City staff to ask council to update parkland dedication fees; staff proposes phased increase tied to land values

City parks staff presented project updates and a parkland dedication / in-lieu fee study at the April 15 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting and said they will bring recommendations to City Council the following week.

Director (parks) summarized two near-term projects: Robertson Ranch Park (three conceptual schemes; staff intends to blend the Rolling Hills' and Agrarian Tapestry' concepts based on community feedback) and the Stagecoach Community Garden (a repurposed maintenance yard with roughly 35 leaseable plots, a demonstration area and kiosk). Staff said the Stagecoach plans and specifications will go to City Council next week to request authorization to advertise for public bids; staff expects construction to commence in summer with leasing to begin the following calendar year.

On the parkland dedication and in-lieu fee study (prepared by MBS Government Finance Group), staff said the Quimby Act and the Subdivision Map Act authorize the dedication requirement or an in-lieu payment for residential subdivisions. The consultant's approach uses a 3 acres per 1,000 population ratio (staff noted Carlsbad's census-based ratio currently measures about 2.59 acres per 1,000 when certain sites are excluded). Staff presented a weighted land value for Carlsbad of $1,824,000 per acre and an estimated resulting per-capita land cost of about $5,472. Using those inputs, staff described proposed in-lieu fees by housing type and proposed implementing a one-third increase phased over three years; after that period staff intends to resurvey land values to avoid multi-year catch-up adjustments.

Staff also explained exclusions that affect the ratio: Veterans Memorial Park and Buena Vista Reservoir Park were not counted because of master-plan status and capital improvements; school acreage also was not counted per consultant guidance unless specific capital improvements had been invested by the city. Staff said the revised engineers' estimate for the Stagecoach project drove an ask to council for an additional appropriation in the neighborhood of $165,000–$170,000 to complete construction.

The commission was advised that the City Council will have discretion over whether to adopt the recommended fee schedule and the proposed phasing. Staff said the fee study and Stagecoach project would be on the City Council docket for public hearing and council consideration the following week.