HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 323-05The City has severa~ new development-related fees under consideration. Potential one-time
development impact fees include:
• Citywide transportation (TIF)
• Charleston! Arastradero corridor fee
• Water/wastewater capacity (adopted, effective 7/1/2005)
In addition to impact fees, developers are required to pay other fees on their projects, which add
to the cumulative economic effect of doing business in Palo Alto. Some of these are one-time
application expenses such as permit fees, which are included in charts in this report comparing
Palo Alto to other cities.
Other fees are not development-related. These are ongoing, paid by residents and businesses
annually or monthly, not just with new construction. Current ongoing fees include utilities fees,
the Downtown Business Improvement District fees, and the University and California Avenue
Parking Assessment Districts. A storm drain fee increase was approved by voters on April 26,
2005. Other potential ongoing fees include a business license tax and emergency response or
911 fee. Ongoing fees are not included in the data presented in this report.
Current & Potential Fees
Chart 1 depicts each of Palo Alto's current and potential impact fees for two types of residential
projects: a new single-family home; and per multi-family dwelling. If enacted, potential impact
fees will add 20% to 22% to the current impact fees charged to new residential development.
CMR:323:05 Page 2 of12
Park, would also be subject to a citywide transportation fee if enacted. In portions of the half-
mile CharlestoniArastradero corridor a few parcels (pending development) could be subject to
the CharlestoniArastradero fee, potential citywide TIF, and San Antonio/West Bayshore fees.
Fee overlap areas are indicated on Attachment C, though "citywide" is not included in the legend
(since all parcels would be affected by a citywide fee).
Impact Fee Exemptions
It is important to note that development impact fees include a number of exemptions, which vary
widely across fee ordinances adopted by each city. The City of Palo Alto's impact fee
exemptions are not uniform, and are summarized in Attachment B. Each exemption reflects a
policy decision addressed at the time the impact fee was enacted or amended by City Council.
New development may be exempt from all or some impact fees, depending upon the intended
use as summarized in Attachment B. For instance, 100% affordable housing projects (not a mix
of market rate and below market rate) are exempt from current impact fees.
Palo Alto Compared to Other Cities
Council has expressed an interest in comparing Palo Alto's fee levels with those of surrounding
communities. Palo Alto recently participated in two development fees surveys: one conducted
by Redwood City (April 2005) and another conducted by the City of San Jose on behalf of the
Home Builder's Association (May 2004 and June 2005). These multi-city surveys calculated
development-related fees and taxes, including permit, construction, and development impact fees
for various project types. They did not include ongoing, non-development-related fees.
Comparison data presented in this report is derived from the data in the surveys plus online
research on fees in each jurisdiction.
Other jurisdictions have addressed fees in a variety of ways. The most common .development
fees are implemented to support parks and water/sewer systems or mitigate traffic. Other
jurisdictions have fees designed to support public facilities like libraries and public safety
buildings. Less common fees include those that fund housing and street trees, or are applied as a
general construction tax. Table 1 depicts the array of development impact fees and taxes in a few
jurisdictions in the Bay Area.
T bIll tF T I V • J . d· f a e . mpac ee .ypes n arlous uris IC IOns .
Menlo Redwood
Fee type Los Gatos Milpitas San Jose Fremont Park City Palo Alto
fPark X X X X X
!Housing X X
Traffic X X X X X X
IW ater/Sewer X X X X X X X
Street Trees X X
Other Facilities X X
Construction Tax X X
CMR:323:05 Page 5 of 12
Attachment A: Current Development Impact Fees
HOUSING
• $15.58 per square foot applies to nonresidential development
• .For more information, see City Manager's Reports (CMR) 383:01, 150:02, 189:02,
Ordinance No. 3560 and 4763, and Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) section 16.47
TRAFFIC
Stanford Research Park 1 El Camino Real CS Zone
• $8.68 per net new square foot, effective July 1,2004
• For more information, see CMR 150:02, 189:02, Ordinance No. 3894 and 4763, and
P AMC section 16.45
San Antonio 1 West Bayshore area
• $ 1.79 per square foot
Parking in lieu fee for the Downtown Assessment District
• $53,731 Iparking space if approved after July 1,2004
COMMUNITY FACILITIES
Single Family Multi-Family
Fee Single Famil~ over 3000 s.f. Multi-Famil~ under 900 s.f.
