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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 11 - Consider amending the rate and method of apportionment for Community Facilities District No. 2019-1 (San Luis Ranch) Department Name: Finance Cost Center: 2001 For Agenda of: March 16, 2021 Placement: Consent Estimated Time: N/A FROM: Brigitte Elke, Finance Director Prepared By: Esteban Cano, Financial Analyst – Infrastructure Financing SUBJECT: CONSIDER AMENDING THE RATE AND METHOD OF APPORTIONMENT FOR CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT NO. 2019-1 (SAN LUIS RANCH), AND RELATED MATTERS RECOMMENDATION Adopt a Resolution of consideration to amend the rate and method of apportionment (RMA) for the City of San Luis Obispo Community Facilities District No. 2019-1 (San Luis Ranch) and related matters. DISCUSSION Background On July 18, 2017, the City Council approved the San Luis Ranch Specific Plan. The approved plan allows for a variety of residential and non-residential development on 131 acres located in previously unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, between Madonna Road and U.S. Highway 101, south of Dalidio Drive, and is identified by APN 067- 121- 022. The Development Agreement and an amendment to the Specific Plan was subsequently approved by the City Council on July 17, 2018 and provided the basis for the annexation of the parcel in question and therefore, the future formation of the City of San Luis Obispo Community Facilities District No. 2019-1 (San Luis Ranch) (the “CFD”) pursuant to the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982, as amended (Section 53311 et seq. of the Government Code of the State of California) (the “Act”). On October 18, 2018, the San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission subsequently approved the City’s application to annex the San Luis Ranch site. A Final Tract Map for the first phase of the project was approved by the City Council on November 27, 2018. These actions were necessary to allow for future development to occur on the site, which will be facilitated and financed to a large extent by the formation of the CFD. On February 19, 2019, the City Council, as the legislative body of the CFD, adopted a Resolution of Intention, including the Rate and Method of Apportionment (RMA) that specified the special tax to be levied by and within the CFD. Following public hearings conducted pursuant to the provisions of the Act on April 2, 2019, the City Council adopted resolutions establishing the District and calling special elections to submit the levy of the special taxes and the incurring of bonded indebtedness to the qualified voters of the District. Item 11 Packet Page 75 The Council further approved an amendment of the RMA to include minor clarifications that did not increase the maximum special tax or add territory to the District. Also, on April 2, 2019, at an election held pursuant to the Act, the landowner who comprised the qualified voters of the District (the Master Developer), authorized the District to incur bonded indebtedness in the aggregate principal amount of not to exceed $25,000,000 to be secured by the levy of special tax on taxable property within the CFD. Since for the formation of the CFD in 2019, some permissible changes to the planned development have occurred. As a result, the developers have requested that the RMA be amended to reflect those changes. Specifically, these changes include the sale of all multi -family units within the high-density residential area (at the time, some units were expected to be maintained by the builder as units for rent). In addition, the City Council has authorized the relocation of 22 affordable housing units from the multi-family site to the commercial site as part of a mixed-use project to be development by People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation. Those units were previously excluded from the undeveloped special tax but can now be included. The updated RMA is attached separately as Attachment B. The changes to the RMA include (1) an addition of an undeveloped special tax on the property expected to be developed into for-sale efficiency units, (2) a leveling of the special tax for the multifamily residential units so that it is based on type, not square footage, and (3) a clarification to the treatment of any low -income units added to the CFD after the date of the RMA. Next Steps The Resolution of Consideration to amend the RMA is the first step in the proceedings and ballots will be sent to property owners following the adoption of the resolution. On April 20, 2021, staff will return to the Council to report on the ballot measure. The Council will hold a public hearing to verify no majority protest against the amendment has been received and adopt a Resolution of Change that amends the RMA and the annual special tax assessment that secures the bond issuance for the CFD and other related resolutions pertaining to the amendment of the RMA. Policy Context The approved San Luis Ranch Specific Plan and related entitlements are consistent with the City’s adopted General Plan, and findings to that effect were made in both the original project approved in July 2017 as well as the amended project approval in August 2018. An evaluation of the project’s consistency with General Plan policies is discussed at length in Section 4.9 of the certified Final Environmental Impact Report. The Specific Plan requires that funding mechanisms be included to ensure that public infrastructure is coordinated with future development under the plan. The formation of a CFD was consistent with this requirement. A CFD, as enabled by the Community Facilities District Act of 1982, allows a local jurisdiction to levy a special tax within a specified area to pay for public services and/or infrastructure needed within the area. Over the past three decades, CFDs have become a common mechanism for cities to fund services and finance development-related infrastructure, and the use of a CFD, in this case, is consistent with the City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan and the General Plan. Item 11 Packet Page 76 The General Plan provides specific policies related to the funding of infrastructure noted below: 1.13.6. Required Plans: The City shall not allow the development