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Home My WebLink About01/13/1998, 4 - PARK LAND ACQUISITION AND IMPROVEMENT IN ANNEXATION AREAScouncil j acEnaa nopont C I T Y OF S A N L U I S O B I S P O FROM: Bill Statler, Director of Finance 0 SUBJECT: PARK LAND ACQUISITION AND IMPROVEMENT IN ANNEXATION AREAS CAO RECOMMENDATION N6my Dw 1® N..bv Direct staff to continue working on a policy for acquiring and improving park land in annexation areas. DISCUSSION As we began developing a park financing program as part of the Margarita Area Specific Plan, it became apparent that we need a City-wide policy on acquiring and improving park land in annexation areas. There are two key areas that need to be addressed in this policy: ■ Amount of acreage to be dedicated per 1,000 residents. ■ Responsibility for improving the dedicated park land (developer or the City). In accordance with currently adopted General Plan policies, attached is a draft policy that proposes that park land in annexation areas be dedicated at the rate of 10 acres per 1,000 residents, and that the applicant be responsible for improving it. Usually, we would discuss this type of new policy with affected "stakeholders" before presenting it to the Council for your consideration. However, because this is a new initiative that has not previously been considered by the Council, we believe it is appropriate to receive Council concurrence before proceeding further with this issue. In summary, we are not seeking Council approval of this proposed policy at this time; however, we are requesting Council direction as to whether you are interested in further reviewing this issue. If the Council provides us with this direction, we will begin working with Council advisory bodies, property owners, and interested community groups and individuals, and return to the Council in the Spring of 1998 with a final recommendation on this matter. CONCURRENCES This Development Overview Committee, composed of representatives from Community Development, Parks & Recreation, Public Works, Utilities, Fire, Finance, City Attorney, and Administration, concurs with this recommendation ATTACHMENT Draft policy on park land acquisition and improvement in annexation areas. H: Margarita Area Specific Plan/Parkland Acquisition Council Agenda Report / /r / r ��►iu��illlll�ll l Ipi�i�p city of san tuts osispo Park Land Acquisition and Improvement in Annexation Areas POLICY The City will use the following guidelines in acquiring and improving park land in conjunction with annexations that will result in new residential construction: ■ Park land acquisition and improvement goal. The City will achieve a ratio of 10 acres of park per 1,000 residents projected to reside in the annexation area in accordance with General Plan standards. This includes land and improvements. ■ Property owner dedication and developer improvement requirement. Through an annexation agreement, the City will generally require the dedication and full improvement of required park land by the property owner and/or developer (applicant) as a condition of the annexation. This means that the City will typically not take the lead role in acquiring and improving parks in annexation areas; this is the applicant's responsibility similar to the construction of other on -site, project - related infrastructure improvements such as streets, sidewalks, storm drainage collection, water distribution lines and sewer collection lines. ■ Acquisition and improvement phasing. The phasing of when dedication and improvements are required by the applicant will be set forth in the annexation agreement, specific plan or development plan. Generally, land dedication and improvements should be phased as follows: • Land should be dedicated upon annexation. • Grading and off -site improvements should be completed before a building permit is issued for the first unit. • Phase 1 improvements (as defined in the annexation agreement, specific plan or development plan) should be completed before the first certificate of occupancy is issued; other improvement phases and standards may be established in the annexation agreement, specific plan or development plan. • All improvements should be completed by the time that 50% of the units are available for occupancy. ■ Fees in -lieu of dedication and improvement. Depending on the circumstances, the City may prefer to develop some portion of the required park acquisition and improvements on property that is not being annexed. This would generally occur when the City plans to meet part of the "10 acres per 1,000" requirement through a community-wide facility that Park Land Acquisition and Improvement in Annexation Areas Page 2 is not located in the annexation area. In this case, an in -lieu fee will be paid by the applicant equal to the value of required land and improvements that will not be dedicated and built by the applicant in the annexation area. ■ Case -by -case review. The followimg issues will be addressed on a case -by -case basis: • Amount of park land to be dedicated and improved within the annexation areas versus the amount that will be met through the payment of in -lieu fees in meeting the overall goal of 10 acres of parks per 1,000 residents. • The location and type of the park to be developed in the annexation area. • The value of the park land and improvements that will not be developed in the annexation, and the resulting amount of fees to be paid. • The timing as to when these fees will be paid. • The timing as to when park improvements will be made by the applicant. Application of this Policy to Development in Non Annexation Areas While these policies will generally only apply in the case of annexation, the City will follow these guidelines in acquiring and developing park land whenever State law allows us to do so. This is likely to occur when discretionary approvals of the City are requested, such as zone changes, general plan amendments or development agreements. BACKGROUND Current Situation The General Plan sets a goal of 10 acres of park land per 1,000 residents. Under State law, the City can not require a park land dedication of more than 5 acres per 1,000 residents (and then only if the community already meets this standard), unless a discretionary legislative act or approval is required. Additionally, unless it is in conjunction with a discretionary legislative act or approval, the City can only require land and off -site improvements in this case; it can not require full improvements. This means that for most residential development within the City's current boundaries, we can only require the dedication of land in the amount of 5 acres per 1,000 residents, or the payment of in -lieu fees based on this same criteria. Opportunity to Achieve Goals in Annexation Areas While State law limits our ability to require that new development fully pay for the cost of the park improvements required to serve it, we are allowed to require that annexation areas meet our General Plan goals because annexation is a legislative act of the City. 7 �7 i t Park Land Acquisition and Improvement in Annexation Areas Page 3 Why should we do this? Because if we do not meet our General Plan goal with each residential development we approve, we will make any gap between our goal and current circumstances even larger — and that much more difficult to achieve at some time in the future. In short, if we do not achieve our park standard on a case -by -case basis, service standards for existing residents will fall, and new residents will not be receiving the service levels set in the General Plan. SUMMARY This policy helps ensure that in those circumstances where State law allows (most notably annexations) we will achieve our stated General Plan goals of: ensuring that new development pays for its fair share of the costs of the facilities necessary to serve it; and developing and maintaining a park system at the rate of 10 acres of park land per 1,000 residents. H: Margarita Area Specific Plan/Park Land Acquisition in Annexation Areas 2