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By Kimberly Beltran
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
California districts may not impose school-impact fees on new projects built to replace existing housing, a California appeals court ruled late last month.
A recent analysis of the decision in developer Cresta Bella’s lawsuit against Poway Unified School District found that other than increased square footage beyond that of the original project, a school district may not impose fees on replacement housing unless a study expressly demonstrates that the replacement housing will generate new students.
“Based on Cresta Bella, LP v. Poway Unified School District, (July 31, 2013) __ Cal.App.4th __ 2013 WL 3942961, the key for justification studies and school facilities needs analyses moving forward will be establishing the nexus or relationship between the development of replacement housing and the generation of new students,” Lozano Smith partner Harold Freiman wrote in a client brief.
“As noted by the court, the study must ‘show that reconstruction of preexisting units was projected to be a contributing cause of the need for new school facilities.’ Importantly, the court recognized that "[t]here may be circumstances in a particular school district's housing reconstruction trends that could support a correlation between reconstruction of preexisting residential units and the generation of new students. . . ."
The issue of fees for replacement housing was previously considered in Warmington Old Town Assocs. v. Tustin
Despite July’s reputation for delivering relatively modest state tax revenue, State Controller John Chiang expressed disappointment Monday that last month’s collections fell about 6 percent, or $300 million, short of expectations.