Attachment 1ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF
LOS GATOS ADDING SECTION 25.60 TO THE LOS GATOS TOWN
CODE RELATING TO THE ADOPTION OF MITIGATION FEES PURSUANT
TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65970 TO RELIEVE CONDITIONS OF
OVERCROWDING IN THE LOS GATOS UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
WHEREAS, the California Government Code section 65970, seq., provides for the
imposition of mitigation measures to relieve overcrowding in public schools whenever the
governing body of the school district finds that there is overcrowding in one or more of the
attendance areas within the district; and
WHEREAS, the governing board of the Los Gatos Union School District School
District, by unanimous vote, adopted Resolution No. 11- 14 -15, declaring therein that a condition
of overcrowding exists within the school district and requesting that the Los Gatos Town Council
adopt an ordinance imposing mitigation fees for the attendance areas of the district; and
WHEREAS, the California Government Code section 65970, seq., permits the Town of
Los Gatos, by ordinance, to require the dedication of land, the payment of fees in lieu thereof, or
a combination of both for classroom and related facilities for schools as a condition to approval
of a residential development; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: Los Gatos Town Code Section 25.60 is hereby added to read as follows:
Chapter 25.60
FEE DEDICATION FOR INTERIM SCHOOL FACILITIES
Sections:
25.60.010 Citation.
25.60.020 Authority.
25.60.030 Purpose.
25.60.040 Regulations.
25.60.050 General plan.
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ATTACHMENT
25.60.060 Definitions.
25.60.070 Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding.
25.60.080 Exemptions.
25.60.090 Findings and notice.
25.60.100 Findings -- Requirements.
25.60.110 Concurrence by Town.
25.60.120 Findings for development approval.
25.60.130 Payment of fees -- Dedication of land.
25.60.140 Payment of fees in small residential developments.
25.60.150 Determination of fees or land.
25.60.160 Standards for fees and land dedications.
25.60.170 Fee required.
25.60.180 Land dedication.
25.60.190 Refunds.
25.60.200 School district schedule.
25.60.210 Use of funds.
25.60.220 Agreement for fee distribution.
25.60.230 Account.
25.60.240 Termination of dedication requirements.
25.60.010 Citation.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "School Facilities Dedication
and Fee Ordinance."
25.60.020 Authority.
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 4.7, commencing
with Section 65970 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code
25.60.030 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a method for financing interim school
facilities necessitated by new residential developments causing conditions of
overcrowding.
25.60.040 Regulations.
The Town Council may from time to time, by resolution, issue regulations to
provide for the administration of this chapter.
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25.60.050 General Plan.
Interim school facilities to be constructed from fees paid or land required to be
dedicated under this chapter, or both, shall be consistent with the Town General
Plan.
25.60.060 Definitions.
A. Conditions of Overcrowding, "Conditions of overcrowding' means the
total enrollment of a school, including enrollment from proposed development,
exceeds the capacity of such school as determined by the governing body of the
school district.
B. Decision- making Body. "Decision- making body" means the Town
Council, Planning Commission, or any one designated by the Town Council.
C. Dwelling Unit. "Dwelling unit" means a building or a portion thereof, or
mobile home, designed for residential occupation by one person or a group of two
or more persons living together as a domestic unit.
D. Residential Development. 'Residential development" means a project
containing residential dwellings, including mobile homes, of one or more units or
a subdivision of land for the purpose of constructing one or more residential
dwelling units. Residential development includes, but is not limited to the
approval or issuance of
1. A tentative or final subdivision map, a tentative or final parcel
map, or a time extension on such a tentative or final map;
2. A special use permit or conditional use permit;
3. A property owner initiated ordinance rezoning property to a
residential use or to a more intense residential use;
4. Any other discretionary permit for residential use.
25.60.070 Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding.
'Reasonable methods for mitigating conditions of overcrowding' include, but are
not limited to the following:
A. Any agreements entered into by the affected school district which
would alleviate conditions of overcrowding caused by new residential
development;
B. The use of relocatable structures, student transportation, and school
boundary realignments;
C. The use of available bond or state loan revenues to the extent
authorized by law;
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D. The use of funds which could be available from the sale of surplus
school district real property and funds available from other appropriate
sources, as determined by the governing body of affected school districts;
E. Agreements between a subdivider or other developer of residential
developments in the affected school district whereby temporary use
buildings will be leased to or for the benefit of the school district or
temporary use buildings owned by the school district will be used.
