AgdaPkt 2014-01-13 Interview, Closed and Regular

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7.2.A. - Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager January 13, 2014 SUBJECT Park Impact Fee Project List Update RECOMMENDATION Approve by Resolution the updated Park Impact Fee Project List pursuant to Article XVI of Chapter 18 of the Redwood City Municipal Code. BACKGROUND On October 22, 2007, the City Council enacted the City's Park Impact Fee Ordinance, Article XVI of Chapter 18 of the Municipal Code (RCMC §§ 18.256 - 18.265). The ordinance created the "Parks Impact Fund ", which is funded by impact fees collected as a condition of the issuance of Development permits, unless expressly exempted by Chapter 18. Parks impact fees are intended to augment recreational opportunities through the improvement of parks, in order to compensate for increased demand for City facilities and services brought about by new development and the associated increase in population. The Parks Impact Fee Ordinance was the culmination of several years of study and deliberation by the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCS) and the Parks, Recreation Community Services Commission ( "Commission "). The PRCS Department Strategic Plan adopted by the Commission in 2004, directed staff to take action to ensure that future development in Redwood City would not reduce the existing ratio of parkland to residents. After extensive work creating a park inventory, the Commission brought a recommendation to City Council in December 2005 to preserve the existing ratio of parkland to residents. Council then directed the Planning Commission to consider a General Plan Amendment to establish an active parkland standard of 3 acres per 1,000 residents; and directed staff to proceed with a nexus study to determine the relationship between new residential development and the need for additional parks. In order to impose fees on new development, the City had to establish a "nexus" between the development and the public facilities or services that would be funded by the Parks Impact Fee, and also had to establish a connection between the development and the amount of the fee imposed on the development. In March 2007, the City prepared and adopted a nexus study, entitled "Final Technical Memorandum"