Rocklin City Council updates Parks & Rec impact fees

Rocklin City Council voted Tuesday to update parks and recreation development impact fees for the first time in two decades. Rocklin staff said that under "normal best practices," development impact fees should be updated every five years. Deferring updates has resulted in several Rocklin problems: * The city has accepted the dedication of more park property than it can afford to develop (total park acreage, excluding Quarry Park Adventure and the Sunset Whitney Recreation Area, is 426 acres, of which 120 acres is undeveloped)* The Community Park Fee is set at a level far below the actual cost of developing park land* There is no identified source of funding for the development of trails. With feedback from two 2021 public hearings, Rocklin city staff revised the fee structure to define the residential impact fee categories, except for the age-restricted residential category, by unit size ranges in square feet. Staff said that calculating the fees based on unit-size ranges is a change from the city's existing impact fees, which use categories based on the type of development (single-family or multi-family residential). "We're trying to make the fee structure fit the actual market in Rocklin," said Joe Colgan, impact fee specialist for Rocklin consultant NBS. During the public hearing, Jerry Mitchell said, "What I see here is a reasonable compromise." Bonds issued In other business, Rocklin City Council voted Tuesday to issue $12-million in special tax bonds to pay for infrastructure in Whitney Ranch. Rocklin Accounting supervisor Ted Williams said that $15.6-million remains of the original $60-million in bonds authorized in 2005 for Community Facilities District 10 or Whitney Ranch. Staff said the developer requested the bonds. With rising interest rates and volatile market conditions, the actual project funds generated through the 2022 bonds sale will not be known until the day of sale, according to the staff report. City Council also set a public hearing for 6 p.m. June 28 for delinquent nuisance (weed) abatement charges and delinquent refuse collection fees. Property owners objecting to the fees will be heard. Notice of the hearing shall be mailed to each affected owner of record at least 10 days prior to the hearing, officials said. Rocklin City Council also approved an affordable housing regulatory agreement for the Terracina at Whitney Ranch project. The Terracina project is a three-story, 288-unit apartment community on roughly 12 acres on the east side of University Avenue, west of Wildcat Avenue and north of Whitney Ranch Parkway. The agreement requires that 285 of the 288 units would be rental units affordable to low, very low and extremely low-income households with incomes ranging from 30 percent to 70 percent of area median income. Three unrestricted units would be manager units, staff said. Affordable rental units, maximum incomes, and maximum rents will be restricted for a 55-year term.