25.60.080 Exemptions.
A residential development shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter
when it consists only of any of the following:
A. Senior citizen housing approved, financed and/or subsidized by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and
residential development restricted to adults only, provided the developer
enters into a written agreement with the affected school district requiring
that the developer will make land available if such restrictions ceases
during a period the school district has overcrowded conditions within the
attendance area in which the development is located;
B. Any modification, expansion, enlargement or remodeling of an
existing legally established dwelling unit where no additional dwelling
units are created;
C. A condominium project converting an existing apartment building
into a condominium where no new dwelling units are created;
E. Any rebuilding of a legally established dwelling unit destroyed or
damaged by fire, flood, explosion, act of God or other accident or
catastrophe.
F. Secondary Dwelling Units as defined and approved pursuant to
LGTC Section 29.10.
25.60.090 Findings and Notice.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 65970 et seq., the governing body of a
school district may make a finding supported by clear and convincing evidence
that:
A. Conditions of overcrowding exist in one or more attendance areas
within the district which will impair the normal functioning of educational
programs, including the reason for such conditions existing;
B. All reasonable methods of mitigating conditions of overcrowding
have been evaluated;
C. No feasible method for reducing such conditions exists. Upon
making these findings, the school district must provide the Town with
written notice of its findings as provided in Section 16.60.100.
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25.60.100 Findings -- Requirements.
Any notice of findings sent by a school district to the Town shall specify:
A. The findings listed in Section 16.60.090;
B. Findings of facts and summary of the evidence upon which the
findings in Section 16.60.090 were based;
C. The mitigation measures and methods, including those listed in
Section 16.60.070 considered by the school district in any determination
made concerning them by the district;
D. The precise geographic boundaries of the overcrowded attendance
area or areas;
E. Such other information as may be required by a Council
regulation.
25.60.110 Concurrence by Town.
After receipt of any notice of findings complying with the requirements of Section
25.60.100, the Council, if it concurs with such school district findings, shall do so
by resolution.
25.60.120 Findings for development approval.
Within an attendance area where the Council has concurred in a school district's
notice of finding that conditions of overcrowding exist, no decision - making body
shall approve an application for a residential development within such area, unless
such decision - making body makes one of the following findings:
A. That pursuant to this chapter, provision has been made for payment
of fees, dedication of land, or both, or some other provision has been
agreed upon by the applicant for a residential development in the school
district to mitigate the conditions of overcrowding with that attendance
area; or
B. That there are specific, overriding fiscal, economic, social, or
environmental factors, which, in the judgment of the decision - making
body, would benefit the Town, thereby justifying the approval of a
residential development otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter
without requiring the payment of fees or the dedication of land or other
alternate provision required by Section 16.60.120.
25.60.130 Payment of fees -- Dedication of land.
In an attendance area where the Council has concurred as provided in Section
25.60.090 that overcrowding exists, the applicant of a proposed residential
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development, as a condition of approval, or the obtaining of a building permit,
shall pay fees, make an equivalent arrangement in lieu thereof, dedicate land, or
do a combination thereof, unless excepted as provided in Sections 16.60.080 and
16.60.120, as determined by the decision - making body during the hearings and
other proceedings on specific residential development applications falling within
their respective jurisdictions. Prior to the imposition of the fees, or the dedication
of land, or both, it shall be necessary for the decision - making body acting on the
application to make the following determination: that the facilities to be
constructed, purchased, leased, or rented from such fees or the land to be
dedicated, or both, are consistent with the general plan.
25.60.140 Payment of fees in small residential developments.
When this chapter applies to a residential development, only the payment of fees
may be required in subdivisions containing fifty parcels, or less, or other
developments containing fifty units, or less.
25.60.150 Determination of fees or land.
Any requirement imposed pursuant to this chapter shall bear reasonable
relationship and will be limited to the needs of the community for interim school
facilities, and shall be reasonably related and limited to the need for the schools
caused by the development, provided the fees shall not exceed the amount
necessary to pay five annual lease payments for the interim facilities. In lieu of
the fees, the builder of a residential development may, at his or her option and at
his or her expense, provide interim facilities, owned or controlled by such builder,
at the place designated by the school district, and at the conclusion of the fifth
school year the builder shall, at the builders expense, remove the interim
facilities from such place. If the school district has entered into an agreement
with the applicant for the residential development to mitigate conditions of
overcrowding within the attendance area covered by the application, the
governing body of the affected school district shall, upon receipt of the
notification required by Section 25.60.200, so advise and transmit a copy thereof
to the Town engineer. Receipt of such an agreement shall be evidence that the
conditions of overcrowding as related to the residential development no longer
exists and applicant shall be relieved of any further requirements of this chapter.
