[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Middlesex 1-12-2005 by Ord. No. 101. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Middlesex Township Impact Fee Program."
The purpose of this chapter is to establish the Middlesex Township Impact
Fee Program, including a Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, to ensure
that the transportation system is available and adequate to support existing
volumes of traffic and traffic projected to be generated by new growth and
development. To advance this objective, the Middlesex Township Impact Fee
Program shall be based upon the imposition of an impact fee payable to the
Township at the time of building permit issuance. Additionally, the program
identifies existing deficiencies due to pass through trips and future trip
generation attributable to new development. The program will provide a continuing
generation of funds necessary for the Township to initiate and complete capital
transportation improvements as needed in support of new growth and development.
Such a program will involve participation by developers as well as local,
state and federal governments. Through the Impact Fee Program, the Township
is establishing a process whereby future traffic needs can be addressed in
a timely manner and the impact of increased traffic volumes can be minimized
to the extent possible.
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that:
A.
The Township is committed to the provision of a transportation
system at service levels necessary to support residential and nonresidential
growth and development.
B.
Transportation service levels will be provided by the
Township utilizing funds allocated via the capital budget, capital improvements
programs and impact fees.
C.
The aggregation of development in the defined transportation
service areas intensifies the demand for transportation improvements designed
to accommodate traffic volumes at a "D" level of service for Township intersections
and a "C" level of service for Township road segments as defined by the Transportation
Research Board of the National Academy of Science, which is the minimum acceptable
level of service to accommodate such development and the intensity thereof.
E.
To the extent that new development in the transportation
service areas places demands upon the transportation system, those demands
should be satisfied by the establishment of an Impact Fee Program that distributes
the responsibility for financing the provision of such transportation facilities
among the Township, state and federal governments, and developers.
F.
The amount of the impact fee to be imposed shall be calculated
in accordance with the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53
P.S. § 10501-A et seq., as amended, and this chapter, applying the
engineering standards set forth in Trip Generation, 6th Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3,
Institute of Transportation Engineering, and any amendments or future editions
thereof.[1]
G.
The Township hereby finds and declares that an impact
fee imposed upon new development, in order to assist in the financing of specified
major transportation capital improvements in the defined transportation service
areas, the demand for which has been quantified through the application of
land use assumptions provided by the Impact Fee Advisory Committee appointed
by the Board of Supervisors, is in the best interest of the Township and its
residents.
As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the
following meanings unless another meaning is plainly intended:
A permit for the activities regulated under Chapter 65, adopting the Uniform Construction Code, including the following activities:
Construct or alter a man-made object having a stationary location on
land or water;
Construct an addition;
Demolish or move a man-made object having a stationary location on land
or water;
Make a change of occupancy;
Install or alter any equipment regulated by the Uniform Construction
Code;
Move a lot line which divides a lot from another lot or street.
The overall policy guide for the physical man-made change to improved
or unimproved real estate of the Township of Middlesex adopted by the Board
of Supervisors as the Comprehensive Plan of the Township of Middlesex either
as a whole or in parts, consisting of documents, maps, drawings and charts
in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code and as amended
from time to time. The Township of Middlesex Comprehensive Plan includes but
is not limited to the Middlesex Township-Richland Township Joint Comprehensive
Plan adopted December 15, 2004, by the Board of Supervisors and designs or
plans or any studies or surveys emanating therefrom.
Any person who has legal title of land, agent of the legal title
or tenant with permission of the person who has legal title of land, who makes
an application for development.
A fee, to be paid at building permit issuance, and calculated in
accordance with the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S.
§§ 10501-A to 10507-A, as amended, and this chapter.
Any commercial, industrial or residential or other project which
involves new construction, enlargement, reconstruction, redevelopment, relocation
or structural alteration and which is expected to generate additional vehicular
traffic within the transportation service area of the municipality. New development
also includes any change in use that increases p.m. peak-hour trips generated
by an improved development.
Those public capital improvements that are not on-site improvements
and that serve the needs of more than one development.
All improvements constructed on the applicant's property or the improvements
constructed on the property abutting the applicant's property necessary for
the ingress or egress to the applicant's property and required to be constructed
by the applicant pursuant to any municipal ordinance including, but not limited
to, the municipal building code, subdivision and land development ordinance,
planned residential development regulations and zoning ordinance.
