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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance-1982-0497INTRODUCED BY COUNCILMEMBER AIELLO ORDINANCE NO. 491' Series of 1982 TITLE: AN ORDINANCE REPEALING AND REENACTING CHAPTER 10, IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS, OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE STATUTORY SCHEME FOR CREATION OF A SPECIAL IMPROVE- MENT DISTRICT, THE DETERMINATION AND ASSESSMENT OF COSTS, AUTHORIZING THE LEVYING AND COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENTS, AND PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS TO FURTHER ANY IMPROVEMENT AUTHORIZED. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO: WHEREAS, the Home Rule Charter of the City of Wheat Ridge provides in Chapter XIII for the creation of special or local improvement districts; WHEREAS, the provisions of said Charter, Chapter, and sections thereof to the extent the same are not self-executing require an ordinance to provide for orderly implementation of the powers vested in said Charter provisions; WHEREAS, the City Council wishes in this ordinance to provide such comprehensive authority as is consistent with Chapter XIII of the Wheat Ridge City Charter and, to the extent the same are not in conflict with said Charter provisions, the statutes of the State of Colorado; NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Wheat Ridge finds as follows: Section 1. Chapter X, Improvement Districts, of the Code of Laws of the City of Wheat Ridge, including Sections 10-1 through 1-14 inclusive, are hereby repealed and reenacted as follows: "Section 10-1. Creation of Special or Local Improvement Districts by the City Council. Pursuant to Section 13.2 of Article XIII of the Charter of the City, the City Council shall have the power and authority, as specified in this Chapter, to create and establish, by ordinance, Special or Local Improvement Districts. Section 10-2. Improvements Authorized. The City Council shall have the power and authority to create such District for local improvements of every character, including, but not limited to, the construction, upgrading or improvement of the following municipal facilities, ways, and improvements: (a) Streets; (b) Sidewalks; (c) Utilities; (d) Lighting; (e) Drainage; (f) Storm Sewer Systems; (g) Sanitary Sewer System; (h) Water Mains; (i) Parking; and (j) Traffic Control Systems. ,.E TWO Section 10-3. Initiation by Petition only. (a) All Special or Local Improvement Districts permitted pursuant to this Chapter shall be initiated only by the filing with the City Clerk of a petition. Such petition shall be signed by the owners-of more than 50 percent of the real property within the District to be created. (b) For purposes of subsection (a) of this Section: (i) A corporate or partnership owner of record shall be considered a single owner; (ii) If the District to be created consists solely of one or more public streets or ways, the signatures of the owners of record of more than 50 percent of the footage directly fronting said streets or ways shall comprise a sufficient number of signatures for the initiation of the District. Section 10-4. Contents of the Petition. (a) The petition shall contain the following: (i) The name of the proposed district; (ii) A description of the boundaries of the District which is sufficiently certain to enable an owner of record of real estate to determine whether his or her property is within the District; (iii) A general description of the construction, upgrading, or improvements proposed; (iv) A description of the methods proposed to finance and provide financial security for such construction, upgrading, or improvement; (v) An estimation of the annual cost of physically maintaining the construction, upgrading, or improvement so performed, and an estimation of the annual cost of providing financial security therefor; (vi) An estimation of the assessment levy necessary to provide for the physical maintenance and financial security for the construction, upgrading, or improvement; and (vii) A request that the District be organized; (viii) Signatures as set forth in Section 10-3(a). (b) The City Council may, at any time preceding the creation of the District, permit the petition to be amended to correct any errors in the description of the District or in the description of the construction, upgrading, or improvement proposed. Section 10-5. Contents of Notice. The notice of hearing required by Section 10-5 hereof shall contain the following items: (a) The name of the proposed District; (b) A description of the boundaries of the District which is sufficiently certain to enable an owner of record of real estate to determine whether his or her property is within the District; ~AGL: TfIRLP (c) A general description of the construction, upgrading, or improvements proposed; (d) A description of the methods proposed to finance and provide financial security for such construction, upgrading, or improvement; (e) An estimation of the annual cost of physically maintaining the construction, upgrading, or improvement, and of providing financial security therefor; (f) An estimation of the assessment levy necessary to provide for the physical maintenance and financial security for the construction, upgrading, or improvement; (g) The fact that all property in the District is subject to levy and lien of assessment; (h) The date, time, and place of the hearing; (i) That any and all persons desiring to be heard upon the issue of the creation of the District or the construction, upgrading, or improvement contemplated thereby, may make an appearance at said time and place and express his or her position and opinions on the issue. Section 10-7. Authorizing ordinance. (a) If the City Council determines at the hearing that the filed petition contains the requisite number of qualified signatures, and that the allegations of the petition are true, the City Council shall do the following: (i) Issue an authorizing ordinance establishing the District; (ii) Issue a resolution providing for notice to be given to contractors for the submission of bids for the construction, upgrading, or improvement authorized; (iii) Issue a resolution providing for notice of the construction, upgrading, or improvement to be published once during the following weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the City; (iv) Issue an ordinance providing for the issuance and payment of bonds to finance said construction, upgrading, or improvement if the City Council deems a bond issuance necessary. (b) If the City Council shall find that the petition does not contain the requisite number of qualified signatures, or if the City Council shall find that the allegations of the petition are