HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOCC Fee Waiver Request - Cloverdale Fire
MEMORANDUM
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Nick Lelack, Interim Director
DATE: November 19, 2012
RE: Blanket Fee Waiver Request – Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District
Background
The purpose of this work session is to consider a Fee Waiver Request from the Cloverdale Rural
Fire Protection District (RFD). The request, submitted by Fire Chief Thad Olsen, is to waive all
fees in the amount of $13,439.80 to place a 1,600 square foot factory-built structure (office and
dormitory) at its Fire Station No. 2 site. Chief Olsen will attend this work session.
The proposed structure requires land use and building permit approval. County Planning and
Road Dept. staff conducted a pre-application meeting with the Cloverdale RFD and conducted a
site visit. Senior Planner Will Groves also provided Chief Olsen a written land use fee estimate on
September 26, 2012 in the amount of $5,835 (Site Plan Review: $2,770, Landscape Management
Review: $805; and Full Variance: $2,260). Cloverdale RFD requests a land use fee waiver in the
amount of $7,595 for “Planning Fees ($4,995)” and “Full Variance/setback requirements ($2,600).”
In addition, according to Senior Transportation Planner Peter Russell, he and County Engineer
George Kolb determined that a traffic study is not required and no System Development Charges
(SDCs) must be paid. The reasons are:
(1) The land use (fire station) is already established and fire stations produce trips on an irregular
basis. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Handbook does not account for fire
stations or police stations for this reason. The County’s traffic study threshold is 50 new
weekday trips and the Cloverdale station does not generate that many trips, based on
conversations staff had on-site with Cloverdale RFD representatives.
(2) The fire station will contain a new element, office and dormitory, which may house a few
volunteers. However, even if the few volunteers do stay at the station their shifts could begin
and end outside of the p.m. peak hour, thus not consuming any road capacity. The County’s
SDC is based on p.m. peak hour consumption of road capacity.
In other words, due to the combination of the site’s unique use, the number of fire engines
remaining the same, the few staff, and the low number of responses, staff felt neither a traffic study
nor an SDC was warranted.
In sum, the total estimated fees for the structure are $8,679 rather than the requested $13,439.
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Discussion
The applicant states there is an immediate need to protect public safety; the fees contribute to a
financial hardship due to the District’s low tax rate and limited purchasing power; and the proposed
development will not result in a significant change to the property or its traffic generation.
In consideration of this request, it might be useful to consider how similar requests from other
public agencies might be addressed in the future in meeting immediate public health, safety,
education, or job creation needs who are also facing “significant financial limitations.”
Requested Board Action
Staff seeks a Board decision to:
(1) Approve the blanket fee waiver in the amount of approximately $8,679 and find that the action
is in the public benefit, per the fee waiver policy; or
(2) Approve a partial fee waiver (an amount less than approximately $8,679) and find that the
action is in the public benefit, per the fee waiver policy; or
(3) Deny the fee waiver request; or
(4) Conduct another work session on this request (this action may include directing staff to provide
additional information).