of any newly annexed private land until the City has adopted a specific or development plan for land uses, open space protection, roads, utilities, the overall pattern of subdivision, and financing of public facilities for the area. 1.13.9. Costs of Growth: The City shall require the costs of public facilities and services needed for new development to be borne by the new development unless the community chooses to help pay the costs for a certain development to obtain community-wide benefits. The City shall consider a range of options for financing measures so that new development pays its fair share of costs of new services and facilities which are required to serve the project, and which are reasonably related to the new growth attributable to the development. The revisions recommended to the RMA are consistent with these General Plan policies. Public Engagement The Planning Commission considered and provided input on the originally approved San Luis Ranch project on nine occasions from 2014 through 2017, before finally recommending approval in June 2017. As noted under “Previous Council or Advisory Body Action,” the appr oved project was considered in a variety of public workshops and hearings before many of the City’s advisory bodies from 2014 through project approval as amended in 2018. On February 19, 2019, the City Council held a public hearing regarding the potential formation of a CFD, after which it adopted a Resolution of Intention to form a CFD. For the proposed amendments to take effect, a public hearing must be held and the qualified electors within the Community Facilities District must approve the proposed amendments by a two-thirds vote. As the Community Facilities District is uninhabited, or inhabited by fewer than 12 registered voters, the qualified electors are, pursuant to the Act, the owners of property within the CFD. CONCURRENCE The Community Development Department concurs with the recommendations contained within this report. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15378. FISCAL IMPACT Budgeted: N/A Budget Year: 2020-21 Funding Identified: N/A Item 11 Packet Page 77 Fiscal Analysis: Funding Sources Current FY Cost Annualized On-going Cost Total Project Cost General Fund N/A State Federal Fees Other: Total N/A N/A N/A There will be no fiscal impact related to the amendment. The RMA was made by a consultant that will get paid from the special tax proceeds for the CFD, as well as the City’s costs involved in establishing and administering the San Luis Ranch CFD. The financial analysis conducted for the formation process has considered and budgeted these costs. ALTERNATIVES 1. Do not adopt the Proposed Resolution. The City Council could choose not to adopt the proposed resolution, in which case the CFD process is not completed. In this case, the project will not move forward without the amendment to the Rate Method of Apportionment to increase the special tax assessment to, among other things, provide for an undeveloped tax on all of the planned multifamily housing within the Community Facilities District. This action would also impair the ability to build the Prado Road Interchange in the near future since that project depends in part on fees generated by the approved project. 2. Direct modifications and continue the Hearing to a Date Certain. The City Council may continue the hearing to a date certain if it feels additional technical information is needed to complete the CFD process. If additional information is needed, the direction should be provided to staff so that it can be presented on that date. Attachments: a - Draft Resolution of Consideration b - COUNCIL READING FILE - Amended RMA Item 11 Packet Page 78 R ______ RESOLUTION NO. _____ (2021 SERIES) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA, OF CONSIDERATION TO AMEND THE RATE AND METHOD OF APPORTIONMENT FOR CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT NO. 2019-1 (SAN LUIS RANCH), AND RELATED MATTERS WHEREAS, the City Council (the “City Council”) of the City of San Luis Obispo (the “City”) conducted proceedings under and pursuant to the terms and provisions of the “Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982,” being Chapter 2.5, Part 1, Division 2, Title 5 (beginning with Section 53311) of the Government Code of the State of California (the “Act”), (i) to form a community facilities district known as “City of San Luis Obispo Community Facilities District No. 2019-1 (San Luis Ranch)” (the “Community Facilities District”), (ii) to authorize a special tax to finance certain public facilities, (iii) to authorize the issuance of debt to finance the facilities, and (iv) to establish the appropriations limit for the Community Facilities District, all as set forth in the City Council’s Resolution No. 10998 (2019 Series) (the “Resolution of Formation”), adopted on April 2, 2019; and WHEREAS, the authorized rate and method of apportionment and manner of collection of the special tax for the Community Facilities District, is set forth in Exhibit B to the Resolution of Formation; and WHEREAS, Presidio MI SLR 198, LLC, Presidio WH SLR 83 SFR, LLC, WH SLR 80, LLC, Presidio MI SLR 96, LLC, and Williams Communities, LLC (together, the “Owners”), the owners of the land subject to the special tax within the Community Facilities District, have requested that the authority to levy the special taxes be amended to, among other things, provide for an undeveloped tax on all of the planned multifamily housing within the Community Facilities District; and WHEREAS, these proposed changes in the authority conferred upon the City Council by the Community Facilities District are referred to herein as the “Proposed Amendments”; and WHEREAS, the City Council previously adopted its Resolution No. 10986 (2019 Series) on February 19, 2019, describing the facilities to be financed through the Community Facilities District, and no change to the facilities is contemplated here; and WHEREAS, there has been no change in the name of the Community Facilities District since its formation, nor is any contemplated here; and WHEREAS, the boundaries of the Community Facilities District are shown on the boundary map approved by Resolution No. 10986 (2019 Series), adopted on February 19, 2019, which map was recorded in the official records of the County of San Luis Obispo on March 5, 2019, in Book 6 of Maps of Assessment and Community Facilities Districts at page 12, and there has been no change in the boundaries of the Community Facilities District since its formation, nor is any contemplated here; and Item 11 Packet Page 79 Resolution No. _____ (2021 Series) Page 2 R ______ WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the public convenience and necessity require the consideration of the Proposed Amendments; and WHEREAS, the City Council is fully advised in this matter. