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Home My WebLink AboutVII (E) Discussion re Reduction or Waiver of Application Fee for Site Plan Review for Non-Profit Organizations Agenda 09-21-2003 Mayor „eye Commissioners of Goody,' ICommission 1I rsE S. Scott Vandergrift ��- Danny Howell, District 1 • ///''' I t p}� Scott Anderson, District 2 City Manager � �.....��d ,lam Rusty Johnson, District 3 Jim Gleason �� Nancy J. Parker, District 4 STAFF REPORT DATE: January 15, 2003 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners -U� FROM: Jennifer Willman, Senior Planner THROUGH: Russell B. Wagner, AICP, Communityu Development Director SUBJECT: Reduction or Waiver of Site Plan Application Fee Request from Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church ISSUE: Should the Mayor and City Commissioners reduce or waive the Site Plan Application Fee as requested by Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church? (See attached letter.) BACKGROUND The applicant previously applied for Annexation with initial zoning of R-1A, and Special Exception for church and school use on its 9.2-acre property located approximately 700 feet east of the intersection of Ocoee-Apopka Road and Fuller's Cross Road on the north side of Fuller's Cross Road. These applications were approved by City Commission on July 18, 2002. Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church paid all the application fees and did not ask for the fees to be waived. Now the applicant has submitted a Site Plan application for the same property, and has requested that the application fee be reduced or waived. The application fee is a flat fee, which covers the cost of staff time dedicated to review and process the application. The applicant has not requested any concessions for the $150 preliminary concurrency management application fee, or the $1,000 deposit that is a security for payment of legal, consultant and engineering fees, advertising, court reporting, and miscellaneous costs. DISCUSSION: In the past, City Commission has waived fees for churches, ranging from only the application fees to all fees, including advertising and attorney costs, etc. The waiving of fees has been inconsistent, and no policy has been set as to which application fees should or should not be waived, and under what circumstances. In order to address this situation, City Commission has asked staff to recommend a policy regarding payment of fees by non-profit organizations. Classically, fees are waived for those applications that are administrative in nature, those being applications for: 1) Annexation, 2) Rezoning, 3) Joint Planning Area Amendment, 4) Small Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment, and 5) Special Exception, when submitted by non-profit organizations. Processing these five types of applications do not require excessive amounts of staff time. These applications are considered to be part of the "general entitlement" phase of the process. Page 2 of 2 Mayor and City Commission January 15,2003 When the project reaches the development proposal stage, technical review is necessary. The review of subdivision plans and site plans requires a significant amount of staff effort. Technical review is also done for concurrency management and platting. Often the actual cost staff time spent exceeds the flat fee collected for this purpose. Those applications requiring technical review are considered to be a part of the "permitting" phase of the process. Listed below are typical types of fees collected from developers to cover the cost of staff time. "General Entitlement"Application Fees, Administrative in Nature: Annexation with Initial Zoning (< 10 Acres/Not PUD) $ 500 Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Small Scale) $1,050 Joint Planning Area Amendment $1,050 Rezoning (Not PUD) $1,125 Special Exception $1,000 "Permitting"Application Fees, Requiring Extensive Technical Review: Subdivision Plan, Preliminary $2,500-3,500 Subdivision Plan, Final $2,500-3,500 Small Scale Site Plan (Non-residential < 25,000 sq. ft.) $1,500 Large Scale Site Plan, Preliminary $2,500-3,500 Large Scale Site Plan, Final $2,500-3,500 Plat Certificate $1,000-2,000 Concurrency Management, Preliminary $ 150 Concurrency Management, Final $ 250 Concurrency Management, Transportation $ 100-500 The developer also pays a $1,000 deposit per project, which is returnable upon project completion, and pays for advertising, court reporting, legal, consultant and engineering costs for traffic studies, etc., which are extremely variable costs depending on the scope of the project. It should be noted that the City does not charge non-profit organizations for transportation impact fees, which is a significant financial benefit. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Based on the foregoing discussion, staff recommends denial of the request made by Glad Tidings Assembly of God to reduce or waive the Site Plan Application Fee. In addition, staff offers the following policy to be set by City Commission regarding payment of fees by non-profit organizations. Applicants representing non-profit organizations may request that only the following application fees be waived: Annexation, Rezoning, Joint Planning Area Amendment, Comprehensive Plan Amendment, and Special Exception. If the applicant would like to request a waiver of fee payment, it must be done prior to City Commission action on the application and there will be no retroactive reimbursement. Applicants will pay all other application fees, such as Site Plan and Concurrency Management, all reimbursable fees, as well as the $1,000 deposit per project. Non-profit organizations will continue to benefit from not paying transportation impact fees. Staff will inform applicants of this policy at the pre-application meeting. If the City Attorney deems it necessary, staff will prepare a Resolution for City Commission approval. Attachment: Letter from Rev. Howell dated December31,2002 O:\Staff Reports\2003\SR03005 CC.doc I y.�ear I0INGS H U R C H December 31,2002 Russ Wagner.AICP Community Development Director City of Ocoee Russ, We appreciate the ongoing cooperation with the City concerning the development of our proposed facility on Fullers Cross Rd. We would respectively request consideration for reduction or waiver of our site plan review fee. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Sincerely, j 1i 44. Gary B/h owe Senior Pastor Glad Tidings Assembly of God