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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 09a - Establishing Historic Preservation and Annual Overnight Parking Fees DATE: May 7, 2019 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager/Development Services Director Lisa Flores, Planning & Community Development Administrator Alana Bautista, Management Aide SUBJECT: RESOLUTION NO. 7240 ESTABLISHING AND/OR ADJUSTING FEES FOR CITY SERVICES RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND THE ANNUAL OVERNIGHT PARKING PERMIT AND TRANSFER PERMIT, INCLUDING FINDING THIS MATTER IS EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (“CEQA”) Recommendation: Adopt SUMMARY At the City Council meeting on April 2, 2019, the City Council adopted the Historic Preservation Ordinance, amending various Sections of Article IX, Chapter 1 of the Arcadia Municipal Code (the “Development Code”). As a result of the new Ordinance, the Development Services Department (“DSD”) is adding a number of new fees to coincide with the new applications and processes. The new fees shall become effective immediately. To encourage voluntary participation in historic preservation processes, several incentives are also being considered along with the new fees. At the City Council Study Session on March 19, 2019, the City Council voted to move forward with adopting adjustments to the Annual Overnight Par king Permit and Transfer Permit fees. The Development Services Department (“DSD”) is proposing a fee increase from $84 to $125 for the Annual Overnight Parking Permit, and an adjustment of $1 to $5 for the Transfer Permit fee. The adjusted fees shall become effective on July 1, 2019. These separate fee discussions have been combined into a single fee resolution for efficiency. It is recommended that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 7240 establishing and/or adjusting fees for City Services relating t o historic preservation and the Annual Overnight Parking Permit and Transfer Permit. Resolution No. 7240 relating to Historical Preservation and Overnight Parking Fees May 7, 2019 Page 2 of 5 DISCUSSION Historic Preservation Fees The Development Services Department (“DSD”) is adding five (5) new fees as a result of the processes created by the newly adopted Historic Preservation Ordinance. These include new fees for: a Certificate of Appropriateness (Major and Minor) whenever a property owner chooses to make any alteration and/or expansion to their designated historic resource; Designation of a Historic District or a Local Landmark (to formally become a designated district or resource); and participation in the Mills Act (a tax incentive program). Fees proposed for all of these new processes cover staff time, noticing, and other hard costs, and are strictly designed to recover the costs of providing the service. The Historic Preservation Ordinance was adopted as a voluntary program, meaning owner consent is needed to designate resources and create districts. The City Council made it clear that incentives were important to encourage voluntary participation in these processes. The types of incentives that the City Council could consider include participation in the Mills Act program, relaxing of Code requirements, waiving fees, reducing building permit fees for designated properties, approving a parking modification, and participation in public/private assistance programs. Below is a brief description of the proposed incentives: 1. Mills Act Tax Abatement Program – Participation in the Mills Act Program was included in the adopted Ordinance so no action is needed at this time to establish the program. For designated properties, Mills Act participation provides an opportunity for significant tax relief. Mills Act participation should be approached as a “pilot” project, so that tax benefits and impacts can be carefully studied. It is recommended that the City Council consider up to three (3) applications each calendar year during the pilot period. 2. State Historic Building Code. The California State Historic Building Code (SBHC) provides alternative building regulations for the preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, or relocation of historic resources. The SHBC shall be used in evaluating any building permit for work affecting a historic resource. This can result in relaxation or modification of some standards and could assist an owner in working on their home or property. For example, the height of railings, guardrails, and the spacing of balusters may be continued to keep the home’s architectural elements intact unless a distinct hazard is identified. Additional examples would be that requirements for an emergency escape window could be reduced in size or an accessible ramp could be installed at a steeper slope than Resolution No. 7240 relating to Historical Preservation and Overnight Parking Fees May 7, 2019 Page 3 of 5 normally allowed by the code if the normal code req uirements would threaten the historical significance or character-defining features of the building. 3. Parking Modifications. The required number of parking spaces shall be the same as the number of spaces that existed on the site at the time the site was developed, and shall be maintained and not reduced. Adaptive reuse projects shall otherwise be exempt from the provisions set forth in Section 9103.07 (Off - Street Parking and Loading), Article IX of the Arcadia Development Code. This can provide a major assist by not requiring certain parking spaces to be built or replaced. This is built into the adopted Ordinance and would require no further action to implement. 4. Fee Waivers for Processes. Along with the Historic Preservation Ordinance comes a set of costs for the review of various processes. This includes fees for the Designation of a Historic Landmark ($1,800), Designation of a Historic District ($2,500), and Mills Act participation ($1,500). As mentioned above, fees for all of these processes were developed by estimating the staff time involved to recover the costs of hours spent. Staff members involved include Assistant or Associate Planners, the Planning & Community Development Administrator, Administrative Staff, and, at times, the Building Official. An incentive that could be offered is that no fees are charged for application processes that involve self-designation of resources by property owners. It is recommended that a two-year fee waiver be implemented immediately and continuing through June 30, 2021. This will also allow staff time to more fully assess the time and costs involved in these applications prior to charging property owners. 