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo as follows: SECTION 1. The City Council hereby specifically finds and declares that the actions authorized hereby constitute and are with respect to public affairs of the City and that the statements, findings, and determinations of the City set forth above are true and correct and that the consideration of the Proposed Amendments to the authority conferred upon the City Council by the Community Facilities District is important to the public welfare of the residents of the City, and involve significant public benefits. SECTION 2. It is proposed to replace the Rate and Method of Apportionment, as set forth in Exhibit B to the Resolution of Formation, with the Amended and Restated Rate and Method of Apportionment, as set forth in Exhibit A hereto. SECTION 3. The City Council hereby sets Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at 6:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the City Council may reach the matter, via teleconference as the time and place for a public hearing to be held by the City Council to consider the Proposed Amendments and all other matters set forth in this resolution. At the public hearing, any persons interested, including all taxpayers, property owners, and registered voters within the Community Facilities District, may appear and be heard, and the testimony of all interested persons or taxpayers for or against the adoption of the Proposed Amendments or on any other matters set forth herein, will be heard and considered. In the event the April 20, 2021 City Council meeting is held via teleconference and/or videoconference only, the means by which the public may observe such public hearing and offer public comment shall be prescribed in the agenda notice for such City Council meeting. SECTION 4. Any protests to the proposals in this resolution may be made orally or in writing by any interested persons or taxpayers, except that any protests pertaining to the regularity or sufficiency of these proceedings must be in writing and must clearly set forth the irregularities and defects to which objection is made. The City Council may waive any irregularities in the form or content of any written protest and at the public hearing may correct minor defects in the proceedings. All written protests not presented in person by the protester at the public hearing must be filed with the City Clerk at or before the time fixed for the pub lic hearing in order to be received and considered. Any written protest may be withdrawn in writing at any time before the conclusion of the public hearing. SECTION 5. Written protests by a majority of the registered voters residing and registered within the Community Facilities District (if at least six such voters so protest), or by the owners of a majority of the land area within the Community Facilities District not exempt from the special tax, will require suspension of these proceedings for at least one year. If such protests are directed only against certain elements of the Proposed Amendments, only those elements need be excluded from the proceedings. Item 11 Packet Page 80 Resolution No. _____ (2021 Series) Page 3 R ______ SECTION 6. The public hearing may be continued from time to time, but shall be completed within 30 days, except that if the City Council finds that the complexity of the Community Facilities District or the need for public participation requires additional time, the public hearing may be continued from time to time for a period not to exceed 6 mont hs. SECTION 7. At the public hearing, the City Council may modify this resolution by eliminating or modifying (by reducing the extent of) any of the Proposed Amendments. SECTION 8. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the City Council may abandon these proceedings or may, after passing upon all protests, determine to proceed with conducting special mailed-ballot elections within the Community Facilities District to determine if the Proposed Amendments should be adopted. If, at the conclusion of the public hearing, the City Council determines to proceed with the elections, it expects that the proposed voting procedure will involve an election by the landowners within the Community Facilities District voting in accordance with the Act, as the City Council is informed that during the 90 days prior to the date set for the hearing, there were no registered voters residing within the Community Facilities District. The City Council will require this information to be confirmed before ordering the election. SECTION 9. The City Clerk shall give notice of the time and place of the public hearing by publishing a Notice of Public Hearing substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B once in a newspaper of general circulation published in the area of the Community Facilities District, pursuant to section 6061 of the California Government Code, and publication must be completed at least seven days prior to the date set for such public hearing. Item 11 Packet Page 81 Resolution No. _____ (2021 Series) Page 4 R ______ SECTION 10. Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. Upon motion of _______________________, seconded by _______________________, and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: The foregoing resolution was adopted this _____ day of _____________________ 2021. ____________________________________ Mayor Heidi Harmon ATTEST: ____________________________________ Teresa Purrington City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: _____________________________________ J. Christine Dietrick City Attorney IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, on ____________________________. ____________________________________ Teresa Purrington City Clerk Item 11 Packet Page 82