Agenda Item: 1
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
PUBLIC HEARINGS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: November 26, 2024
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE EASTSIDE BRIDGE AND MAJOR
THOROUGHFARE CONSTRUCTION FEE DISTRICT
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
PRESENTER: Ian Pari
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Conduct a public hearing to amend the Eastside Bridge and Major Thoroughfare Construction Fee District.
2. Providing there is less than 50 percent written protest from the represented area of benefit, adopt a resolution amending the adopted Eastside Bridge and Major Thoroughfare Construction Fee District, and instruct the City Clerk to record a certified copy of the adopted resolution with the County Recorder.
BACKGROUND
The Eastside Bridge and Major Thoroughfare District (District) is a joint district covering portions of the City of Santa Clarita (City) and Los Angeles County (County). The District was last amended in March 2002. Bridge and Major Thoroughfare Districts are used to fund and construct improvements that benefit new development within the District boundaries, including new and improved roadways, bridges, intersections, and interchanges, as identified in the local agency’s adopted Circulation Element of its General Plan. On April 26, 2011, the City Council adopted Resolution 11-23, which approved the Vista Canyon project (Master Case 07-127) including the final Conditions of Approval, which required the developer to amend the District to include Lost Canyon Road and the Vista Canyon Boulevard Bridge.
Updating the District will provide an equitable financing mechanism by which new development within an identified area will pay their proportionate share of the costs of providing full- mitigation transportation improvements serving the District. This type of funding district imposes a fee in proportion to the estimated number of vehicle trips generated by the new
development. Transportation infrastructure improvements within the District are also funded through various grant sources.
The proposed District update addresses improvements that have been made since the District was updated in 2002, in alignment with the City’s Circulation Element and the construction of the Vista Canyon Bridge, as follows:
• Added the completion of the Golden Valley Road extension and widening (except sidewalk and street lights) and Skyline Ranch Road, Via Princessa improvements, Soledad Canyon Road street lights, Sierra Highway street lights and improvements, Sand Canyon Road widening, and numerous intersection upgrades; • Removed planned improvements for Vasquez Canyon Road, Davenport Road, and Placerita Canyon Road, and improvements for Shadow Pines Boulevard have been reduced to two lanes, reflecting revised City and County highway plans; • Adjusted names of street segments: replacing the Whites Canyon Road extension with Skyline Ranch Road and replacing portions of Lost Canyon Road with Vista Canyon Boulevard and Humphreys Parkway; and
• Added Vista Canyon Boulevard, including the Vista Canyon Bridge, and Humphreys Parkway improvements.
The proposed amendments are necessary to update the District so that sufficient funds in the amount of $228.9 million will be collected to construct the portion of the highway system improvements that benefit development within the District boundaries, as identified in the Circulation Element of the City’s and County’s General Plans.
Based on transportation needs in the Santa Clarita Valley and limitations of other funding sources, staff has determined this funding method to be the best alternative to provide needed transportation-related improvements that benefit new development.
Analysis of the District demonstrated that a fee increase is required to fully fund the necessary transportation improvements. The proposed District fee is $23,980 per factored development unit (FDU), which represents an increase of $2,450 per FDU as compared to the current fee.
Proposed fees for various land use types are shown in the table below.
Land Use Category Current District Fee Proposed District Fee Residential:
Single Family (per unit) $21,530 $23,980
Townhouse/Condo (per unit) $17,224 $19,190
Apartment (per unit) $15,071 $16,790
Non-Residential:
Commercial (per gross acre) $107,650 $119,900
Industrial (per gross acre) $64,590 $71,940
In addition to the above proposed rates, a rate sheet for non-typical land uses including, but not limited to, churches, daycare/preschools, self-storage, accessory dwelling units, mobile homes, housing development within a transit priority area, and senior housing has been developed.
Traffic impacts for each category were used to develop these rates.
Currently, the fee is adjusted on July 1 of each year, based on the increase in the Los Angeles Construction Cost Index (CCI), not to exceed two percent. The CCI indicates that since 2002, construction costs in the Los Angeles region have increased by an average of 3.6 percent per year. Therefore, the revisions to the District report will allow for a yearly increase or decrease of up to five percent in the fee rate, based on the CCI. This revision should allow the fee to better adapt to fluctuations in construction costs over the current cap of two percent.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (Board) is scheduled to consider this item in early 2025. The Board’s adoption of the District’s fee amendments would make the County fee consistent with the fees being proposed by the City. The new fee schedule would go into effect 90 days after the Board’s adoption.
It has been determined that a district fee revision does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act guideline 15378(b)(4), in that the district fee establishment is a financing mechanism which does not in itself create any impact on the environment to be mitigated.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adopting the proposed fee amendments will provide the funding necessary to construct transportation improvements needed to accommodate traffic generated by new development.
Should the City not adopt the proposed amendments to the District and continue to collect the current fee, there will be insufficient funds to fully improve major roadways in the Eastside District in accordance with the City's Circulation Element and General Plan.
ATTACHMENTS
Public Hearing Notice
Resolution
Eastside B&T District Update Report (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)