The Township has identified the p.m. peak-hour, between the hours
of 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., as the relevant peak-hour period for the calculation
of impact fees.
Those off-site improvements that have a life expectancy of three
or more years, not including costs for maintenance, operation or repair.
A plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township prior
to the enactment of any impact fee ordinance for the purpose of identifying
and planning for transportation capital improvements. Specifically, the Impact
Fee Advisory Committee prepared or directed to be prepared a Transportation
Capital Improvements Plan dated November 2004, prepared by Herbert, Rowland
& Grubic, Inc., adopted as Resolution No. 04-32 of the Board of Supervisors
on December 15, 2004.
Those rates of traffic for the p.m. peak-hour of adjacent street
traffic between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. as determined in Trip Generation,
6th Edition 1997 Vols. 1-3, The Institute of Transportation Engineers, and
any amendments or future editions thereof.
The dollar figure calculated by dividing the total costs of the road
improvements included in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvement Plan
within a given transportation service area attributable to and necessitated
by new development within the service area divided by the number of anticipated
p.m. peak-hour trips generated by all new development consistent with the
land use assumptions and calculated in accordance with Trip Generation, 6th
Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3, The Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments
and future editions thereto.
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is on file in the Township offices.
A.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all new
development that occurs within a defined transportation service area.
B.
This chapter shall not apply to de minimus new development.
"De minimus" is defined to be new development that results in a total of two
or less p.m. peak-hour trips including any preexisting p.m. peak-hour trips.
This subsection sets forth a threshold limit for the applicability of this
chapter and shall not be construed to provide a two-trip credit to new development.
C.
This chapter shall not apply to public schools, or buildings
associated therewith, or to the Township of Middlesex, Saxonburg Area Authority,
or any other Township agency or authority. Schools and local government agencies
serve an overriding public interest, warranting an exemption from impact fees.
No building permit subject to this chapter shall be issued for a development
in a transportation service area unless the applicant has paid the impact
fee imposed by and calculated pursuant to this chapter.
A.
The unit cost per trip is derived from the Transportation
Capital Improvement Plan and may be amended as transportation needs dictate
and as directed by the Board of Supervisors.
B.
The impact fee imposed by this chapter upon all new development shall be determined by applying the unit improvement cost to the p.m. peak-hour trips generated by a project as identified in Trip Generation, 6th Edition 1997 Vols. 1-3, The Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments or future editions thereof, or by a special transportation study pursuant to § 97-10. To determine the fee for a specific use, the p.m. peak-hour trip generation rate for the proposed use shall be multiplied by the unit improvement cost rate in each transportation service area.
C.
If the development for which a building permit is sought
contains a mix of uses, the applicant must separately calculate the impact
fee due for each type of development.
A.
Applicability. An additional impact fee shall be imposed
upon new developments that generate 1,000 or more p.m. peak-hour trips, net
of pass-by trips as defined by Trip Generation 6th Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3, Institute
of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments or future editions thereof.
This section is in addition to the impact fee calculated under this chapter.
B.
Traffic study. An applicant for a new development that
generates 1,000 or more p.m. peak-hour trips shall be required to perform
a traffic analysis of development traffic impact on highways, roads or streets
outside the transportation service area in which the new development is located,
but within the boundaries of the Township. Any highways, roads or streets,
or parts thereof, outside the transportation service area that will accommodate
10% or more of the new development traffic and 100 or more new p.m. peak-hour
trips may be required to be studied. The traffic study is to be conducted
in accordance with the Township requirements as determined by the Township
Traffic Engineer.
C.
Mitigation. Applicants for new development that generates
1,000 or more new p.m. peak-hour trips, less pass-by trips, will be required
to mitigate the traffic impact of the new development on the affected roads,
highways and streets per the traffic study to maintain the predevelopment
conditions.
The Township has defined transportation service areas as shown on the
Transportation Service Area Map (see Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated
herein[1]) in accordance with the provisions of the Municipalities Planning
Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is on file in the Township offices.
A.
