Full Text
5 3 7 1 ORDINANCE NO. 2008-10 ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOSCOW, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, APPROVING THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN, WHICH INCLUDES REVENUE ALLOCATION FINANCING PROVISIONS; AUTHORIZING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS ORDINANCE AND OTHER REQUIRED INFOR..1\IIATION TO COUNTY AND STATE OFFICIALS; APPROVING THE SUMMARY OF THE ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR A WAIVER OF THE READING RULES; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE BE DEEMED SEVERABLE. WHEREAS, on June 19, 1995, the Moscow City Council and Mayor approved Resolution No. 95-08, finding that the City is a competitively disadvantaged border community, creating and empowering the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency, describing the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency, making Findings of Fact and Declarations of Necessity regarding the need for the urban renewal agency, providing for the resolution to be effective upon its passage and approval; and WHEREAS, since June 19, 1995, the City of Moscow conducted a continuing analysis of the Idaho Urban Renewal Law, Title 50, Chapter 20, Idaho Code (the "Law"), and the Local Economic Development Act, Title 50, Chapter 29, Idaho Code (the "Act"), which provides for the designation of a competitively disadvantaged border community; and WHEREAS, based upon such analysis, the Council deemed it necessary to amend and restate the provisions of Resolution No. 95-08 and therefore adopted Resolution 95-13 on November 6, 1995; and WHEREAS, by virtue of the Law, the Idaho State Legislature has created in the City of Moscow an independent public body, corporate and politic, known as the "Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Moscow''; and WHEREAS, the Mayor has duly appointed commissioners to constitute the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency Board, which appointments were duly confirmed by the Council; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Idaho Code Section 50-2008, an urban renewal project may not be planned or initiated unless the local governing body has, pursuant to law, detennined such area to be a deteriorated area or a deteriorating area, or combination thereof, and designated such area as appropriate for an urban renewal project; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Moscow has adopted the Alturas Phase I Project Plan and Alturas Phase II Project Plan, by Ordinances 2004-28 and 2005-18 respectively (collectively the Alturas Project Area); and WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Idaho has enacted the Local Economic Development Act, Title 50, Chapter 29 Idaho Code, referred to herein as the "Act", authorizing certain urban renewal agencies (including the Agency) to adopt revenue allocation tlnancing provisions as part of their urban renewal plans; and WHEREAS, Idaho Code Section 50-2906 also requires that, in order to adopt an urban renewal plan containing a revenue allocation financing provision, the local governing body must make a finding or determination that the area included in such plan is a deteriorated area or deteriorating area; and ORDINANCE 2008-10- THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN PAGE10F6 ---PAGE BREAK--- 52 WHEREAS, under Section 50-2903(8)(e) a deteriorated area includes any area which by reason of its proximity to the border of an adjacent state is competitively disadvantaged in its ability to attract private investment, business, or commercial development which would promote the purposes of the Act; and WHEREAS, in a report dated August 7, 2007, Harlan W. Mann, Real Estate Development Consultant completed the Greater Downtown Moscow Urban Area Study, which was adopted by the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency on August 30, 2007 by Resolution 2007-05; and WHEREAS, based upon the August 7, 2007 report of Harlan W. Mann, and the recommendation of the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency, the Council adopted Resolution No. 2007-24 which made several findings; including: a. That the area identified in the Eligibility Report is determined as a deteriorated or deteriorating area, or a combination thereof, and such area is designated as appropriate for an urban renewal project as authorized by Idaho Code Sections 50-2018(9) and 50-2903(8)(b). b. That the City Council directed the Agency to identifY and propose the boundaries of the Greater Downtown Moscow Urban Renewal area and to commence the planning process to create the Greater Downtown Urban Renewal area identified in the Eligibility Report, which plan may include a revenue allocation provision as allowed by Law. 