200/210gilmartindr

To:	PLANNING COMMISSION
From:	DANIEL M. WATROUS, SENIOR PLANNER
Subject:	FILE #60006: AMENDMENT TO THE CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL OF VISTA GOLDEN GATE ESTATES TENTATIVE SUBDIVISION MAP; 200/210 GILMARTIN DRIVE; Alexander and Yami Anolik, owners and applicant; Assessor=s Parcel No. 39-171-05
Report Date: Meeting Date:	SEPTEMBER 7, 2001 SEPTEMBER 12, 2001

On February 14, 2001, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 2001-04 approving a Tentative Subdivision Map for the creation of two lots on 4 acres of land at the end of Gilmartin Drive. The applicant is now requesting that two of the conditions of approval of this tentative map approval be amended to defer the payment of certain fees until a later time in the development process.

As part of the approval of the Vista Golden Gate Estates Tentative Subdivision Map, the Town required that a variety of fees be paid by the property owners. Condition of approval No. 15 of Resolution No. 2001-04 required that "park and recreation in-lieu fees, as required by Town ordinance, shall be paid prior to approval of the Parcel Map." Condition of approval No. 16 required that "prior to approval of the Parcel Map, an in-lieu fee of $64,627 per acre lost shall be paid to the Town of Tiburon… to compensate for serpentine bunchgrass grassland area to be lost as a result of the project."

The property owners have requested that these two conditions of approval be amended to defer the timing for the payment of these fees. Rather than paying the fees prior to approval of the Parcel Map for this project, the property owners have requested that payment of the fees not be required until immediately prior to issuance of a grading permit, which would be the first instance in which physical disruption of the property could occur.

Development fees required by the Town are intended to offset the impacts of a project on the community. In the case of the two fees specifically cited in this application, these fees are intended to 1) offset the impact of the two future homes on the site on parks and recreation facilities in Tiburon; and 2) to mitigate the impact on serpentine bunchgrass removed from the site by creating a fund for the purchase of other threatened bunchgrass land on the Tiburon Peninsula.

The property owners have stated that they do not intend to develop the subject property themselves, but rather intend to sell the land to an independent developer. They feel that it would be an unfair hardship to require the payment, in advance, of approximately $100,000-$150,000 in fees that could be paid by the future developer of the subdivision prior to actual physical disturbance of the site.

The Town would receive the same amount of fees for the development of this property whether these fees are collected prior to approval of the Parcel Map or prior to issuance of a grading permit. However, payment of these fees at a later date, possibly (under an unlikely worst-case scenario) years in the future, would deprive the Town of accrued interest from the timely collection of these fees, and would mean that these funds would not be available if opportunities for parks and recreation expenditures or purchase of other serpentine bunchgrass lands became available in the meantime. Further, the Town also runs the risk, albeit minimal, of a future oversight in which the fees are not properly collected at the time the grading permit is issued for this project.

A mitigated negative declaration was adopted as part of the approval of the Vista Golden Gate Estates Precise Development Plan. Amendment of the two conditions to defer payment of fees has no potential for an adverse impact on the physical environment.

Staff recommends that the Planning Commission hold a public hearing on this item and provide specific direction to the applicant and Staff regarding the appropriateness of the proposed amendment. If the Commission determines that the application should be approved, then the attached draft resolution should be adopted.