untrue, or if the City Council shall find that any proposed levy of assessment or bond issuance is excessive in relation to the benefit conferred, it shall dismiss the petition. Section 10-8. Action of Council Final. The finding of the City Council on accepting or dismissing a petition shall be final and conclusive and no appeal shall lie from a determination to accept or dismiss the petition; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the filing of subsequent petitions for similar improvements or similar Districts. -15AGE FOUR Section 10-9. Assessment of Costs. All costs of the construction, upgrading, or improvement of the improvement involved, less that portion thereof, if any, which is to be borne by the City itself, shall be assessed by ordinance upon all the real property within the District, based upon the benefit conferred by the improvement upon each parcel of realty within the District; provided, however, that in adopting any method for assessment, the City Council shall not be limited to assessing the real property on either a front footage basis or on a square footage basis, but may take into consideration the special benefits accruing to the realty within the District and may adopt any method of assessment which bears a substantial relationship to the benefit conferred. Section 10-10. Notice and Hearing upon Assessments. At such time as the total costs of the construction, upgrading, or improvement of the improvement may have been reliably ascertained, there shall be introduced before the City Council a bill for an ordinance levying assessments upon the real property in the District. Prior to final passage thereof, the City Council shall, by resolution, set a time and place for a public hearing thereon. Notice of said hearing shall be published once each week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the City and the date of hearing shall not be less than thirty, nor more than sixty days, after the date of the first publication of such notice. Section 10-11. Levy of Assessments. (a) Subsequent to the said public hearing and subsequent to any amendments to said bill for an ordinance, if any, which may result from the hearing thereon, the City Council shall pass an ordinacne levying assessments on the real property in the District and providing for the collection and enforcement of such assessments. (b) Said assessments, together with interest thereon and penalties for default in payment thereof, and all costs of collecting the same, shall constitute a lien, until paid, on and against the property assessed. Section 10-12. Annual Levy. (a) As long as the District shall remain in existence, the City Council may, no later than of each fiscal year of the City, determine for the ensuing fiscal year the public improvements to be maintained and may fix a rate of levy of assessment which shall raise the amount required by the District during the ensuing fiscal year to meet the cost of so maintaining the public improvement constructed, upgraded, or improved by the District. (b) The levy of assessment set forth in subsetion (a) hereof, shall not exceed the levy set forth in the petition which initiated the creation of the District, unless a subsequent petition signed by at least 50 percent of the then owners of record of real property within the District requesting a higher assessment is filed. If such a petition is filed, notice and hearing thereon will be held pursuant to the terms of Section 10-5 and 10-6 hereof. Said petition shall be in substantial compliance with the requirements set forth in Sections 10-3 and 10-4 hereof. Section 10-13. Change of Boundaries of District. (a) The boundaries of any District created pursuant to this Chapter may be changed in the manner set forth in subsection (b) hereof. PAGE FIVE Section 10-13. Change of Boundaries of District. (a) The boundaries of any District created pursuant to this Chapter may be changed in the manner set forth in subsection (b) hereof. (b) The owners of property to be proposed to be included in the District, or if more than one tract of property, more than 50 percent of the owners thereof, may file a petition with the City Clerk requesting that such property be included in the District. The petition filed shall set forth the legal description and street address of all properties proposed to be included in the District. Notice and hearing on the petition shall issue as provided in Sections 10-5 and 10-6 hereof. Said petition shall be in substantial compliance with the requirements set forth in Sections 10-3 and 10-4 hereof. Section 10-14. Incontestability Provision in Bonds. Any ordinance issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter which authorizes the issuance of special improvement bonds may provide that each bond therein authorized shall recite that it is issued under the authority of the City Charter and the procedure ordinance or ordinances adopted pursuant to the City Charter. Such recital shall conclusively impart full compliance with all of the provisions thereof, and all bonds issued containing such recitals shall be incon- testable for any cause whatsoever after their delivery for value." Section 2. Safety Clause. The City Council hereby finds, determines, and declares that this ordinance is promul- gated under the general police power of the City of Wheat Ridge, that it is promulgated for the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and that this ordinance is necessary for the preservation of health and safety and for the protection of public convenience and welfare. The City Council further determines that the ordinance bears a rational relation to the proper legislative object sought to be attained. Section 3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall for any reason be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this ordinance or its application to other persons or circumstances. Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect 15 days after final publication. INTRODUCED, READ, AND ADOPTED on first reading by a vote of 6 to 0 this 28th day of June , 1982; ordered published in full in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Wheat Ridge and Public Hearing and consideration on final passage set for July 12 , 1982, at 7:30 o'clock p.m., at Council Chambers, 7500 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge, Colorado READ, ADOPTED, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED on second and final reading by a vote of E to 0 this 12th day of July 1982 .~~-~~SIGNED by the Mayor on this 13th day of Jul y 11[M_ f 4 5`T_ u. t 1st publication: 2nd publication: Effective Date: Frank Stites, Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM Y erk OFFI TYiTO July 1 1982 July 2~, 1982 August 6, 1982