'NHEREAS, the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency designated the project area name of Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District; and WHEREAS, in order to implement the provisions of the Act and the Law, the Agency may prepare a plan or any person, public or private, may submit such plan to the Agency; and WHEREAS, The Moscow, Idaho Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District Redevelopment Plan (hereinafter the "Legacy Crossing Plan") has been drafted; and WHEREAS, the Legacy Crossing Plan also contains provisions of revenue allocation financing as allowed by the Act; and WHEREAS, The Legacy Crossing Plan was presented to the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency at its regular meeting on March 6, 2008, at which time the Agency approved and recommended adoption of the Legacy Crossing Plan; and WHEREAS, at a meeting held May 2, 2008, the Moscow Planning and Zoning Commission considered the Legacy Crossing Plan and found that the Legacy Crossing Plan is in all respects in conformity with the City of Moscow Comprehensive Plan and forwarded its findings on to the City Council and such findings are attached hereto as Exhibit I; and WHEREAS, notice of the public hearing of the Legacy Crossing Plan was caused to be published by the Moscow City Clerk in the Moscow/Pullman Daily News on May 2, 2008, a copy of said notice being attached hereto as Exhibit 2; and WHEREAS, as required by Idaho Code Sections 50-2905 and 50-2906, the Legacy Crossing Plan contains the following information which was made available to the general public and all taxing districts at least thirty (30) days prior to the June 2, 2008, re!,>Ular meeting of the Council: the kind, number, and location of all proposed public works or improvements within the revenue allocation area; an economic feasibility study; a detailed list of estimated project costs; ( 4) a fiscal impact statement showing the impact of the revenue allocation area, both until and after the bonds are repaid, upon all taxing districts levying taxes upon property in the revenue allocation area; and ( 5) a description of the ORDINANCE 2008-10- THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN PAGE20F6 ---PAGE BREAK--- methods of financing all estimated project costs and the time when related costs or monetary obligations are to be incurred; and WHEREAS, the Legacy Crossing Plan authorizes certain projects to be financed by revenue allocation bonds or other obligations and proceeds from revenue allocation; and WHEREAS, as of April 30, 2008 the Legacy Crossing Plan was submitted to the affected taxing entities, available to the public, and under consideration by the City Council; and WHEREAS, appropriate notice of the Legacy Crossing Plan and revenue allocation provision contained therein has been given to the taxing districts and to the public as required by Idaho Code Section 50-2906; and \VHEREAS, on June 2, 2008, the City Council, after notice duly published, conducted a public hearing in accordance with Idaho Law and did consider the Legacy Crossing Plan as proposed and made certain findings; and WHEREAS, it is necessary and in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Moscow, Idaho, to adopt the Legacy Crossing Plan, including revenue allocation financing provisions, because revenue allocation will help finance projects to be completed in accordance with the Legacy Crossing Plan (as now or hereafter amended), in order to address the following needs: 1) encourage private development in the urban renewal area and competitively disadvantaged border community areas; 2) prevent and arrest decay of Moscow due to the inability of existing financing methods to provide needed public improvements; 3) encourage taxing districts to cooperate in the allocation of future tax revenues arising in the urban renewal area and competitively disadvantaged border community areas in order to facilitate the long-term growth of their common tax base; 4) encourage private investment within the City of Moscow; 5) to encourage the long term growth of their common tax base; and 6) further the public purposes of the Agency; and WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners of the Agency has found, and the City Council hereby finds that the equalized assessed valuation of the taxable property in the revenue allocation area described in Attachments I and 2 of the Legacy Crossing Plan is likely to increase as a result of initiation of urban renewal projects in accordance with the Legacy Crossing Plan; WHEREAS, under the Law and Act, any such urban renewal plan should provide for ( 1) a feasible method for the location of families who will be displaced from the urban renewal area in decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations within their means and without undue hardship to such families; the urban renewal plan should conform to the general plan of the municipality as a whole; the urban renewal plan should give due consideration to the provision of adequate park and recreational areas and facilities that may be desirable for neighborhood improvement, with special consideration for the health, safety and welfare of the children residing in the general vicinity of the site covered by the plan; and ( 4) the urban renewal plan should afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the municipality as a whole, for the rehabilitation or redevelopment of the urban renewal area by private enterprise; WHEREAS, under the Act and the Law certain additional findings must be made concerning predominantly open land to be included within the urban renewal area or revenue allocation area; WHEREAS, if the urban renewal area consists of an area of open land to be acquired by the urban renewal agency, such area shall not be so acquired unless ( l) if it is to be developed for residential uses, the local governing body shall detennine that a shortage of housing of sound standards and design which is