ORD 19-880 - Relating to the Assessment of Surface & Stormwater Utility System Development Charges ORDINANCE NO. 19-880
AN ORDINANCE of the City of Federal Way, Washington, relating
to the assessment of Surface and Stormwater Utility System
Development Charges; and adding a new chapter to Title 19 FWRC.
WHEREAS, the City recognizes the need to periodically modify Title 19 of the Federal
Way Revised Code ("FWRC"), "Zoning and Development Code," in order to conform to state
and federal law, codify administrative practices, clarify and update zoning regulations as deemed
necessary, and improve the efficiency of the regulations and the development review process;
and
WHEREAS, this ordinance, containing amendments to development regulations and the
text of Title 19 FWRC, has complied with Process VI review, Chapter 19.80 FWRC, pursuant to
Chapter 19.35 FWRC; and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest for the City Council to adopt a new Chapter that
establishes development regulations for collection of Surface and Stormwater System
Development Charges on development within the City of Federal Way that creates additional
demand and need for changes to the stormwater utility infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the Surface Storm Water Utility conducted a rate study (on file with the
Federal Way Public Works Department) that incorporated an analysis regarding the need for a
Surface and Stormwater System Development Charge; and
WHEREAS, the study determined that the City's stormwater drainage system is a series
of catch basins, pipes, ponds, and vaults that are impacted by development that increases
impervious surface area or changes pervious surface areas. These changes result in increased
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 1 of 11
rainfall runoff that creates additional demand and need on the City's stormwater drainage
system; and
WHEREAS, the rate study recommended the implementation of a Surface and
Stormwater System Development Charge; and
WHEREAS, the Surface and Stormwater System Development Charge is for the purpose
of recovering a fair share of the costs of additional demand; and
WHEREAS, without the System Development Charge, the Surface and Stormwater
Utility rate payers would unfairly bear the burden of additional demand on the drainage system
as a result of development; and
WHEREAS, RCW 35.92.025 authorizes cities to assess charges to property owners
seeking to connect to the City's sewerage system; and
WHEREAS, under Chapter 35.67 RCW, the definition of systems of sewerage includes
surface and stormwater facilities; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of a System Development Charge is to share the cost of public
facility improvements that are reasonably related to the service demands and needs of new
development; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission conducted a public workshop on these code
amendments on October 2, 2019, and
WHEREAS, the Land Use & Transportation Committee of the City Council of the City
of Federal Way conducted a study session on these code amendments on November 4, 2019; and
WHEREAS, this non-project action has been determined to be SEPA exempt under
WAC 197-11-800(19) as a procedural action that contains no substantive changes respecting the
use or modification of the environment; and
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 2 of 11
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission properly conducted a duly noticed public hearing
on these code amendments on October 16, 2019, and continued on October 30, 2019 and
forwarded a recommendation of approval to the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the Land Use & Transportation Committee of the Federal Way City Council
considered these code amendments on November 4, 2019, and recommended adoption of the text
amendments as recommended by the Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Way City Council finds it is in the best interest of the public to
enact and impose a Surface and Stormwater System Development Charge.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Findings. The City Council of the City of Federal Way makes the following
findings with respect to the proposed amendments.
(1) These code amendments are in the best interest of the residents of the City and will benefit
the City as a whole by fairly distributing the costs associated with a growing demand on the
City's stormwater system by assessing a charge to new development or re-development that
increases impervious surfaces or alters pervious surfaces resulting in increased rainfall runoff.
(2) These code amendments comply with Chapter 36.70A RCW, Growth Management.
(3) These code amendments are consistent with the intent and purpose of Title 19 FWRC and
will implement and are consistent with the applicable provisions of the Federal Way
Comprehensive Plan("FWCP").
(4) These code amendments bear a substantial relationship to, and will protect and not adversely
affect,the public health, safety, and welfare.
(5) These code amendments have followed the proper procedure required under the FWRC.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 3 of 11
Section 2. Conclusions. Pursuant to Chapter 19.80 FWRC and Chapter 19.35 FWRC, and
based upon the recitals and the findings set forth in Section 1, the Federal Way City Council
makes the following Conclusions of Law with respect to the decisional criteria necessary for the
adoption of the proposed amendments:
(1) The proposed FWRC amendments are consistent with, and substantially implement, the
following Federal Way Comprehensive Plan goals and policies:
CFG1 Annually update the Capital Facilities Plan to implement the FWCP by
coordinating urban services, land use decisions, level of service standards, and
financial resources with a fully funded schedule of capital improvements.
CFP 1 Provide needed public facilities and services to implement the FWCP.
CFP7 Maximize the use of existing public facilities and promote orderly compact
urban growth.
CFG2 To meet current needs for capital facilities in Federal Way, correct deficiencies
in existing systems, and replace or improve obsolete facilities.
