HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 11/14/2023 - Memorandum From Jill Wuertz Re: Council Park Fee QuestionsParks Department – Park Planning and
Development
215 North Mason
Fort Collins, CO 80524
970-416-2062
jwuertz@fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
Date: November 8, 2023
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
Dean Klingner, Community Services Director
Mike Calhoon, Parks Director
From: Jill Wuertz, Senior Manager Park Planning and Development
Subject: Council Park Fee Questions
The purpose of this memo is to provide information following questions from Councilmember Peel relating
to Park fees and park buildout.
• What are we collecting for Park Development Fees and how does the process work?
• How many parks remain to be developed?
Bottom Line:
The City of Fort Collins provides public park facilities for the benefit of residents. The expansion of this
park system is paid for by community and neighborhood park capital expansion fees. The current Parks
and Recreation Plan, ReCreate 2021, outlines future parkland to be built. There are 14 future
neighborhood parks and 2 community parks remaining. Over the past five years (2018 – 2022) the fees
collected by the City have averaged approximately $2.5 million per year for Community Parks and $1.9
million per year for Neighborhood Parks. The capital expansion fees, as well as utility impact fees, were
discussed at the October 5, 2023 Council Finance Committee (CFC) meeting and are scheduled for
further discussion at the upcoming December 14, 2023 CFC meeting.
DocuSign Envelope ID: A577A399-5B6C-44A1-BAB6-E6D54751A894
Capital Expansion Fee Context and History:
The City’s capital expansion fees are impact fees that assess new developments for the proportionate
share of the cost of new capital facilities required to serve them at the same level of service provided to
existing developments. Fees and charges are designed to defer the costs of current services that benefit
the recipient or off-set burdens of regulation. The City regularly reviews charges and fees as a legislative
or budgetary process. City Code Section 7.5-16 outlines the intent for capital expansion fees and states
that said fees “shall not be used to collect more than is necessary to fund such capital improvements.”
Capital expansion fees (CEFs) are collected for Fire, Police, General Government facilities,
Neighborhood Parks (implemented in 1968) and Community Parks (implemented in 1996). Additionally,
the City also has a similar but separate transportation capital expansion fee (TCEF) designed to recoup
transportation infrastructure costs. This concept of growth paying for the impact of growth is a policy
decision that past City Councils have made.
In 2012 and then again in 2016/17, the City of Fort Collins contracted with consultant Duncan Associates
to analyze the methodology and update the capital expansion fees. The legal framework for impact fees
is explained in detail in the 2017 Capital Expansion Fee Study on pages 5-10 and it utilizes the
standards-based methodology which ensures the fees are proportional to the demand that new
development places on the park system. The demand for City park facilities is generated by people.
However, in practice, it is preferable to base the service unit on housing units, since the number of
housing units can be more easily determined than the number of people, which is affected by highly
variable occupancy rates over time for a specific housing unit. The current fee assumes a household size
based on census data and estimates of existing housing inventory. By dividing various housing types
based on square footage by the average household size of a single-family unit, a proportionate household
size is created for different housing sizes. Fees are assessed by land use type and paid upon application
of a building permit by a builder/developer.
The capital expansion fees are currently undergoing a study update performed by Economic & Planning
Systems (EPS). Draft output from this study update was shared with the Council Finance Committee on
October 5, 2023. The distribution of the full written draft report is still pending.
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Allowable Uses for Park Fees:
The fees are restricted to direct and associated costs of building and expanding parks (land and water
acquisition, design, construction and project and program administration). They cannot be used for on-
going maintenance or end-of-life equipment and asset replacement. We have historically restricted the
use of these fees to construction of new parks. As the City experiences more in-fill development we are
exploring the possibility of using the fees for expansion of existing parks. City Code Section 8-95
established the “community parkland capital expansion fee account” which is an account for the
“acquisition, construction and development of capital improvements related to the provision of the
community parklands.” Likewise, City Code Section 7.5-28(a) states that the fees related to this fund are
imposed for the purpose of “funding capital improvements related to the provision of community parks.”
The general allowable uses for fees collected for capital improvements are detailed in City Code Section
7.5-22.
The City of Fort Collins has a robust, distributed public space system that seeks to provide residents with
convenient access to amenities and services. The 2021 Parks and Recreation Plan defines both
population-based and access standards by amenity to ensure our level of service is maintained. You may
observe differences in the condition of amenities, and the era of code, based on when the park was built.
