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Ordinance 09-1885 \C i ORDINANCE NO. (19-1885 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LONGWOOD, FLORIDA, CREATING CODE CHAPTER 59 IN THE CITY CODE OF ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR PASS- THROUGH TO 7CHE APPLICANT OF' CERTAIN COSTS INCURRED BY THE CITY PERTAINING TO THE REVIEW AND REGULATION OF DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE CITY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS ANI) SEVERABILI[TY; AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Commission of the ~~ity of Longwood recognizes the City incurs significant costs in the review, inspection and regulation of development activities occurring within the City; and WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of :Longwood desires that applicants for certain development activities pay the costs of review, inspection and regulation of development activities relative to their application; and WHEREAS, the City Cornmissiori of the City of Longwood desires to amend its City Code to provide for pass-through of certain costs :incurred by the City pertaining to the review, inspection and regulation of development activities. NOW THEREFORE, B]E IT ENACTED by the City Commission of the City of Longwood, Florida as follows: SECTION 1. City Code Chapter 59 is hereby created as follows: 59-1 Authority The City is hereby authorized to assess and collect fees, deposits, costs and expenses relating or pertaining to the review, inspection and regulation of development related activities pursuant to this Section. 59-2 Definitions. The following words, terms, phrases, when. used in this Section, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. Applicant shall mean and refer to an owner- or an owner's authorized agent who submits ~ an application, proposal, petition or project to the ~;ity. 1 Application shall mean and refer to an application, petition or proposal submitted to the ~ City pertaining to development for which City approval is required, including, but not limited to the review or approval of: (i) A preliminary subdivision plan, (ii) A subdivision plan or plat, including any revisions to a previously approved or existing subdivision or plat, (iii) An annexation, (iv) A comprehensive plan amendment /future land use map amendment, (v) A variance, (vi) A site plan, (vii) A site plan revision, (viii) A building permit (ix) An arbor permit, (x) A development agreement, (xi) Lot splits, (xii) New construction. City consultant shall mean and refer to those companies, private consultants, governments, individuals or other entities under contract with the City to provide services to or for the City or who provide technical or legal expertise to the City, including but not limited to, attorneys, engineers, planners, architects, surveyors and real estate. City staff shall mean and refer to City employees. Total development review amount shall mean and refer to the total amount of the review deposit to be paid by an applicant pursuant to section 59-3 and any fees authorized to be collected by the City pursuant to its Code of Ordinances. Owner shall mean and refer to an owner or group of owners of fee simple title to a particular lot, tract, or parcel of real property. Otivner's authorized agent shall mean and refer to an agent of the owner duly authorized to submit and process an application. If the applicant is not the property owner, a proper 2 authorization must accompany the application. Such authorization shall be evidenced by a power of attorney signed by the owner and notarized specifically authorizing the agent to represent the owner in connection with the application and as to the owner's real property which is the subject of the application. The authorization shall include an agreement of the owner to be bound by the actions of the owner's authorized age~it and th.e provisions of this Section. Review deposit shall mean and refer to the review deposit, as established by this Section and as established from time-to-time by ordinance of the City Commission, to be paid by an applicant at the time of the filing of an application as defined herein or, upon good cause shown, such other development related application as determined by the City Administrator. 59-3. Review deposits. (a) Required review depr~sits. A $1,000.00 review deposit, payable to the City of Longwood by personal or company check or cashier's check drawn on a financial institution authorized to do business in the state of Florida, shall be delivered to and collected by the City at the time of submission of each application for review as defined herein. Said review deposit shall be utilized by the City to reimburse the City for the actual costs paid by the City incurred as a result of the development activity. (b) Other development related applications. Upon good cause shown, a review deposit, in an amount determined by the Director of Community Services, paid as set forth above in subsection 59-3 (a}, shall be delivered to and collected by the City at the time. of submission of such other development related application as determined by the Director of Community Services. The following factors, by way of example not limitation, may be considered to support a finding of good cause for the imposition of a review deposit during the review and approval of a development related application and for establi;;hing the appropriate review deposit amount: information provided by the City staff and a~~plicant, the complexity and scope for the development related application acid project, the p~~yment history of the applicant as it pertains to past dealings with t:he City, and the expected invol~~ement of City consultants. c) Waiver of review deposits. In all cases, the Director of Community Services may waive the requirement of a review deposit if, ba:;ed upon information from City staff and the applicant, the amount of the fees, costs and expenses relating to the review, processing, inspection and regulation of such, as estimated by the Director of Community Services, will not exceed the flat fee. No review of an application shall commence until the flat fee and review deposit, if applicable, is paid. The total development review amount shall be forwarded to the . Director of Community Services prior to the en.d of the second business day following the submittal of said application for review or approval. The balance of the review deposit, if any, shall be returned to the applicant as provided for in. section 59-4. No interest shall be paid on any review deposit on account with the City. 59-4. Project account. Once an application as defined herein or, upon good cause shown, such other ~ development related application as determined by the Director of Community Services, has been submitted to the City and the applicable total development review amount has been collected, the Director of Community Services shall establish an individual project account through which all ~ fees, expenses and costs incurred by the City which are associated with the applicable application will be monitored. The project account will be maintained throughout the entire review, processing, inspection, and regulation process until the later of: (i) Final action (after all appeal periods have ruri) by the City Commission has occurred with respect to the application; (ii) No fiirther significant involvement of the City staff or City consultants is expected to occur; (iii) The City has been paid all of the amounts due under this Section and the City Code; or (iv) The expiration of any warranty period associated with the conveyance or dedication of improvements to the City. Fees, costs and expenses for the City consultant time directly related to the review, processing, inspection or regulation of any application or development pursuant to this Section, the City Code and State Statutes and directly related expenses, including, but not limited to, advertising, legal, inspection and engineering costs are to be charged to the project account. 