Applicability of this section. The Board of Supervisors
may permit or require a new development to perform a special transportation
study to document actual trip generation from a particular use. The instances
when a special transportation study can or must be performed are limited to
instances where:
(1)
The Township requests a special transportation study;
(2)
No "R" value or fitted curve equation is provided for
the use in the most recent version of Trip Generation 6th Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3,
The Institute of Traffic Engineers;
(3)
The use is not represented in any amendments or future
editions of Trip Generation 6th Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3, The Institute of Traffic
Engineers.
B.
Guidelines for conducting a special transportation study.
Special transportation studies must be conducted in accordance with the guidance
in the most recent version of Trip Generation 6th Ed. 1997 Vols. 1-3, The
Institute of Traffic Engineers. The new development is responsible for all
costs associated with the special transportation study.
A.
Collection of impact fee. Impact fees due pursuant to
this chapter shall be collected by the Township in the manner prescribed herein
prior to issuance of a building permit.
B.
Establishment and maintenance of accounts. The Township Manager shall establish interest-bearing trust fund accounts created solely for impact fees and shall maintain records whereby impact fees collected are segregated by transportation service areas. All interest earned shall become the funds of that account. Impact fees generated from new development may only be expended for transportation capital improvements identified as being funded by impact fees under the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan in a particular transportation service area, except as provided in § 97-13.
C.
Maintenance of records. The Township Manager shall maintain
and keep adequate financial records for each such account that will show the
source and disbursement of all revenues, that will account for all moneys
received and that shall ensure that the disbursement of funds from each account
will be used solely and exclusively for the provision of projects specified
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan for the particular transportation
service area.
D.
Annual accounting. The Township will provide that an
annual accounting is made for any account containing impact fee proceeds and
earned interest. The accounting shall include the total funds collected, the
source for the funds collected, the total amount of interest accruing on such
funds and the amount of funds expended on specific transportation improvements.
Notice of the availability of the results of the accounting will be included
and published as part of the Township's annual audit. A copy will also be
provided to the Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
A.
Role of the Impact Fee Advisory Committee. The Impact
Fee Advisory Committee, or Advisory Committee, is a committee formed pursuant
to the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as
amended, to serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Supervisors. The
Advisory Committee has as its duties:[1]
(1)
To make recommendations, with respect to land use assumptions,
on the development of comprehensive road improvements and impact fees;
(2)
To make recommendations to approve, disapprove or modify
a capital improvement program by preparing a written report containing these
recommendations to the Township;
(3)
To monitor and evaluate the implementation of a capital
improvements program and the assessment of impact fees and report annually
to the Township with respect to the same;
(4)
To advise the Township of the need to revise or update
the land use assumptions, capital improvements program or impact fees;
(5)
To conduct public hearings with respect to any recommendations
on land use assumptions in accordance with the requirements of the chapter
and the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as
amended;
(6)
To prepare or cause to be prepared a roadway sufficiency
analysis in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as amended.
B.
Review of transportation capital improvements or impact
fees charge. The Board of Supervisors may request, no more than annually,
the Advisory Committee to review and make recommendations on the transportation
capital improvements or impact fee charges based only on:
(1)
Subsequent new development which has occurred in the
Township;
(2)
Completion of capital improvements in the Transportation
Capital Improvements Plan;
(3)
Unavoidable delays in construction of capital improvements
contained in the plan beyond the Township's control or responsibility;
(4)
Significant changes in the land use assumptions;
(5)
Changes in the estimated costs of the transportation
improvements proposed which may be recalculated by applying the construction
cost index as published in the American City/County Magazine or the Engineering
News Record;
(6)
Significant changes in the projected revenue from sources
listed.
The Township may expend impact fees paid by an applicant on projects
not contained in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvements Plan if all
of the following criteria are met:
A.
The applicant has provided written consent to use its
collected impact fees for specific transportation projects which are not included
in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan;
B.
The alternative transportation project, whether highway
or multi-modal, has as its purpose the reduction of traffic congestion or
the removal of vehicle trips from the roadway network;
C.
