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Home My WebLink About1999-03-16; City Council; 15099; Laurel Tree Affordable Apartments Request~. - I 13 q CITY OF CARLSBAD -AGENDA BILL 4 4B# 6:' 09 9 DEPT. HD. TITLE: MTG. 3-r6 -7 9 TO DEFER PAYMENT OF THE PUBLIC FACILITIES FEE LAUREL TREE AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS REQUEST ATTY. IEPT. HlRED CITY MGR. " RECOMMENDED ACTION: ADOPT City Council Resolution No. 99- 71 , APPROVING a request by California Laurel Tree Apartments L.P., to defer payment of the Public Facilities Fee in the amount of $197,732 for the Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project until the final Certificate of Occupancy is ready to be issued for the last residential unit within project . Proiect Description: On November 7, 1995, the City Council approved development of the Laurel Tree Apartment Project. The project consists of 138 apartment units affordable to very-low income households. Phase I of the project is currently under construction. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of December, 1999. While the project is now under construction, the start of the project was delayed due to heavy rains last winter. The delays resulted in an increase in the cost of construction. While there is no financial threat which would jeopardize completion of the project, the increased costs have impacted the construction budget and have resulted in some cash flow issues for the developer. To help alleviate this situation, the developer is requesting that payment of the Public Facilities Fee (PFF) be deferred until the final certificate of occupancy is ready to be issued for the last residential unit within the project. City Council Policy No. 17 allows an exception from payment of the PFF for affordable housing projects where the Council finds such project consistent with the Housing Element of the General Plan and that such exception is necessary. Because the Site Development Plan for the subject project was approved with a specific condition requiring the developer to pay the Public Facilities Fee (PFF) to be consistent with the General Plan, staff is not able to recommend a fee exemption for the project. Therefore, staff is recommending deferral of the fee to assist the developer with the cash flow problem. This action is consistent with previous actions by the Council to assist with the development of affordable housing. Staff believes that there are several factors that will ensure that the PFF will ultimately be paid at final certificate of occupancy. First, the development of the Laurel Tree Apartments is being funded in large part through the equity derived from the 9% federal tax credit program. Project financing has been structured such that the equity investor will not provide final payments to the project without the developer receiving the final certificate of occupancy. Second, without a final certificate of occupancy for all units, the development will not be able to secure permanent financing for the project. FISCAL IMPACT Approval of the applicant's request will defer the payment of the Public Facilities Fee approximately nine to twelve months. This approval, however, will not affect the construction of any city wide facilities and will therefore have no financial impact to the City of Carlsbad. EXHIBITS 1. City Council Resolution No. q9- 9 1 , approving deferral of the PFF for Laurel Tree Apartments 2. Applicant's Letter of Request dated February 3, 1999 I ( I ! 1( 11 1; 1: 14 15 18 17 10 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 99-91 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A REQUEST BY CALIFORNIA LAUREL TREE APARTMENTS L.P., TO DEFER PAYMENT OF THE PUBLIC FACILITIES FEE IN TEIE AMOUNT OF $197,732 FOR THE LAUREL TREE AFFORDABLE APARTMENT PROJECT UNTIL THE FINAL CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY IS READY TO BE ISSUED FOR THE LAST RESIDENTIAL UNIT WITHIN THE PROJECT. APPLICANT: CALIFORNIA LAUREL TREE APARTMENTS CASE NO: SDP 95-01 WHEREAS, California Laurel Tree Apartments, the developer of the Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project, received City Council approval of a Site Development Plan (SDP 95-01) on November 11, 1995; WHEREAS, as a condition of approval of the Site Development Plan, the developer was required to pay a Public Facilities Fee prior to the issuance of a building permit for Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project; WHEREAS, the developer has requested that the payment of the Public Facilities Fee be deferred until the final certificate of occupancy is ready to be issued for the last residential unit within the project; WHEREAS, the City Council, in order to assist in the development of affordable housing in the City of Carlshad has previously approved similar requests to defer payment of fees; WHEREAS, the City Council did hold a public meeting to consider said request to defer the payment of the Public Facility Fee for the Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project; WHEREAS, at said public meeting, upon hearing and considering all testimony, if any, of all persons desiring to be heard, said Council considered all factors relating to the application and request to defer payment of fees; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. I I € i E 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2. The project is consistent with the goals and objectives of the City of Carlsbad's Housing Element, the Consolidated Pian, the Inciusionary Housing Ordinance, and the Carlsbad General Plan. 3. Based upon the analysis contained within the City Council Staff Report, the City Council finds that the deferral of the payment of the Public Facilities Fee until the final Certificate of Occupancy is ready to be issued for the last residential unit within the Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project is in the public interest. 4. That based on the information provided within the City Council Staff Report and testimony presented during the public meeting of the City Council, the City Council hereby APPROVES a request by California Laurel Tree Apartments L.P., to defer payment of the Public Facilities Fee in the amount of $197,732 for the Laurel Tree Affordable Apartment Project until the final Certificate of Occupancy is ready to be issued for the last residential unit within the project . PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of 16th the City of Carlsbad, California, held on the /_day of March , 1999 by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Council Members Lewis, Hall. Finnila, and Kulchin NOES: None ATTEST: &LQaz 4. ALETHA L. RAUTENKRANZ, City Clerk (SEAL) cc RES0 # PAGE 2 - EXHIBIT 2 MAA JECT AGENCY ADMINISTRATION 22 West 35th Sheet, Suite 100, National City, CA 91950 (619) 426-3595, FAX (619) 4 ,217 3 February 3, 1999 Ms. Deborah Fountain City of Carlsbad Housing and Redevelopment 2965 Roosevelt Street, Suite B Carlsbad, CA 92008-2389 re: Laurel Tree Apartments Public Facilities Fees Dear Debbie: We are well under way on the Laurel Tree project and are anxiously looking forward to its completion later this year. We would love to have you and Craig out to tour the site and see firsthand the progress we have made. We have recently completed grading and are in the process of preparing the site to pour foundations. We expect to pull the building permits for our first phase in the next two weeks. In reviewing the City's fee schedule we noted that $197,732.00 in Public Facilities Fees are required to be paid at time of building permit issuance. In preparing our project budgets we had not included this in the proforma. It was our understanding that affordable housing projects received some form of relief from this fee. In discussions with Jack Henthom he brought to our attention the possibility of a fee deferral which would help immensely in managing our already tight development budget. Accordingly, we are requesting a deferral of public facilities fees pursuant to subsection 5.e under Council Policy #17. Please let us know what steps need to be taken to achieve this fee deferral and what the terms of repayment would be under the Council policy. Thank you in advance for your assistance. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at (619) 426-3595 or Steve Kuptz at his new number (619) 715-5535. cc: Steve Kuptz, Wakeland Housing &&lopment