Parks $ 8,670 $ 12,946 $ 5,675 $ 2,869
Comm Ctr 2,248 3,364 1,479 746
Libraries 784 1,166 513 257
Total $ 11,702 $ 17,476 $ 7,667 $ 3,872
basis per home per unit per unit per unit
Fee. Commercial Hotel/Motel
Parks $ 3.682 $ 1.664
Comm Ctr $ 0.208 $ 0.094
Libraries m 0.198 m 0.083
Total $ 4.088 $ 1.841
basis per net new s.f. per net new S.f.
For more information see CMR 381:01,146:02,188:02, Ordinance No. 3894 and 4763,2005/06
Adopted Municipal Fee Schedule.
Attachment B -Palo Alto Development Impact Fee Exemptions
Exemption Community Traffic -Traffic -San
Housing Facilities SRP Antonio
Or4inqnce section 16.47.030 16.48.030 16.45~050 16.46.030
Residential X X X
Churches X
Colleges and Universities X
Commercial Recreation X
Hospitals X
Convalescent facilities X
Private clubs, lodges X
Fraternal organizations X
Private education fadlities X
Public facilities X X
1,500 s.f. retail/personal
service/automotive serVIce X X X
(one-time)
250 s.f. or less X X
Hazardous Materials Storage X X
On-site cafeteria! recreation!
childcare (employee use X X
only)
Thermal storage for energy X conservation
Temporary uses < 6 months X X
Below Market housing Residential X beyond required units is exempt Residential Residential is
100% Affordable housing X is exempt exempt
Daycare, nursery school, X preschool
Attachment D
Additional Information on Impact Fees in Palo Alto and other Jurisdictions
1. Housing
2. Traffic & Transportation
3. Facilities
4. Parking Assessment Districts·
1. Housing, $15.58 per square foot
In 1984, the City of Palo Alto adopted Chapter 16.47 of the Municipal Code requiring
developers of commercial and industrial projects to develop below market rate housing or
pay a housing fee as mitigation for the impacts on housing attributable to jobs created by
commercial development. Revenue collected under the ordinance is placed in the
Commercial Housing In-Lieu Fund and has been used exclusively to subsidize the cost of
housing affordable to very low-and low-income renter households. Over 400 rental units
have been assisted with these funds. Palo Alto's current Housing In-Lieu fee is $15.58 per
square foot.
Sample housing impact fees in other jurisdictions are as listed in Table 1 below.
Tabl 1 H e ousmg I mpac tF ees
Jurisdiction Land Use I per square foot
Palo Alto All Commercial $ 15.58
City and County of San Francisco Office $ 14.96
Hotel $ 11.21
Retail $ 13.95
Menlo Park2 Office/R&D $ 11.89
Commercial/Industrial $ 6.48
Mountain Vie~ Office/Tech/Industrial $ 3.00 -$6.00
Commercial/RetaillHotel $ 1.00 -$2.00
County of Marin 1 Office/R&D $7.19
Retail/Restaurant $5.40
Warehouse $1.95
Manufacturing "$3.74
Walnut Creekl All Commercial $5.00
1. Housing Impact Fee Nexus Analysis City of Walnut Creek, Keyser Marston
Associates Inc, December 2004
2. Menlo Park Municipal Code, Section 16.96.030
3. Mountain View Adopted 200412005 Municipal Fee Schedule
San Leandro 6 General Residential $ 939
(Street Senior Residential $ 469
Retail $ 1.56 - $ 2.92 Improvement) Office/R&D $ 2.61-$ 3.65
Restaurants $ 2.09 -$8.45
1. Redwood City Development Fee Study, January 2005
2. City of San Mateo Development Fee Calculator 2004-2005
3. City of Livermore Development Fees
4. City of Walnut Creek Fees and Charges 2002-2004
5. City of Gilroy Fees to Build, January 2005
6. Community Development Department Development Fees July 2004, San Leandro
3. Community Facilities
Council adopted impact fees for parks, libraries and community centers in March 2002 (PAMC
16.58). These fees apply to new residential and non-residential development citywide, as listed
in Table 3.