25.60.160 Standards for fees and land dedications.
The standards for the amount of fees or dedicated land required shall be
recommended by the governing board of each school district where a
determination has been made pursuant to Section 16.60.090 that conditions of
overcrowding exist. Such standards and facts supporting them shall be
transmitted to the Town Council. If the Town Council concurs with such
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standards, they shall, until revised, be used by decision - making bodies in
situations where dedications of land, fees or interim facilities are required as a
condition to the approval of a residential development. Nothing in this chapter
shall prevent the Town Council from establishing and using standards other than
those established by the school district in the event that the Council does not
concur in those transmitted by the district.
25.60.170 Fee required.
If the payment of a fee is required, such payment shall be made at the time the
building permit is approved and issued. Fees shall be held in trust by the Town
until transferred to the affected school district or districts.
25.60.180 Land dedication.
When land is to be dedicated, it shall be offered for dedication in substantially the
same manner as prescribed in the Town subdivision ordinance. Land shall be
deeded directly to the school district or districts under procedures adopted by the
Town.
25.60.190 Refunds.
A. If a final subdivision map, a parcel map, or conditional use permit is
vacated or voided, and the Town still retains the lands and if the applicant so
requests, the council shall order such land returned.
B. If a residential development approval is vacated or voided, and if the
Town still retains the fees collected therefor, and if the applicant so requests, the
Council shall order the fees returned to the applicant.
25.60.200 School district schedule.
Following concurrence by the Council pursuant to Section 25.60.110, the Town
Manager shall notify each school district affected thereby. The governing body of
the school district shall then submit a schedule specifying how it will use the fees,
land or interim facilities to solve the conditions of overcrowding. The schedule
shall include the school sites to be used, the classroom facilities to be made
available, and the time when such facilities will be available. In the event the
governing body of the school district cannot meet the schedule, it shall submit
modifications to the Town Council and reasons for the modifications.
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25.60.210 Use of funds.
All fees, land or interim facilities collected pursuant to this chapter and
transferred to a school district, shall be used only by the district for the purpose of
providing interim school classroom and related facilities.
25.60.220 Agreement for fee distribution.
If two separate school districts operate schools in an attendance area where the
Council concurs that overcrowding conditions exist for both school districts, the
Council will enter into an agreement with the governing body of each school
district for the purpose of determining the division of revenues from the fees
levied pursuant to this chapter.
25.60.230 Account.
Any school district receiving funds or land pursuant to this chapter shall maintain
a separate account for any fees paid and disposition of land received, and shall file
a report with the Council on the balance and account at the end of the previous
fiscal year and the facilities leased, purchased, or constructed during the previous
fiscal year. In addition, the report shall specify which attendance areas will
continue to be overcrowded when the fall term begins and where conditions of
overcrowding will no longer exist. Such report shall be filed by August 1st of
each year, and shall be filed more frequently at the request of the Council.
25.60.240 Termination of dedication requirements.
A. When it is determined that conditions of overcrowding no longer exist in
the school district, the Town shall cease levying any fee or requiring the
dedication of any land pursuant to this chapter for that area. Action under this
section shall not affect the validity of conditions already imposed for levy of fees
and dedications of land and such conditions shall remain binding.
B. If a school district, which has notified the Town Council that conditions of
overcrowding exist in one or more attendance areas of the district, receives an
apportionment pursuant to the Leroy F. Green State School Building Lease
Purchase Law of 1976 (Chapter 22, commencing with Section 17700, of Part 10
of the Education Code), it shall immediately notify the Town Council. Upon
receipt of such notice, decision - making bodies shall cease levying any fee or
requiring the dedication of any land for that district pursuant to this chapter.
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Action under this section shall not affect the validity of conditions already
imposed for levy of fees and dedications of land and such conditions shall remain
binding.
SECTION II: Any provision of the Los Gatos Town Code or appendices thereto
inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this
Ordinance.
SECTION III: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance
is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
Ordinance. The Town Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and
each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or
unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently
declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION IV: The Mayor shall sign and the Town Clerk shall attest to the passage of
this Ordinance. The Town Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days
from its adoption.
This Ordinance was introduced at a Regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of
Los Gatos, on September 1, 2015, and adopted by the following vote as an ordinance of the
Town of Los Gatos at a Regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Los Gatos,
California, held on the 15a` day of September 2015. This ordinance takes effect 30 days after it is
adopted.
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
AYES:
NAYS: ABSENT:
ABSTAIN
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SIGNED:
MAYOR OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
ATTEST:
CLERK ADMINISTRATOR OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
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