Standards change over time and increase building requirements. For instance, after 1990 you will see
large differences in design due to codes related to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), playground
safety standards established in 1993, International Building Codes adopted after 2000 and even water
conservation policies like hydrozoning. To maintain standards over time and bring amenities up to current
codes and guidelines, a sustainable funding source is necessary. The November sales tax ballot issue is
one such proposal to fill that gap.
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Current Capital Expansion Fees:
Over the past five years (2018 – 2022), the fees collected by the City have averaged approximately $2.5
million per year for Community Parks and $1.9 million per year for Neighborhood Parks. The detail for all
capital expansion fees collected by the city over this timeframe is summarized below:
The existing capital expansion fee rate schedule is highlighted below:
This schedule and more information related to capital expansion fees is available online at
https://www.fcgov.com/finance/capitalexpansion.
DocuSign Envelope ID: A577A399-5B6C-44A1-BAB6-E6D54751A894
Remaining Parks to be Built:
The current Parks and Recreation Plan, ReCreate 2021, outlines future parkland to be built. Not including
Dovetail Park (formerly called Bucking Horse Park), which was opened at the end of September 2023,
there are 14 future neighborhood parks and 2 community parks remaining including:
• Bacon Neighborhood Park (land acquired,
funded in BFO 23-24)
• Eastridge/Mosaic Neighborhood Park (land
and water acquisition funded in BFO 23-24)
• East Community Park (land acquired)
• Richard’s Lake Neighborhood Park (land
acquired)
• Ironhorse Neighborhood Park (land being
acquired via Dedication of land in lieu of
fee)
• Interstate Neighborhood Park
• Fossil Lake Neighborhood Park
• Northeast Community Park & Maintenance
Facility
• Sunflower Neighborhood Park
• Poudre Plains Neighborhood Park
• Old Town Neighborhood Park
• Elizabeth Street Neighborhood Park
• Parkwood Neighborhood Park
• Wheaton Neighborhood Park
• Morningside Neighborhood Park
• Shields Neighborhood Park
• Heron Neighborhood Park
Sequencing of park construction is determined by several factors, including available funding from park
impact fee revenues, the level of completed development around the park site, neighborhood park
needs/prioritization city wide, raw water availability/agreements, and opportunities for
partnership/efficiencies with other City projects. For this reason, it is difficult to script an exact timeframe
for development of parks outside of the BFO budgeting process.
DocuSign Envelope ID: A577A399-5B6C-44A1-BAB6-E6D54751A894
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194 / Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Master Plan Guidelines for Parks and Facilities / 195
RProposed Park, Land Acquired
Focus Area Overlay
01/212
Miles
The map above is an overlay of the new amenity focus areas from both the walking and driving access standards
maps. By overlaying these focus areas, several patterns emerge. First, the location of the proposed community
parks in both the northeast and east parts of the city are appropriately located and will provide amenities to parts
of the city that will grow significantly over the next twenty years. The other pattern that emerges is that a need for
a new park or parks exists in the southern part of the city. Based on the level of service analysis and the focus area
overlay the Parks and Recreation Master Plan recommends building 12 new parks and completing 7 of the parks that
are currently planned. The recommended parks fill in gaps in the service areas and provide amenities to residents
who currently have to travel to reach them. The recommended parks should be built and classified based on their
surroundings and amenities.
Recommended Future Park/Facility Sites
0 1 2
Miles
Proposed ParksProposed Park, Land Not Acquired
Recommended Community/Neighborhood Centers
0 1 2
Miles
Eastridge Park
NE Community Park
Fossil Lake Park
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Elizabeth Street Park
Poudre Plains Park
Old Town Park
Shields Park
Sunflower Park
Morningside Park
Heron Park
Wheaton Park
Parkwood Park
Interstate Park
Richards Lake ParkRichards Lake Park
Bucking Horse ParkBucking Horse Park
E Community ParkE Community Park
Trailhead ParkTrailhead ParkIronhorse ParkIronhorse ParkLegacy ParkLegacy Park
Bacon ParkBacon Park
DocuSign Envelope ID: A577A399-5B6C-44A1-BAB6-E6D54751A894