To: Mayor and City Council

From: Andy Agle, Interim Director

Subject: Priority of City Development Services and Revision of Permit Fees for Green Buildings

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that the City Council:

1. Introduce for first reading an ordinance adding Chapter 1.20, Priority for City Development Services, to the Santa Monica Municipal Code to confirm the sole propriety and authority of the City Council to expedite City services and establish such service priorities by resolution;

2. Approve a resolution eliminating the building plan review fee by the Green Building Advisor for Green Buildings; and

3. Review the proposed resolution setting forth the priority of City services related to development activities, in anticipation of adopting the resolution with second reading and adoption of the above ordinance.

Executive Summary

Over the years, the City has established fee waivers or expedited service incentives for various types of proposed developments including affordable housing, green buildings, seismic rehabilitation, child care facilities, historic preservation and charitably funded public projects. For consistency of application and public understanding, staff recommends that the Council confirm its sole authority to establish expedited City services by ordinance and then establish service priorities by a single, related resolution. Additionally, staff proposes to amend the recently adopted fee resolution to eliminate the fee for green building plan review by the Green Building Program Advisor.

Discussion

Priority of City Development Services

The City has established fee waivers and service priorities in order to create incentives for proposed development projects with substantial public benefits, as well as to conserve scarce public funds. These benefits have been applied to a variety of project types including affordable housing, green buildings, seismic rehabilitation, child care facilities, historic preservation and charitably funded public projects. Benefits and incentives for these project types include planning, plan check or building permit fee waivers, as well as expedited service in planning, plan check or inspection. However, these benefits are not uniformly authorized for each project type. In addition, the benefits were established by a variety of different means, including administrative policy, resolution and ordinance. The attached table shows the current benefits and incentives, with the authorizing mechanism in parenthesis:

Development Type	Current Priority Processing	Current Fee Waivers
100% On-Site Affordable Housing	Planning approvals and building inspections (administrative policy); Building permit applications (ordinance)	All Planning application fees (resolution)
Green Building	Building permit applications (ordinance)	Solar photovoltaic and solar/thermal systems (resolution)
Seismic Retrofit		Building permit fees (resolution)
Child Care Facilities	Planning and building permit applications (administrative policy)	Planning applications; costs associated with environmental review; building inspections for State license requirements (resolution)
Historic Preservation (Landmarks and Contributing Structures in a Historic District)	Building permit applications (ordinance)	Planning administrative approvals/certificate of appropriateness and building permit applications (ordinance)
Charitably Funded Public Projects	Planning and building permit applications (ordinance)	All planning approvals, building permit applications and any associated appeal fees (ordinance)
All Other City Projects	Planning and building permit applications and inspections (administrative policy)	Planning and building permit applications funded by general fund (administrative policy)

For consistency of application and public understanding, staff recommends that one common definition be established for service priorities related to development activities, with eligible projects established by Council resolution. For such service priorities to have the greatest benefit, the complete range of service must be considered from application for planning discretionary approvals and building permits to final issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy and related business license. Under this proposal, priority service is defined as delivery of the full range of necessary City services as soon as the next available service opening occurs, irrespective of the existing service queue for non-priority projects. For example, a permit application would be assigned to the first qualified available staff member who completes their present assignment. Building inspection would be guaranteed the next business day for all requests received in a timely manner the previous business day.

Green-Building Advisor Plan Review Fees

Council has encouraged the construction of green, high-performance buildings in the private sector by approving incentives most requested by builders and property owners. In 2005, Council approved a grant program for buildings registered in the LEED-NC (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction) green building rating system, a nationally recognized certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In September, 2005, Council approved expedited plan checks for buildings registered for certification under the LEED-NC rating system. The recently adopted revised fee structure, however, inadvertently established a new $246 fee for a green building plan review provided by the City’s Green Building Program Advisor. This fee contradicts the intention of the grant program and priority plan check option, and staff proposes that the fee be deleted. A resolution has been prepared to eliminate this fee.

Relation to Existing Ordinance and Resolutions

This new ordinance and resolution will not change or negate previous Council actions that give incentives and fee waivers to priority development activities. Rather, it will cover gaps in phases of City service related to development review and approval so that priority processing occurs as desired in all necessary City actions.

Alternatives

The Council could continue to customize benefits and incentives for each development type. The downside to this approach is that it increases staff, applicant and public uncertainty and misunderstanding, as varying standards are used for priority status. In addition, Council could extend fee waivers to all priority projects, however, this approach is not recommended because the budgetary impacts would be significant.

Budget/Financial Impact

There is no direct fiscal or budget impact as a result of standardized priority service. Eliminating the fee for Green Building plan review will result in an annual revenue loss of $14,760 in account number 31662.407730 Green Building Plan Review, where this proposed additional revenue was to be collected.

