Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning & Development Services

TO:	Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager
FROM:	Planning & Development Services Staff
CC:	Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire, Assistant to the City Manager
DATE:	June 1, 2015
RE:	Request to amend Administrative Policy 83 to increase fees charged to building permit applicants for City purchase and installation of street trees

Background

In 2001, the City of Lawrence amended the Subdivision Regulations (then in Chapter 21, Article 7, Section 21-708a of the City Code) to require planting of a street trees on individual lots for attached and detached single-family and duplex structures in residential subdivisions platted after January 1, 2002 (one tree for each 40 feet of lot street frontage). The number of street trees required for each lot is specified on the approved Master Street Tree Plan for an approved subdivision plat. Fees for each required street tree on a lot are paid to the City by the building permit applicant when a building permit is issued by Planning and Development Services. The collected street tree fees are deposited into a special City of Lawrence Master Street Tree Program account. Funds in this account are used by the Parks and Recreation Department to purchase required street trees and to contract for street tree planting after building construction is completed (generally, during the first appropriate planting season after the danger of building construction damage is past). Since 2002, approximately 4,400 have been planted under the Master Street Tree Program.

City of Lawrence Administrative Policy 83 (Policy 83) was also approved by the City Commission in 2001 (with an effective date of January 1, 2002) to implement what is now referred to as the Master Street Tree Program (MSTP). Policy 83 sets forth the fees for each required street tree, and requires that the fees be collected by the Planning and Development Services Department when a building permit is issued for a new attached or detached single-family or duplex structure on a lot covered by an approved Master Street Tree Plan. Policy 83 also requires that a separate City account be established and maintained for: deposit of collected street tree fees; purchase of trees by the City; installation of street trees by City-hired private contractors; and payment of certain City administrative costs. Additionally, Policy 83 outlines private contractor tree guarantees, timing of tree planting, on-going tree maintenance requirements by private lot owners and street tree refund policies.

Street tree fees have not been modified for over eleven years. Policy 83 was last amended on December 9, 2003, at which time the street tree fee was increased from $225.00 to $245.00, and the Refund Policy (Section 8.0) was added. In 2006, the Subdivision Regulations and street tree requirements were removed from City Code Chapter 21, Article 7, and incorporated into the new City of Lawrence Land Development Code in Chapter 20, Article 8; however, Policy 83 was not amended to reflect the 2006 City Code amendments.

Escalating Tree Costs and Proposed Street Tree Fee Increases

Since fall of 2014, the Parks and Recreation Department has seen significant increases in the purchase price for trees. The previous MSTP vendor informed Parks and Recreation in early spring 2015 that they would no longer be able to supply trees at the prior year price of $235.00 per tree due to greatly increased national, regional and local demand, and severely limited tree supply due to high demand, spread of certain tree diseases at a national and regional level, and generally less favorable growing conditions over the past several years.

In April 2015, the Parks and Recreation Department received written quotes for purchase and installation of 40 trees for the 2015 Master Street Tree Program. Bids were received from four (4) vendors, with per-tree bid prices of $336.26, $340.00, $360.00 and $500.42, significantly higher than the prior year low bid per-tree price of $235.00. Given these significantly increased prices, staff is recommending that the fee set forth in Policy 83 be increased from $245.00 ($225.00 plus a $20.00 administrative charge per tree) to $365.00 ($340.00 plus a $25.00 administrative charge per tree).

During April 2015, staff shared information regarding higher tree prices and possible Policy 83 fee increases with the Lawrence Home Builders Association (LHBA), which represents many local home builders who pay street tree fees when they obtain residential building permits. In early May 2015, staff met with the LHBA Executive Director and LHBA Board Members to review recent tree price quotes received by the City, Policy 83 and a potential request for a street tree fee increase from $245.00 to $365.00 ($340.00 for each tree plus a $25.00 administrative charge).

Staff and the LHBA also discussed methods to annually report to the City Commission more specifically on MSTP revenues, expenditures and tree costs, along with staff recommendations for street tree fee adjustments, if necessary. One annual reporting method discussed was to provide the annual MSTP report and recommendations for fee adjustments to the City Commission at the same time the annually-required Building Permit and Contractor Licensing Year End Revenue and Expenditure Report is provided to the City Commission (about March 1 each year). To provide home builders adequate lead time on their bidding and contract pricing, the LHBA requested that any fee adjustments be implemented no sooner than 90 days after approval by the City Commission.

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends that the City Commission approve the proposed revisions to City of Lawrence Administrative Policy 83 to increase the fee collected by the City for each required street tree from $245.00 to $365.00 (including an administrative fee increase from $20.00 to $25.00), with an effective date of September 14, 2015, and to update City Code references and Department names.

Requested Action

Approve proposed revisions to City of Lawrence Administrative Policy 83 to increase the fee collected by the City for each required street tree from $245.00 to $365.00 (including an administrative fee increase from $20.00 to $25.00), with an effective date of September 14, 2015, and to update City Code references and Department names.