decent, safe, and sanitary exists in the municipality; that the need for housing accommodations has been or will be increased as a result of the clearance of slums in other areas; that the conditions of blight in the area and the shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary housing cause or contribute to an increase in and spread ORDINANCE 2008-10- THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN PAGE 3 OF 6 ---PAGE BREAK--- of disease and crime and constitute a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare; and that the acquisition of the area for residential uses is an integral part of and essential to the program of the municipality; or if it is to be developed for nonresidential uses, the local governing body shall detennine that such nonresidential uses are necessary and appropriate to facilitate the proper growth and development of the community in accordance with sound planning standards and local community objectives, which acquisition may require the exercise of governmental action, as provided in the Law, because of defective or unusual conditions of title, diversity of ownership tax delinquency, improper subdivisions, outmoded street patterns, deterioration of site, economic disuse, unsuitable topography or faulty lot layouts, the need for the correlation of the area with other areas of a municipality by streets and modem traffic requirements, or any combination of such factors or other conditions which retard development of the area; and WHEREAS, under the Act and the Law certain additional findings must be made concerning predominantly open land to be included within the urban renewal area or revenue allocation area, including obsolete platting, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or improvements, or other conditions which result in the economic underdevelopment of the area or substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of the area; improper subdivisions; outmoded street patterns; deterioration of site; economic disuse; unsuitable topography, faulty lot layouts; the need for the correlation of the area with the other areas of the city by streets and modem traffic requirements; the shortage of housing; and the need for housing accommodations; and WHEREAS, a deteriorated area as defined by Section 50-2903(8)(e) includes any area which by reason of its proximity to the border of an adjacent state is competitively disadvantaged in its ability to attract private investment, business, or commercial development which would promote the purposes of the Act; and WHEREAS, the overall Legacy Crossing Plan base assessment roll for the revenue allocation area identified in the Legacy Crossing Plan and the Alturas Project revenue allocation area within the City of Moscow cannot exceed ten percent (10%) of the Base Assessment Value of the City of Moscow, Idaho; NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOSCOW, IDAHO AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1: The above statements are true and correct. SECTION 2: It is hereby found and determined that: a. The Project Area as defined in the Legacy Crossing Plan contains deteriorated and/ or deteriorating areas as defined by the Act. b. The Project Area as defined in the Legacy Crossing Plan includes any area which by reason of its proximity to the border of an adjacent state is competitively disadvantaged in its ability to attract private investment, business, or commercial development which would promote the purposes of the Act. c. The Moscow City Council by adoption of Resolution 95-08 declared the City of Moscow to be a competitively disadvantaged border community as defined by the Act and the Law and hereby sustains previous tindings which designate the entire area of the City of Moscow as a competitively disadvantaged area under the definition of Idaho Code Section 50-2903. d. The redevelopment of the Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District pursuant to the Legacy Crossing Plan is necessary in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the City of Moscow. e. The Legacy Crossing Plan conforms to the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Moscow. ORDINANCE 2008-10 - THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN PAGE4 OF 6 ---PAGE BREAK--- f. The base assessment roll within the Revenue Allocation Area of the Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District, along with the existing Alturas Project revenue allocation area, does not exceed ten percent (I of the 2008 assessed value of property within the City of Moscow. g. The Legacy Crossing Plan affords maximum opportunity consistent with the sound needs of the City as a whole for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District by private enterprises. h. The area contained within the corporate limits of the City of Moscow exceeds forty ( 40) acres, and is within twenty-five (25) miles of the state border. 