HomeMy WebLinkAbout136 - 11/15/2005 - AMENDING CHAPTER 26 OF THE CITY CODE TO ESTABLISH STORMWATER PLANT INVESTMENT FEES ORDINANCE NO. 136, 2005
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 26 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
TO ESTABLISH STORMWATER PLANT INVESTMENT FEES
WHEREAS, Article XII Municipal Public Utilities, Section 6 Municipal Utility Rates and
Finances, requires all net operating revenues of the city's utilities to be held within the respective
utility's fund; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is empowered and directed by Article XII, Section 6, of the
Charter of the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, to by ordinance from time to time fix, establish,
maintain and provide for the collection of such rates, fees or charges for utility services furnished
by the City as will produce revenues sufficient to pay the costs, expenses and other obligations of
the stone water utility, as set forth therein; and
WHEREAS, Section 26-511(a) of the code requires that the City Manager analyze the
financial and operating records of the stormwater utility and recommend to the City Council the
stormwater basin fees to be in effect the following year; and
WHEREAS, the Council has adopted stormwater basin master plans recommending
stormwater facilities that are necessary to provide for the proper drainage and control of flood and
surface waters within the City; and
WHEREAS, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 168, 1998 determining that all developed
lands within the City benefit by the installation of such stormwater facilities; and
WHEREAS, existing stormwater rate payers have paid for the design, right-of-way and
construction of stormwater facilities identified in the drainage basin master plans that will benefit
and be utilized by new development; and
WHEREAS,the Council has determined that new development should pay its proportionate
share of the costs of the stormwater infrastructure as it exists at the time of development; and
WHEREAS,staffpresented the proposed changes to the stormwaterbasin fees to the Council
for review at its work session on August 23, 2005 and at that time received direction to present the
same to Council for approval; and
WHEREAS,staff has proposed to revise the stormwater basin fees established in Section 26-
512 of the City Code so as to be uniform city-wide, instead of on a basin-by-basin basis; and
WHEREAS, staff has also proposed that the stormwater basin fees be re-named stormwater
plant investment fees to provide consistency with the terminology used for water and wastewater
plant investment fees; and
WHEREAS, for the foregoing reasons, the City Council wishes to amend the City Code in
order to reflect the approval of the recommended changes to the stormwater basin fees and rename
them stormwater plant investment fees.
NOW, THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That Section 26-511 (a) and (c) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is
hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 26-511. Stormwater fees.
(a) The City Manager shall analyze the operating and financial records of the
utility during each calendar year of operation and recommend to the City Council the
stormwater utility fees to be in effect for the following calendar year.The parameters
and rates for the stormwater plant investment fees shall be reviewed by the City
Manager annually, and the fees shall be presented to the City Council for approval
no less frequently than biennially. The recommended fees shall be determined in
accordance with Section 6 of Article XII of the Charter.
(c) The stormwater plant investment fee may be paid at any time after the
approval of the plat of a subdivision or, in the case of unplatted property, upon the
issuance of a building permit and not before;provided,however,that such fee shall
be paid prior to the issuance of a full building permit, or if no building permit is
required,upon commencement of construction except to the extent that the deferral
of all or any portion of such payment has been approved by the City Council by
resolution. If there is an increase in said fees between the issuance of a full building
permit or, if no building permit is required, the time of commencement of
construction and the actual payment of fees, the fee rates in effect at the time of
payment shall apply.
Section 2. That Section 26-512 ofthe Code of the City ofFort Collins is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 26-512. Stormwater plant investment fees established.
There is hereby imposed on each and every lot or parcel of land within the city
with respect to which any improvement creates an impervious surface covering more
than three hundred fifty(350)square feet of the lot or parcel,and the owners thereof,
a stormwater plant investment fee. The fee is deemed reasonable and necessary to
pay for a new development's share of the existing equity in the capital stormwater
facilities that have been installed for the protection of the health, safety and welfare
of the inhabitants of the city. The stormwater plant investment fee established
herein shall be determined using the base rate,the area of each parcel of land,and the
runoff coefficient of the parcel. The General Manager shall determine the
stormwater plant investment fee that applies to each parcel of land as follows:
(1) Runoffcoefficient. The runoff coefficient of each parcel of land shall be that
used in the engineering formula known as the rational method.The General
Manager shall determine the runoff coefficient for each parcel of land based
on the following formula:
C = Percent Impervious Area x 0.95 + Percent Pervious Area x
0.20 +Percent Semipervious Area x 0.50.
Impervious shall mean roof, asphalt, cement, etc.
Pervious shall mean lawn, open space, etc.
Semipervious shall mean gravel, etc.
(2) Plant investment fee base rate. The stormwater plant investment fee base
rate is three thousand seventy dollars ($3,070)per gross acre of area.
(3) Area. The stormwater plant investment fee calculation for each parcel of
land shall be predicated upon the gross area in acres of the parcel.