CFG3 Provide capital facilities to serve and direct future growth within Federal Way
and its Potential Annexation Area as they further develop.
CFP 13 Provide the capital facilities needed to serve the future growth anticipated by
the FWCP.
CFP 16 Plan and coordinate the location of public facilities and utilities in advance of
need.
CFPG4 Provide adequate funding for capital facilities in Federal Way to ensure the
FWCP vision and goals are implemented.
CFP22 Manage the City of Federal Way's fiscal resources to support providing needed
capital improvements. Ensure a balanced approach to allocating financial resources
between:
(a) major maintenance of existing facilities;
(b) eliminating existing capital facility deficiencies; and
(c) providing new or expanding existing facilities to serve new growth.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 4 of 11
CFPG6 Manage the Surface Water Utility in a manner that makes efficient use of limited
resources to address the most critical problems first, and which expresses community
values and priorities.
CFP34 The utility's funds and resources shall be managed in a professional manner in
accordance with applicable laws, standards, and City financial policies.
CFP35 The utility shall remain a self-supporting enterprise fund.
CFP36 The utility Capital Improvement Program(CIP)will provide funding for the
following types of projects:
(a) Projects needed for renewal/replacement or additions to current infrastructure and
facilities.
CFP37 To the extent of funding limitations, the CIP shall be sustained at a level of
service necessary to implement cost effective flood control mitigation; meet water quality
policies; maintain system integrity; provide required resource stewardship and protection;
and meet federal, state, and local regulations.
CFP38 The utility will continue to strive to minimize the use of loans to fund necessary
capital improvements, and will generally operate on a "pay-as-you-go basis." However,
low interest loans (i.e. Public Works Trust Fund) and/or grants will be used to leverage
local funds when feasible.
(2) The proposed FWRC amendment bears a substantial relationship to the public health, safety,
and welfare because it enables the Surface and'Stormwater Utility to apply a long-range
approach to the financing of necessary facilities to ensure continued operation of the drainage
infrastructure and reduces the likelihood of flooding and environmental degradation as a result of
an overburdened system.
(3) The proposed amendment is in the best interest of the public and the residents of the City of
Federal Way because it fairly distributes the costs associated with a growing demand on the
City's stormwater system by assessing a charge to new development or re-development that
increases impervious surfaces or alters pervious surfaces resulting in increased rainfall runoff.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 5 of 11
Section 3. A new chapter of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby created, Chapter
19.96,to read as follows:
Chapter 19.96
Surface and Stormwater Utility System Development Charges.
19.96.010 Purpose and intent.
The city council has determined that it is in the public interest to enact and impose Surface and
Stormwater Utility System Development Charges (SDC) for the purpose of recovering the
equitable share of the cost of impacts to the City of Federal Way Surface and Stormwater Utility
facilities that result from development that increases impervious surfaces or changes pervious
surfaces resulting in an increase in rainfall runoff.
19.96.020 Definitions.
The following words and terms shall have the following meanings for the purposes of this
chapter. Terms otherwise not defined herein shall be defined pursuant to Chapter 19.05 or given
their usual and customary meaning.
"Equivalent Service Unit (ESU)" means the average amount of impervious surface area on
single-family residential parcels within the City of Federal Way. Impervious surface area
includes the single-family residence, driveway, walkway, paved areas, and other surfaces that do
not allow penetration of stormwater runoff into the ground. The ESU value for the City of
Federal Way has been calculated to be 3,200 square feet.
"Impervious surface area" means the non-vegetated surface area that either prevents or retards
the entry of water into the soil mantle as under natural conditions prior to development and/or
that causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from
the flow present under natural conditions prior to development. Common impervious surfaces
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 6 of 11
include, but are not limited to, roof tops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or stormwater
areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials, and oiled, macadam or
other surfaces that similarly impede the natural infiltration of stormwater.
"Redevelopment" for the purpose of assessing SDCs means a site that is already substantially
developed (i.e., has thirty-five percent or more of existing hard surface coverage), the creation or
addition of hard surfaces; the expansion of a building footprint or addition or replacement of a
structure; structural development including construction, installation or expansion of a building
or other structure; replacement of hard surface that is not part of a routine maintenance activity.
19.96.030 System Development Charges methodology and applicability.
(1) System Development Charges (SDCs) are one-time fees that will be paid at the time of
development and are intended to recover a share of the cost of system capacity needed to serve
growth. No building permit, land use approval, short subdivision or subdivision approval, or any
other permit allowing development within the city shall be granted except upon payment of the
SDC required under this chapter. The annual SDC rate shall be included within the 2020 City of
Federal Way Fee Schedule and will be calculated as a dollar amount per ESU. The SDC will be
reviewed each year and any changes in the SDC rate shall be published in the City of Federal
Way Fee Schedule. All development, which includes redevelopment, in the city that increases
impervious surfaces will be assessed an SDC.