Table 3 Facility Impact Fees
Jurisdiction Comm. Other Highest
Land Use Park Library Center Facility Total
City of Palo Alto
Home> 3000 sf $ 12,448 $ 3,235 $ 1,121 $ 16,804
Home < 3000 sf 5,457 2,162 754 $ 11,253
MF> 900 sf 8,337 1,422 493 $ 7,372
MF < 900 sf 2,759 171 247 $ 3,723
Commercial 3.54 0.20 0.19 $ 3.93
Hotel/Motel 1.60 0.09 0.08 $ 1.77
Morgan Hilll
Single Family $ 3,540 - $ 4,556 $ 228 $ 384 $ 426 $ 5,592
Multi-Family $ 2,922 - $ 3,753 $ 192 $ 313 $ 353 $ 4,611
Gilro/
Single Family $10,340 $ 1,810 $ 3,100 $ 4,392 $ 19,642
Multi-Family $ 7,380 $1,290 $ 600 $ 7,369 $ 16,639
Commercial $2.856s.f. $2.856s.f.
Industrial $1.268s.f. $1.268s.f.
Mountain Viewj
Single Family $ 15,400 $ 15,400
Multi-Family $ 13,100 $ 13,100
Dublin
Single Family $17,606-$18,005 $ 18,005
Multi-Family $11,004-$11,253 $ 11,253
Commercial $1.550-$1.562s.f. $ 1.562s.f.
Office $3.010-$3.034s.f. $ 3.034s.f.
San Jose4
Single Family $ 3950-$ 15,700 $ 15,700
Multi-Family $ 3150-$ 14,250 $ 14,250
SRO $ 1,450-$ 4,850 $ 4,850
Livermore;)
Single Family $ 12,384 $ 12,384
Multi-Family $6,565-$10,775 $ 10,775
Commercial $1.570 s.f. $ 1.570 s.f.
Office $2.245 s.f. $ 2.245 s.f.
1. City of Morgan Hill Public Works Fax 2-20-2004
2. City of Gilroy Fees to Build, January, 2005
3. ,City of Mountain View 2002 Housing Element
4. Public Works Department, City ofSc;m Jose. Does not include construction tax.
5. City of Livermore Development Fees
4. Parking Assessment Districts
a) Downtown $53,731 per parking space.
The In-Lieu Parking Fee Ordinance (PAMC 16.57) was enacted by Council in January
1995. The ordinance allows certain non-residential development within the boundaries of
the downtown assessment district to pay a fee instead of providing required off-street
public parking. The collected fees are used to help offset the costs of any new public
parking facilities constructed in the assessment district. The fee is based on the cost of
constructing parking facilities, and was updated to include two new parking structures on
Lots S/L and Lot R in 2002. The current In-Lieu Parking Fee in the downtown district is
$53,731 per parking space.
b) California Avenue Parking Assessment District
A Parking Assessment District was established in the California Avenue area in 1966 to
facilitate issuing debt and establish repayment of bonds in order to construct parking
projects in the area. The district has two active projects at this time, Keystone Lot
Parking, and the Ted Thompson Parking Structure (CMR 326:04). Rather than a one-
time fee paid at the time a building permit is issued, parking assessments are collected as
part of the annual property tax due on parcels within the district. Annual fee for each
parcel is based on building square footage, land square footage, and building use. Thus,
if a property owner in the California Avenue Parking Assessment District were to expand
the total square footage of an existing building or change the use of an existing building,
then the annual parking assessment fee may change. Recent experience in the California
Avenue parking assessment district has shown no increase in building size, due to
parking restrictions.