5. Reductions in Building Permit Fees for Designated Properties. For those properties that do become designated, a potential incentive is that building permit fees could be reduced by 50% for those projects that propose work to enhance or preserve the historic nature of the building. This reduction would only apply to projects that were deemed consistent with the designated property. Depending on the type of work completed, this could save a homeowner hundreds of dollars in permit fees and a commercial property owner thousands of dollars. 6. Public/Private Assistance. City staff will explore funding sources that could be used to generally support and protect historic preservation efforts with interested property owners. This could involve everything from technical assistance with historic studies and nomination processes, to grants for construction and upkeep, to acquisition of properties. The City will develop a database of potential private or non-profit fundraising groups, public grants or loans, and organizations who may be interested in assisting with these options. For example, the Arcadia Historical Society has reached out to offer assistance (technical and potentially Resolution No. 7240 relating to Historical Preservation and Overnight Parking Fees May 7, 2019 Page 4 of 5 financial) with these types of efforts, and will be an excellent partner in developing such a program. It is recommended that the City Council direct the Staff to implement all of these incentives. Most items do not require any action by the City Council to implement. I n order to encourage participation, it is recommended that fees be waived on any voluntary application submitted for the designation of a local landmark for the first two years following approval of the fees (until 2021). Based on the level of participation and the number of applications received, this fee waiver will be eva luated again following this two-year period. Overnight Parking Fees One of the recommendations from the recent report generated by the Council-appointed Citizens Financial Advisory Committee (“CFAC”) was to evaluate the existing Overnight Parking Permit fee. In a collaborative effort with the Administrative Services Department (“ASD”) and Police Department (“PD”), the Development Services Department (“DSD”) evaluated the possibility of adjusting the Annual Overnight Parking Permit and Transfer Permit fees. The last time the City’s Annual Overnight Parking Permit fee was increased was in 1997, over 20 years ago, changing at that time from $60 to $84. It was determined through analysis that the current fees for overnight parking are not recovering costs, and a fee increase is justified and advisable. The fees and processes were discussed with the City Council in a Study Session format on March 19, 2019. New practices and procedures will be implemented as a result of the permit fee adjustments. The Annual Overnight Parking Permit application form will have additional requirements including a section on the amount of parking spaces available on the property. This will help staff document the proper use of garage and driveway spaces before a permit is issued. Additional staff time dedicated to reviewing these applications and assisting applicants with questions and com pletion of the form will be required. In addition, the Code Services Division will be conducting spot check inspections throughout the year. Violations may be identified as a result from the spot checks, which will require further enforcement measures on behalf of the Code Services Division. As a result of these issues, the annual parking permit fee is being raised from $84 to $125. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS The establishment and adjustment of fees are statutorily exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) per Section 15273 of the CEQA Guidelines (Sections 21080(b)(8) and 21083, Public Resources Code). Resolution No. 7240 relating to Historical Preservation and Overnight Parking Fees May 7, 2019 Page 5 of 5 PUBLIC COMMENTS/NOTICE Consideration of Resolution No. 7240 requires a public hearing, which was noticed to the public in the Arcadia Weekly newspaper on April 22, 2019, and April 25, 2019. As of May 1, 2019, staff has not received any comments from the public. FISCAL IMPACT The net fiscal impact from the new fees for the City services pertaining to the Historic Preservation Ordinance to the General Fund is estimated at $17,261 annually in application fees. This is based on an estimate of 14 Certificate of Appropriateness (C of A) applications (four major and 10 minor reviews of a C of A) and it assumes that the City Council approves a waiver for two new historic and two landmark application fees. These new fee rates and estimates will be reflected in the Fiscal Year 2019-20 adopted budget. As for the potential impact of participation in the Mills Act program , inclusion into the program will begin as a pilot project and fiscal impact will be monitored and reported to the City Council as it occurs. No budget estimates have been made for the impact of the Mills Act at this point. For estimating purposes, on a $1 million home, a 50% property tax break for the property owner (a $5,000 savings to them) would result in about a $475 loss in revenue to the City annually. The Administrative Services Department (“ASD”) processes an average 5,000 Annual Overnight Parking Permits and 750 Transfer Permits per year . Based on these averages, the net fiscal impact from the fee adjustments to these existing fees is estimated at $198,400 of new revenue to the General Fund. The adjusted fee rates will be reflected in the Fiscal Year 2019-20 adopted budget. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 7240 establishing and/or adjusting fees for City Services relating to Historic Preservation and the Annual Overnight Parking Permit and Transfer Permit, including finding this matter is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). Attachment: Resolution No. 7240