59-5. City invoices. (a) Paynze»t. The Director of Community Services shall periodically total the costs, expenses and fees incurred by the City for each application for which a review deposit is required and deduct these costs from the review deposit account. If the total costs, expenses and fees incurred by the City for an application for which a review deposit is required exceed the review deposit, the Director of Community Services shall send an invoice to the applicant for payment. If payment is not received within ten (10) working days of the invoice date, the Director of Community Services shall send a notice of nonpayment to the applicant and to all City staff and City consultants associated with the applicable application or project informing the applicant, City staff and City consultants to cease all work relating to such unless and until further notified by the Director of Community Services. 59-6. Required payments. Payment of costs, expenses and fees incurred by the City under this Section is a requirement for the City's final approval of the application and project. 59-7. Assessable costs, expenses, and fees. All direct costs, expenses and fees incurred by the City relating directly to the review, processing, inspection, or regulation of an application, including but not limited to, the time of City consultants, as well as those relating directly to, advertising, surveying, legal and 4 engineering for an application or project shall be r~aimbursed to the City by and assessed to the ~ applicant. 1) City consultants shall submit records of their time, fees, costs, and expenses to the Director of Community Services and such. fees, costs and expenses shall be deducted from the deposit account or_invoiced to t:he applicant on a dollar for dollar basis for services provided to or four the City as a result of an application. All fees, costs, and expenses invoiced by City consultants, in addition to the applicable flat fee, are the responsibility of the applicant. 2) The City Commission may require the reirribursement of costs associated with staff time for the review, processing, inspection, or rc;gulation of an application requiring a greater than average commitment of staff time and. resources. For these applications, City staff may submit records of their time, fees, costs and expenses expending on applications or projects to t:he extent such fees, costs and expenses exceed the applicable flat fee, to the Director of Community Services for invoicing. City staff's hourly rates shall be deducted from the deposit account or_invoiced to the applicant at such rate to the extent such fees, costs and expenses exceed the applicable flat fee. 59-8. Objections/appeal. Any objection to any invoice or to any matter set forth in this Section must be set forth in writing addressed and delivered to the City Administrator on or before ten (10) days after the ~ date of the relevant invoice: In the event the City .Administrator denies the objection or request, the applicant shall have ten (10) days after the date of the City Administrator's written decision to file an appeal of such decision with the City Administrator or designee, which appeal shall be heard by the City Commission. E~11 objections and appeals shall set forth in detail the reasons and evidence upon which the objection and appeal are based. Failure of the applicant to establish beyond a preponderance of the eviden~~e that an invoice, decision or other matter objected to or appealed is not appropriate and is nc~t based upon competent substantial evidence, shall result in a denial of the objection and appeal. 59-9. Attorney's fees in the event of failure to p:~y reviedv costs. In the event: the City is required to enforce this Section, then the City shall be entitled to recover from the applicant all costs and expenses incurred, including but not limited to its reasonable attorneys' fees, paralegal fees and other costs and expenses, whether incurred prior to, . during or subsequent to court proceedings or on appeal. 59-10. Change of ownership. An applicant shall provide prompt written notice to the Director of Community Services in the event of a change in owner:>hip of all or a portion of a lot, tract, or parcel of real property with respect to which an application, or project is pending before the City. Such notice shall be on a form approved by the City and shall include: the name, address and phone number of the new owner and a legal description of the lot, trace: or parcel of real property now owned by the 5 new owner. Any such new owner (i) shall not be entitled to utilize or draw upon any review deposit previously paid to the City by the original applicant, (ii) shall be liable to the City for all ~ fees, costs and expenses related to the lot, tract or parcel of real property which arise subsequent to the date the new owner acquires title to such real property, and (iii) may be required by the City to pay a separate review deposit in the same manner as a. new application in which case a separate project account will be opened in the name of the new owner or the new owner's authorized agent. If a separate review deposit is required, no work shall be undertaken by the City with respect to the lot, tract or parcel of real property than owned by the new owner until a separate review deposit is paid to the City. Until such time as the City receives such written notice of a change in ownership, the original applicant shall be jointly and severally liable to the City for all fees, costs and expenses associated with the application or project which may subsequently be incurred by the City in connection with the activities of the new owner; provided, however, that upon receipt by the City of such a notification of change of ownership, the original applicant shall no longer be liable to the City for fees, costs and expenses incurred by the City which arise solely out of the application or project of the new owner and the new owner shall be solely liable to the City for all such fees, costs and expenses associated with the application or project activities of the new owner or the new owner's authorized agent subsequent to the date of receipt by the City of such notification. 59-11. Agreement to be bound by this Section. Execution of an application shall constitute the consent and agreement for the applicant and the owner, if the application is being executed by the owner's authorized agent, to be bound by the provisions of this Section. ~ SECTION 2. Ordinances and Resolutions in Conflict. All ordinances or resolutions or parts thereof, which may be determined to be in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed. SECTION 3. Severability. It is the intent of the City Commission of the City of Longwood, and is hereby provided, that if any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or provision of this Ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not be construed as to render invalid or unconstitutional the remaining provisions of this Ordinance. SECTION 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective upon adoption. 6 APPROVD AND ADOPTED by the City Commission of the City of Longwood, ~ Florida, on the2 ay of~r n1~009. _ . C BRIAN D. SAC~TT, YOR ATTEST: ;?Gtr SARAH M.117lRUS, CMC, CITY CLERK Approved as to form and legality for the use and reliance of the City of Longwood, Florida, only. p TER]E;SA S. ROPER, CITY ATTORNEY 7