Minutes - Parks and Recreation Commission - 02/19/2004

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Case #3: Review Commercial Trail and Park Dedication Civil Engineer II Linton advised that the City Council reviewed all fees at their December 9, 2003 meeting. Staff was directed to review the commercial trail and park dedication fees and forward a recommendation to the Parks Commission. Information on commercial park dedication fees was presented to the Parks Commission at the regular January meeting and the case was tabled with a request for more detailed information. Civil Engineer II Linton stated staff gathered information from cities that have recently performed similar analyses and looked up data for cities that are in the northwest portion of the metro area. He advised that most cities do not have a specific fee for trails; it is covered in the commercial and residential park dedication fees. He presented the results of staff's research. Civil Engineer II Linton reviewed that the charge from the Ramsey City Council was to review commercial trail dedication fees and indirectly the commercial park dedication fees. The current C/I trail fee is $100.00/acre. The current park dedication fee is 5% of Fair Market Value (FMV), using $2.00/sq ft as the minimum for FMV. The current Industrial fee is also 5% FMV, using $1.00/ sq ft as the minimum. Fair Market Value can be an elusive term as anyone who has bought or sold real estate or vehicles can attest. The buyer always wants the value to be low and the seller is looking for maximum value. Civil Engineer II Linton reviewed the example contained in staff's report. He explained that the basis for this analysis was the Bloomington analysis that commercial development accounts for 10% of park use. Commercial development can have approximately the same number of people per acre as high density residential. Using 2.5 units / acre * 3 people/unit = 8 people / acre for seemed like a fair basis for comparison of residential and commercial fees. This may not be an exact 10% of the commercial occupants/acre but is a point for comparing the impact of the fees charged. The $100/ acre commercial trail fee is 7% of the rate charged to residential land whereas the Park fee is 79% of the fee for residential. The revised commercial trail fee is shown at $1090/acre. This would make it 79% of the residential rate. Civil Engineer II Linton suggested that changing to a fee per acre makes logical sense in that it removes the ambiguity of FMV and makes the calculations straight forward. The question then becomes what is a fair price for C/I park dedication fees. He presented the rates for several neighboring cities as contained in the staff report. Civil Engineer II~ Linton stated staff recommends adopting a fee per acre basis for calculating park dedication fees and going away from the % FMV method currently in use. Staff recommends that the commercial/industrial trail fee for 2004 be increased to at least $1090/acre. This would make the combined park/trail fee $5446/acre. The quality of existing parks, needed improvements, and proposed improvements should be evaluated, taking into consideration the new developments coming into Ramsey. These proposed improvements should be evaluated in conjunction with the 5-year Capital improvement program to determine if the current park and dedication fee structure will provide the necessary funds to build the future park improvements. Park and Recreation Commission/February 19, 2004 Page 4 of 7