(4) Calculation.
a. Initial improvements. The stormwater plant investment fee for each
parcel of land shall be calculated in accordance with the following
formula:
Plant investment fee = (runoff coefficient) x ( Plant investment fee
base rate)x (area).
b. Additions, expansions, increased impervious area. The stormwater
plant investment fee calculation for each developed parcel of land
upon which an addition or expansion is proposed, whether attached
to an existing structure or not, shall be calculated in accordance with
the following formula:
Plant investment fee shall equal the difference between the fee as
calculated in accordance with the formula set forth in subparagraph
a. of this Subsection for the parcel with all existing and proposed
improvements and the same parcel with only the existing
improvements.
Section 3. That Section 26-515 ofthe Code ofthe Cityof Fort Collins is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 26-515. Changing stormwater-plant investment fees.
The City Council may by ordinance change the amount of the stormwater plant
investment fee based upon revised estimates of the cost of the stormwater facilities
in the basin. Any change in the amount of the stormwater plant investment fee shall
be effective only as to properties for which the stormwater plant investment fee has
not previously been fully paid. After the stormwater plant investment fee applicable
to a particular property has been paid in full, no additional stormwater plant
investment fee shall be imposed upon said property unless modifications to the
property alter the calculation of the stormwater plant investment fee as determined
in Section 26-512, and in such event only the additional fees resulting from the
modification to the property shall be due.
Section 4. That Section 26-520 (a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 26-520. Appeals.
(a) Any owner who disputes the amount of the stormwater utility fee or the
stormwater plant investment fee made against such owner's property or who disputes
any determination made by or on behalf of the city pursuant to and by the authority
of this Article may petition the General Manager for a hearing on a revision or
modification of such charge or determination. The General Manager may hold such
hearings or may designate an officer or employee as a hearing officer with authority
to hold such hearings.
Section 5. That Section 26-522 ofthe Code ofthe Cit ofFort Collins is hereby amended
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to read as follows:
Sec. 26-522. Disposition of fees and charges.
The fees and charges paid and collected by virtue of this Article shall not be used
for general or other governmental or proprietary purposes of the city, except to pay
for the costs incurred by the city in rendering services to the utility and for any
payment in lieu of taxes that may be authorized by the City Council as provided by
the City Charter. Other than as described above, the fees and charges shall be used
solely to pay for the costs of operation,repair,maintenance,improvements,renewal,
replacement, reconstruction, design, right-of-way acquisition and construction of
public stormwater facilities and costs incidental thereto.
Section 6. That Section 26-523 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby deleted.
Section 7. That Section 26-545(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 26-545. Credit for construction of major basin improvements.
(a) If the stormwater utility requires a developer to construct major stormwater
system improvements that serve more than that development and are identified in a
basin master plan, a portion of the actual costs incurred may be eligible for basin
reimbursement from the storm drainage fund.To be eligible for basin reimbursement,
prior to final approval of the development agreement the developer must submit to
the stormwater utility a report detailing the proposed basin improvements and obtain
the city's approval of the report. The report must identify all elements of the project
eligible for reimbursement and include a detailed project description, a project bid
form with estimated quantities, unit prices, engineering design and construction
management costs. The report must also provide an accurate quantity and cost
delineation between the proposed basin improvements and the stormwater
improvements necessary to meet the standard requirements of the development.The
stormwaterbasin reimbursement shall be paid in cash subject to the provisions of this
Section, or at the option of the developer, may be taken as credit toward the total
stormwater plant investment fees due for the developed property with regard to which
the basin improvements are being constructed.If more than two(2)years elapse from
the approval date of the development agreement without substantial progress toward
the construction of all improvements eligible for basin reimbursement, the
reimbursement obligation shall terminate. The developer may request and the
General Manager may approve extensions of the obligation for additional one-year
periods.
Section 8. That Section 26-632 ofthe Code ofthe City ofFort Collins is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 26-632. Deferral of fees.
With respect to any dwelling unit which is contained within or which constitutes
an affordable housingproject as defined in§26-631,the Water Plant Investment Fee
("WPIF"), Sewer Plant Investment Fee("SPIF"), Stormwater Plant Investment Fee,
the Raw Water Requirement In-lieu Cash Payment and the Electric Development
Fees and Charges, as established in this Chapter, shall, upon the request of the
applicant,be deferred until the date of issuance of a certificate of occupancy(whether
temporary or permanent) for such unit(s) or until the first day of December of the
year in which the deferral was obtained,whichever first occurs.Notwithstanding any
provision in this Chapter to the contrary, in the event that, during the period of
deferral,the amount of the deferred fee is increased by ordinance of the City Council,
the fee rate in effect at the time of the issuance of the building permit shall apply. At
the time of application for any such deferral,the applicant shall pay to the city a fee
in the amount of fifty dollars($50.)to partially defray the cost of administration.No
person shall knowingly make any false or misleading statement of fact in order to
obtain any deferral of fees under this Section.
Section 9. That the amendments to Chapter 26 of the City Code contained herein shall
go into effect January 1, 2006.
Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 2nd day of
November, A.D. 2005, and to be presented for final passage on the 15th day of November, A.D.
2005.
Mayor
ATTEST:
.ate
City Clerk la e;r
Passed and adopted on final reading this 15th day of vember, A.D. 2005.
ayor
ATTEST:
e
City Clerk