1. There continues to be a need for the Agency to function in the City of Moscow, Idaho. J. The Legacy Crossing Plan gives due consideration to the provision of adequate park and recreation areas and facilities that may be desirable for neighborhood improvement (recognizing the primary commercial component of the Legacy Crossing Plan, the need for overall public improvements, the proposed public open space), and shows consideration for the health, safety, and welfare of any residents or businesses in the general vicinity of the urban renewal area covered by the Legacy Crossing Plan. k. The Legacy Crossing Plan affords maximum opportunity consistent with the sound needs of the City as a whole for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Project Area by private enterprises. I. The Legacy Crossing Plan provides a feasible method for relocation of any displaced families residing within the Project Area. m. That portion of the Project Area which is identified for non-residential uses is necessary and appropriate to facilitate the proper growth and development standards in accordance with the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan to overcome economic disuse, the need for improved traffic patterns and the need for the correlation of this area with other areas of the City. SECTION 3: The Agency does not intend to acquire any open land on any widespread basis, and the Project Area is planned to be redeveloped in a manner that will include nonresidential and residential uses. Provided, however, the Council does find, if portions of the Project Area and Revenue Allocation Area are deemed "open land", the criteria set forth in the Act and the Law, as amended, have been met, and that portion of the Project Area which is identified for nonresidential uses is necessary and appropriate to facilitate the proper growth and development standards in accordance with the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan to overcome economic disuse, the need for improved traffic patterns, and the need for improved infrastructure and facilities in the area. SECTION 4: The Legacy Crossing Plan, a copy of which is attached hereto and marked as Exhibit 3 and made a part hereof by attachment, is and the same hereby is approved. SECTION 5: In accordance with Idaho Code Sections 50-2027 and 50-2911, no direct or collateral action attacking the Plan may be brought prior to the effective date of this Ordinance or after elapse of thirty (30) days from and after the effective date of the Ordinance adopting the Legacy Crossing Plan. SECTION 6: Upon the effective date of this Ordinance, the City Clerk is authorized and directed to transmit to the county auditor and tax assessor of Latah County and to the appropriate officials of the North Latah Highway District, School District No. 281, Latah County, Moscow Cemetery District, Latah County Free Library District, and the Idaho State Tax Commission a copy of this Ordinance, a copy of the legal description of the boundaries of the Revenue Allocation Area. and a map or plan indicating the boundaries of the Revenue Allocation Area. SECTION 7: The Council hereby finds and declares that the Revenue Allocation Area as defined in the Legacy Crossing Plan includes that portion of the Project Area the equalized assessed valuation of which ORDINANCE 2008-10- THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PL AN PAGE 5 OF6 ---PAGE BREAK--- the Council hereby determines in and as part of the Plan is likely to increase as a result of the initiation and completion of urban renewal projects pursuant to the Legacy Crossing Plan. SECTION 8: The City Council hereby approves and adopts the following statement of policy relating to the appointment of City Council members as members of the Agency's Board of Commissioners: If any City Council members are appointed to the Board, they are not acting in an ex officio capacity but rather as private citizens who, although they are also members of the City Council, are exercising their independent jud!,'Il1ent as private citizens when they sit on the Board. Except for the powers to appoint and terminate Board members and to adopt the Legacy Crossing Plan the City Council recognizes that it has no power to control the powers or operations of the Agency. SECTION 9: So long as any Agency bonds are outstanding, the Council will not exercise its power under Idaho Code Section 50-2006 to designate itself as the Agency Board. SECTION I 0: Pursuant to the Legacy Crossing Plan, revenue allocation financing is authorized and will be used for the area described as the Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District. SECTION 11: Pursuant to the affirmative vote of one-half(l/2) plus one(!) of the members of the full Council, the rule requiring two separate readings by title and one reading in full be and the same hereby is dispensed with and accordingly this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its passage, approval, and publication and shall be retroactive to January 1, 2008, to the extent permitted by the Act. SECTION 12: The provision of this Ordinance are severable and if any provision of this Ordinance or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of remaining portions of this Ordinance. SECTION 13: The Summary of this Ordinance, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 4, is hereby approved. SECTION 14: All ordinances, resolutions, orders or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, rescinded and annulled. SECTION 15: SAVINGS CLAUSE: This Ordinance does not affect an action or proceeding commenced or right accrued before this Ordinance takes effect. PASSED by the Council and APPROVED by the Mayor this 2"ct day of June, 2008. ORDINANCE 2008-10- THE LEGACY CROSSING URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT PLAN PAGE60F6