19.04.130 Exemptions.
A. The following development activities shall be exempted from payment of impact fees:
1. Reconstruction, remodeling or construction of the following facilities, subject to the recording of a covenant or recorded declaration of restrictions precluding use of the property for other than the exempt purpose; provided, that if the property is used for a nonexempt purpose, then the park impact fees then in effect shall be paid:
a. Shelters or dwelling units for temporary placement which provide housing to persons on a temporary basis of not more than four weeks.
b. Construction or remodeling of transitional housing facilities or dwelling units that provide housing to persons on a temporary basis of not more than 24 months, in connection with job training, self-sufficiency training and human services counseling, the purpose of which is to help persons make the transition from homelessness to placement in permanent housing.
2. Rebuilding or replacement of a legally established dwelling unit(s) destroyed or damaged by fire, flood, explosion, act of God or other accident or catastrophe, or any other cause; provided, that the building permit is issued within a period of one calendar year after destruction for a new building or structure of the same size and use.
3. Alteration or Expansion.
a. Of an existing building where no additional residential units are created and where the use is not changed; and/or
b. The construction of accessory buildings or structures.
4. Mobile home where:
a. The installation of a replacement mobile home on a lot or other such site when a park impact fee for such mobile home site has previously been paid pursuant to this chapter or where a mobile home legally existed on such site on or prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
b. The construction of any nonresidential building or structure or the installation of a nonresidential mobile home.
Any claim or exemption must be made no later than the time of application for a building permit or permit for mobile home installation. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived.
5. Condominium projects in which existing dwelling units are converted into condominium ownership where no new dwelling units are created.
6. Previous mitigation where the development activity is exempt from the payment of an impact fee pursuant to RCW 82.02.100, due to mitigation of the same system improvement under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and such improvement is included within the capital facilities plan (CFP).
7. The creation of an accessory dwelling unit within an existing single-family structure or detached accessory building that was designed and built for human habitation under valid city building permits; provided, that: (a) the area being converted to an ADU was constructed as of May 21, 2018, and (b) the scope of work does not include conversion of a garage, nor a concurrent or subsequent floor area addition to the primary residence or accessory building. In such cases, the impact fee for the ADU shall be assessed with the aforementioned scope of work.
B. Upon application by the owner, a partial exemption of not more than 80 percent of park impact fees, with no explicit requirement to pay the exempted portion of the fee from public funds, may be granted to a low-income housing development, as defined below:
1. The director of planning and community development, after consultation with the director of parks, may grant an exemption to a low-income housing project listed in an annual consolidated action plan approved by city council.
2. The city council may grant an exemption to a low-income housing project not included in an annual consolidated action plan.
3. The decision to grant, partially grant or deny an exemption shall be based on the public benefit of the specific project, the extent to which the applicant has sought other funding sources, the financial hardship to the project of paying the impact fees, the impacts of the project on public facilities and services, and the consistency of the project with adopted city plans and policies relating to low-income housing.
4. An exemption granted under this subsection must be conditioned upon requiring the developer to record a covenant approved by the director of planning and community development that prohibits using the property for any purpose other than for low-income housing. At a minimum, the covenant must address price restrictions and household income limits for the low-income housing, and require that, if the property is converted to a use other than for low-income housing as defined in the covenant, the property owner must pay the applicable impact fees in effect at the time of any conversion. Covenants required by this subsection must be recorded with the Whatcom County auditor.
5. “Low-income housing” means housing with a monthly housing expense that is no greater than 30 percent of 80 percent of the median family income adjusted for family size, for Bellingham, as reported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. [Ord. 2024-02-001 § 1; Ord. 2018-11-022 § 3; Ord. 2015-07-029 § 1; Ord. 2009-04-020; Ord. 2007-10-080; Ord. 2006-02-012].