Staff recommends that City Council approve the resolution defining the policy for special improvement districts.

In 2004, City Council adopted a policy regarding special improvement districts for roadways (04-18204).  In 2018, City Council adopted a policy regarding the installation and repair of street improvements in existing neighborhoods (18-10719).  There is an inconsistency between the two policies as far as assessments for adjacent property owners.  In the 2004 Resolution, all properties are assessed for the improvements on the addressed side of the property only and the City funds all improvements on non-addressed sides.  In the 2018 resolution, residential corner properties are assessed for general street improvements on the addressed side and private benefit improvements (i.e. drive approaches) on the non-addressed side.  Commercial and industrial corner properties are assessed for improvements on both frontages of a corner lot. This inconsistency should be addressed to ensure property owners are funding the same improvements regardless of the project development mechanism.  When staff reviewed the 2004 SID policy to correct the aforementioned inconsistency, it was determined that a couple of other changes would be beneficial.  Specifically, instead of defining the dimensions of a street, it was decided that referring to the subdivision street standards is better so if and when street standards change in City Code, the resolution will still be consistent with the standards.  Also, for existing streets, the resolution refers to the 2018 resolution instead of addressing the same issue in two different resolutions.

City Council may:

• Approve the resolution; or,
• Not Approve the resolution.  If the resolution is not approved, special improvement districts will continue to be created in accordance with the existing policy which is inconsistent with assessment policies for other methods of road construction.

If the new special improvement district policy is approved, commercial and industrial properties will be assessed for both sides of their property when an SID is created versus just the addressed side.  Residential properties will still be assessed for public benefit facilities only the addressed side of their property which is consistent with the policy in place now.  The City contribution for SIDs that encompass commercial/industrial lots will be reduced if commercial/industrial corner lots are addressed to the non-addressed side.