City Council Meeting Recap – May 24
PCTPA Report, Development Impact Fee Study

News

A visual summary of the latest council meeting, showing on one side a woman dropping off a ballot (with the headline "Item 21 – Procedures to Fill Potential Council Vacancies"), and on the other side a view of cars on a freeway with the headline "PCTPA Provides Update on Potential Transportation Funding Measure"

Item 20 – PCTPA Provides Update on Potential Transportation Funding Measure

Mike Luken, Executive Director of Placer County Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA), provided an update to City Council on the need, status and outreach planned for a potential 2024 South County Transportation Sales Tax Measure to fund transportation infrastructure in the region.

Luken and the City Council also discussed other projects and approaches to improving and funding transportation infrastructure in Rocklin. Some of the topics discussed included local roadway projects such as the Rocklin Rd/I-80 interchange, expansion of Capital Corridor intercity rail service, a new micro-transit pilot project for Rocklin, and more.

Click the video link next to Item 20 to see the presentation and hear the discussion.

Item 21 – Procedures to Fill Potential Council Vacancies

City Council reviewed potential ordinances to modify the current procedures used by the City to fill vacancies on the City Council that may occur before the end of a term of office. The discussion was prompted because a current councilmember is running for State Assembly and may be need to resign if they were elected to the new position.

The discussion focused on the Council’s desires to hold a special election to fill a potential vacancy, balanced against the significant costs that could be involved based on the timing a vacancy in relation to the next general municipal election.

The Council took no action on this item Tuesday night, ultimately deciding that the process provided in California Government Code section 36512 for filling Council vacancies, which currently falls under, provides the procedural options necessary at this time. However, the Council stated that the issue and a possible new ordinance could be placed on the agenda at a later date for further evaluation.

Watch the full Item 21 discussion using the video link here.

Item 22 – City Adopts Development Impact Fee Study

Development impact fees are imposed on new development projects in the City of Rocklin in order to mitigate the impacts of new development on existing City capital facilities. The City of Rocklin charges impact fees for several types of facilities, including parks and recreation facilities, transportation infrastructure, and police stations and fire stations.

In order to strengthen the City’s ability to continue to offer high quality parks and recreation amenities to existing and new residents, Council approved the introduction of an ordinance that would modify the Rocklin Municipal Code to do the following:

  1. Update the Community Park Fee, and rename it the Park Improvement Impact Fee.
  2. Establish a new Trails Impact Fee.
  3. Restructure the existing Public Facilities Impact Fee into two separate fees – the Community and Recreation Facilities Impact Fee (for recreational facilities), and the Public Facilities Impact Fee (for general government facilities).   

The formulas used to fund new park facilities have not been updated in over twenty years. General best practices recommend an update of impact fee programs at least every five years. 

Based on feedback received from the City Council at the October 12, 2021 public hearing, staff and the consulting firm NBS presented a series of revisions that define residential impact fee categories by unit-size ranges in square feet rather then the type of development. A schedule was submitted for the application of the updated fees to be adjusted annually.

After the adoption of the Development Impact Fee Study with a second reading of the ordinance on June 28, 2022, staff recommends the application of the updated fees, for all development types at the amounts proposed in the Study, be effective January 1, 2023. However, in recognition of the increases for residential projects, staff recommends a phase-in schedule that can be found here

A formal schedule for the actual implementation of the new fees will be determined by ordinance, which will be publicly noticed and considered by Council later this year. 

Existing and proposed Impact Fee Studies can be found on the City Council Agenda online. Watch the full item 22 discussion using the video link here.

Find the full May 24 City Council Agenda and links to the discussion items here.