Prepared by:

Timothy P. McCormick, P.E. & C.B.O., Building Officer

Attachment A: An Ordinance Of the City Council of the City Of Santa Monica Adding Chapter 1.20 to the Santa Monica Municipal Code Relating to Priority for City Service

Attachment B: A Resolution of the Council of the City of Santa Monica Setting Forth the Priority of City Services Related to Development Activities (Proposed to be Adopted at the Second Reading of Related Ordinance)

Attachment C: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica Revising User Fees in the Environmental and Public Works Management Department Related to Plan Review by the Green Building Program Advisor

Approved:

Forwarded to Council:

Andy Agle, Interim Director

Planning and Community Development

P. Lamont Ewell

City Manager

ATTACHMENT A

City Council Meeting 9-26-06 Santa Monica, California

ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

SANTA MONICA ADDING CHAPTER 1.20 TO THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO PRIORITY FOR CITY SERVICE

WHEREAS, Santa Monica is committed to providing equal access to all of its services and benefits to the community; and

WHEREAS, certain community priorities may at times require priority receipt of such services and benefits; and

WHEREAS, Santa Monica desires to ensure that such a priority system remains an exception to the general rule of first come-first serve for services, is fair and equitable and consistent with established community priorities; and

WHEREAS, establishing such priorities by City Council action ensures that granting such exceptions will benefit the established community priorities;

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 1.20 is hereby added to the Santa Monica Municipal Code to read as follows:

CHAPTER 1.20 PRIORITY FOR CITY SERVICES

Section 1.20.010 Purpose

The City of Santa Monica desires to ensure that all persons having need of City services have equal access to and benefit from those services. Priority status for City services cannot be conferred upon any group or individual unless authority for such priority is first established by resolution of the City Council as prescribed herein.

Section 1.20.020 Establishment of Service Priorities

The City shall by resolution of the City Council establish project types that will receive priority in the City’s provision of services related to the processing, review and issuance of permits and licenses for development activities.

Section 1.20.030 Scope

Priority service shall be provided for the complete range of development activities and shall include, but not be limited to, any preliminary project submittals, applications for planning discretionary approvals, building permit applications and issuance of building permits, construction inspections, permits for work in the public way, final issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy and, initial business license applications.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to emergency response services of any City department including but not limited to the Police, Fire and Environmental and Public Works Management departments.

Nothing in this chapter shall prevent authorized employees of the City of Santa Monica from making all necessary efforts to remedy service delays caused by the City and through no fault of any person seeking service.

Section 1.20.040 Priority Service Defined For Development Activity

Priority service for development activity shall constitute granting the full range of necessary City services as soon as the next available service opening occurs without regard for who is next in the service queue, unless otherwise required by law. Priority service shall include but not be limited to the following:

1. Begin formal staff review of complete applications for all related permits or approvals by the next available City employee or agent as soon as that person completes their current assignment.

2. Set hearing date for discretionary reviews at the earliest practical date within 30 days of determining that an application is complete.

3. Inspect all completed and accessible construction at the required stages of construction within one business day of permit holder’s request.

4. Review any complete business license application related to initiating the priority activity within one business day.

SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal 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 3. 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 City 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 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City 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.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

_________________________

MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE

City Attorney

ATTACHMENT B

City Council Meeting 09-26-06 Santa Monica, California

(PROPOSED TO BE ADOPTED AT THE

SECOND READING OF RELATED ORDINANCE)

RESOLUTION NUMBER (CCS)

(City Council Series)

A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA SETTING FORTH THE PRIORITY OF CITY SERVICES

RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

WHEREAS, on October 10, 2006, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number XXXX (CCS) amending Chapter 1 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code relating to priorities for City services; and

WHEREAS, this ordinance added Chapter 1.20 to the Municipal Code, which authorizes and requires the establishment of service priorities by Resolution of the City Council; and

WHEREAS, certain development-related services, such as services for planning approvals, building permits and construction inspections are subject to this requirement; and

WHEREAS, City Council has considered the appropriate community priorities among development types that rely on the efficient and expeditious conclusion of the land use and construction regulatory processes; and

WHEREAS, the City Council by this Resolution desires to make an exception to the general first come first served rule of service and grant priority service processing to these development types for the benefit of the community in accordance with established priorities: and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to adopt this Resolution to establish these service priorities and their specific limits:

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. SCOPE OF DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

The following development activities shall receive priority services: one hundred percent on-site affordable housing, LEED Certified green buildings, seismic rehabilitation, child care facilities, historic resources including Federal, State or City designated landmarks and structures contributing to a historic district and charitably funded and City-funded public projects.

SECTION 2. RELATION TO OTHER ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTIONS

The benefits of this priority service are in addition and cumulative to any other benefits established by Council ordinance and resolution.

SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution and the same shall be in full force and effect on the effective date of Ordinance (XXXX), which is (Month, Day ,) 2006.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

(DRAFT DOCUMENT ONLY)

(NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED)

_______________________

MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE

City Attorney