; or (3) agreement to subsequently pay the fee set forth in subsection (b)or (h)and execution of a security contract. Except where a security contract provides otherwise, fees due shall be paid no later than the date of issuance of a building permit to construct the impacting development in question or upon occupancy where no building permit is required.
(b) Fee amounts. Except to the extent reduced by an in-lieu contribution approved pursuant to subsection (d), fees under this section shall be payable in the amounts established by the Board of Supervisors and set forth in the County's Master Fee Resolution. The amount payable shall be reduced by the amount of any fee charged to the developer by any other jurisdiction to provide funding for the same county facilities. The Board of Supervisors may, without a further comprehensive cost and fee study, adjust by resolution the fee amounts once annually based on the percentage increase in the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index or a similar index which measures typical construction costs for facilities generally similar to those to be built by the county. (§ 4, Ord. 1349, eff. May 25, 2006.)
(c) Appeal.
(1) A person or entity who proposes to construct an impacting development and has received a preliminary estimate of the fee due under this chapter, or received certification by a city pursuant to Section 3-14.05(b), may file a written appeal requesting a fee reduction. The appeal shall be filed with the County Department of Community Services within thirty (30) days after filing the building permit application. The fee reduction may be requested on the grounds that: (A) the development has been inappropriately classified in determining the fee amount; or (B) the development's impact on population, employment or use of facilities will, as a result of exceptional circumstances not taken into account in adopting the fee, be less than the impact projected for the use category in which the impacting development falls. The burden of proof in establishing these grounds shall be on the person filing the request.
(2) The appeal shall contain such information as the Department of Community Services may reasonably require.
(3) The appeal shall be presented to and considered by a subcommittee consisting of the Chief Building Official or his designee and two (2) representatives of the Department of Community Services Director. Oral and written evidence may be presented by any party at such hearing. The hearing may be continued from time to time as is deemed necessary. The Subcommittee shall issue a written decision on the appeal no later than fifteen (15) days after the hearing is closed. The Subcommittee decision shall be a final administrative decision, unless appealed to the Board of Supervisors.
(4) The Subcommittee's decision may be appealed to the Board of Supervisors by filing, not later than fifteen (15) days after the Subcommittee issues its written decision, a written appeal with the Clerk of the Board. The Board may decide such appeals based on the material which formed the record before the Subcommittee, or may consider additional evidence presented at a hearing before the Board. The Board shall issue a written decision on the appeal no later than thirty (30) days after it is filed, or not less than thirty (30) days after completion of a hearing, whichever is later. The Board's written decision shall be a final administrative decision for purposes of exhaustion of administrative remedies.
(5) Any appeal to the Board of Supervisors shall be accompanied by a fee in the amount which is necessary to recover the costs of processing the appeal. Such fee shall be established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(d) Demolition or destruction offset. Where a building permit to construct an impacting development is issued within two (2) years after demolition on the same lot, or where new construction replaces a structure on the same lot which was damaged or destroyed by fire, earthquake or other causes similarly beyond the owner's control, the amount of new construction taken into account under this chapter shall be reduced by the number of dwelling units (in the case of construction of a residential project) or square feet (in the case of construction of commercial improvements) which were demolished or destroyed.
(e) In-lieu contribution. The County may authorize, in connection with approval of a subdivision map or any other development approval subject to a required public hearing before any decision-making body of the County, an impacting development within an unincorporated area of the County to substitute completed facilities or another contribution of at least equivalent value to the foregone fee for all or part of the fees required under this chapter. The facilities or other contribution must reduce the need for new County facilities in one or more of the categories. Where the facilities or other contribution exceed in value the fee amount in the category or categories in which a benefit is provided, the County may (but shall not be required to) credit the excess value against fees in other categories and may further provide for a compensating allocation to the other categories of future fee receipts from the category in which a benefit is provided. (§ 1, Ord. 1119, eff. May 30, 1991, as amended by §§ 2-5, Ord. 1150, eff. December 26,1992, §§ 2, 4-6, Ord. 1179, eff. June 17, 1995; and § 4, Ord. 1301, eff. June 19, 2003)
(f) Information required. Where the County is to issue an authorization, the person liable for the fee shall submit to the County Department of Community Services such information as the Department may require to calculate the amount due, or, where a city certifies square footage and use, or number of dwelling units, pursuant to Section 3-14.05(b), the city's certification and any further information necessary to calculate the fee.
(g) Change of use fee. The fee where a change of use of an existing structure has occurred shall be determined by subtracting the fee that would be charged for the previous use under subsection (b), above from the fee that would be charged for the new use under that subsection. If the result is zero or a negative number, no fee shall be charged. No change of use shall be considered to have occurred for a structure to which a Business Park fee was previously applied if the new and old uses are both uses described in Section 3-14.02, "Business park," of this chapter.
(h) Affordable housing fee waiver. Notwithstanding the remaining provisions of this chapter, no County Facilities Fee shall be charged for those residential dwelling units within a residential project which satisfy the following criteria:
(1) The units are affordable to lower income households defined as follows: In the case of rental units the rent shall not exceed thirty (30%) percent of eighty (80%) percent. of area median income. In the case of for sale units, the units will be sold at an affordable price to persons whose total household income does not exceed eighty (80%) percent of area median income;
(2) The continued affordability of the rental units for the longest feasible time, but in no event less than thirty (30) years, shall be assured by some means that is satisfactory to the Director of Community Development. for sale units without resale controls ensuring long term affordability, recapture of the waived fee upon sale of the unit shall be assured by some means satisfactory to the Director; and
(3) Where the units are located in an incorporated area, the City has provided an incentive for the construction of the affordable units by a waiver of City capital facilities fees.
(i) The waiver of County facilities fees provided in subsection (h) above, shall be considered as a concession or incentive described in Section 65915(h) of the Government Code.
(j) Exemption for certain agricultural structures. Agricultural structures as defined by the Uniform Building Code shall be exempt from the fees provided in this chapter.
(§ 1, Ord. 1119, eff. May 30, 199 1, as amended by §§ 1 and 2 of Ord. 1132, eff. December 26, 1991, §§ 7-9, Ord. 1150, eff. December 26, 1992, § 5, Ord. 1164, eff. November 4, 1993,§§ 7-9, 11, Ord. 1179, eff. June 17, 1995, and § 2, Ord. 1533, eff. February 11, 2021)