(2) SDCs do not include permit fees, application fees, the administrative fee for collecting and
handling SDCs, or any other charge, fee, or tax imposed or required by the FWRC or any other
entity.
(3) The SDC for 2020 shall be $981.00 per ESU.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 7 of l l
19.96.040 Assessment of System Development Charges.
(1) For the purposes of assessing an SDC, development of a single-family detached dwelling unit
parcel as a single-family detached dwelling unit shall be assessed an SDC of one ESU, regardless
of lot size or total square footage of new impervious surface area.
(2) For all other development, ESUs will be based on the total increase in square footage of
impervious surface area. The total increase in square footage of impervious surface area will be
identified at the time of the development review.
(3) Assessed SDCs shall be paid to the SWM SDC account prior to connection of private
stormwater infrastructure to the City's public drainage system.
19.96.050 Deposit and use of System Development Charge funds.
(1) All monies obtained pursuant to this chapter shall be segregated, credited, and deposited to
the credit of the storm and surface water utility. The monies deposited shall be expended only for
administering, operating, maintaining, or improving storm and surface water facilities, including,
but not limited to, all or any part of the cost of administering, planning, permitting, designing,
financing, acquiring, constructing, maintaining, repairing, replacing, improving, or operating
present or future storm and surface water facilities and/or property owned by the utility. Monies
shall not be transferred to any other funds of the city except to pay for expenses directly
attributable to the storm and surface water utility.
(2) In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments are or have been issued for the advanced
provision of public improvements for which monies obtained pursuant to this chapter may be
expended, said monies may be used to pay debt service on such bonds or similar debt
instruments to the extent that the facilities or improvements provided are consistent with the
requirements of this section and are used to serve development and redevelopment.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 8 of 11
19.96.060 Administrative guidelines.
The public works director is hereby authorized to adopt internal guidelines for the administration
of SDCs,which may include the adoption of a procedures guide for SDCs.
19.96.070 Annual adjustment.
Beginning January 1, 2021, and for every year thereafter, the SDC shall be adjusted by the
annual change in the June CPI for the Seattle area.
19.96.080 Administrative fee.
(1) There shall be a fee for the administration of the SDC program in an amount equal to five
percent of the amount of the total assessed SDC. The administrative fee shall be deposited into
an administrative fee account to the credit of the surface and stormwater utility. Administrative
fees shall be used to defray the cost incurred by the city in the administration and update of the
SDC program.
(2) The administrative fee, which is in addition to the assessed SDC, shall be paid by the
applicant at the same time as the SDC.
19.96.090 Appeals.
A person aggrieved by a decision of the public works director regarding the applicability or
amount of SDCs to any development required under the provisions of this chapter may appeal
the decision to the city's hearing examiner using Process IV, Chapter 19.70 FWRC, within 14
calendar days of the issuance of the SDC decision. In those cases where the proposed
development activity may require a hearing under the authority of other chapters of this code, the
hearings may be combined.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 9 of 11
19.96.100 Existing authority unimpaired.
Nothing in this chapter shall impair or preclude the city from requiring the applicant or the
proponent of a development activity to mitigate the development impacts and/or adverse
environmental impacts of a specific development pursuant to any provision of the FWRC, the
State Environmental Policy Act, Chapter 43.21C RCW, and/or any other applicable federal,
state, or local law, regulation, or standard based on the environmental documents accompanying
the underlying development approval process, and/or Chapter 58.17 RCW, governing plats and
subdivisions, so long as the exercise of such authority is consistent with the provisions of
Chapters 43.21 C and 82.02 RCW.
Section 4. Severability. The provisions of this ordinance are declared separate and
severable. The invalidity of any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or portion of
this ordinance, or the invalidity of the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall
not affect the validity of the remainder of the ordinance, or the validity of its application to any
other persons or circumstances.
Section 5. Corrections. The City Clerk and the codifiers of this ordinance are authorized
to make necessary corrections to this ordinance including, but not limited to, the correction of
scrivener/clerical errors, references, ordinance numbering, section/subsection numbers and any
references thereto.
Section 6. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effective
date of this ordinance is hereby ratified and affirmed.
Section 7. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective five (5) days after passage
and publication as provided by law.
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 10 of 11
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Federal Way this 3rd day of December, 2019.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY:
F RRELL, MAYOR
ATTEST:
fj�
stV. HANIE COURTNEY, CM , C TY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
J. RYAN CALL, CITY ATTORNEY
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 11/13/2019
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: 12/03/2019
PUBLISHED: 12/06/2019
EFFECTIVE DATE: 12/11/2019
ORDINANCE NO.: 19-880
Ordinance No. 19-880 Page 11 of 11