The Township amends its Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan components required by Section 504-A(e)(1)(vi) of the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10504-A(e)(1)(vi), to provide replacement
of the collected impact fees transferred to transportation projects outside
the approved Transportation Capital Improvements Plan from sources other than
impact fees or developer contributions within three years of completion of
the alternative projects to which the transferred fees were applied.
Payment of the impact fee shall be made by the new development prior
to the issuance of a building permit by the Township to the new development
for development on the applicable site.
A.
A traffic generator is entitled to a credit against the
impact fee in the amount of the fair market value of any land dedicated by
the applicant to the Township for future right-of-way, realignment or widening
of any existing roadways or for the value of any construction of road improvements
contained in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan which is performed
at the applicant's expense. The amount of such credit for any capital improvement
constructed shall be the amount allocated in the capital improvement program,
including contingency factors for such work. The fair market value of any
land dedicated by the applicant shall be determined as of the date of the
submission of the land development or subdivision application to the Township.
B.
Any new development which performs, at its own expense,
off-site improvements as defined by this chapter shall be eligible for a credit
toward the impact fee otherwise due in the amount of the actual cost of such
off-site improvements as approved by the Township Engineer. Such credit shall
not exceed the amount of the impact fee. In order for a new development to
be eligible for this credit it must announce the intent to perform off-site
improvements during the subdivision or land development approval process.
The announcement must be in writing and must set forth the off-site improvement
project for which the traffic generator is seeking credit. The traffic generator
must enter into an agreement with the Township prior to the issuance of any
building permit. The agreement must establish the estimated cost of the improvement,
the schedule for initiation and completion of the improvement, guarantee that
the improvement be completed to Township and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
standards and design criteria, and such other terms and conditions as deemed
necessary by the Township. The Township must review the improvement plan,
verify costs and time schedules, determine if the improvement is an eligible
improvement and determine the amount of the applicable credit for such improvement
to be applied to the otherwise applicable impact fee prior to issuance of
any building permit. In no event may the Township provide a credit that is
greater than the applicable impact fee. If, however, the amount of the credit
is calculated to be greater than the amount of the impact fee due, the new
development may utilize such excess credit toward the impact fees imposed
on other building permits for development on the same site and in the same
ownership.
C.
The Township may provide a credit against impact fees
for the value of any construction projects that are not contained in the adopted
Transportation Capital Improvements Plan which are performed at the traffic
generator's expense, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1)
The applicant has provided written consent to a credit
of its collected impact fees for specific transportation projects which are
not included in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan;
(2)
The alternative transportation project, whether highway
or multi-modal, has as its purpose the reduction of traffic congestion or
the removal of vehicle trips from the roadway network;
(3)
The Township amends its Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan components required by Section 504-A(e)(1)(vi) of the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10504-A(e)(1)(vi), to provide replacement
of the credited impact fees transferred to transportation projects outside
the approved Transportation Capital Improvements Plan from sources other than
impact fees or developer contributions within three years of completion of
the alternative projects to which the transferred fees were applied.
A.
The payor of the impact fee may apply for a refund of
appropriate share of any such fee and any interest earned from the date of
payment if:
(1)
The Township has failed to commence any transportation
service area road improvements within three years of the scheduled construction
date set forth in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan.
(2)
The new development for which impact fees were paid is
not commenced prior to the expiration of a building permit issued for the
new development within the time limits established by applicable building
codes; or the project for which a building permit has been issued has been
altered resulting in a decrease in the amount of the impact fee due.
(3)
If upon completion of any road improvements project the
actual expenditures are less than 95% of the costs allocable to the fee paid
within the transportation service area in which the road improvement was adopted,
the municipality shall refund to the payer the pro-rata difference between
the budgeted costs and the actual expenditures, including interest from the
date of payment.
(4)
In the event that the Township terminates or completes
an adopted capital improvements plan for a transportation service area and
there remains at the time of termination or completion undisbursed funds in
the accounts established for that purpose, the Township shall provide written
notice by certified mail to those persons who previously paid the fees which
remain undisbursed of the availability of said funds for refund of the person's
proportionate share of the fund balance. The allocation of the refund shall
be determined by generally accepted accounting practices. In the event that
any of the funds remain unclaimed following one year after the notice, which
shall be provided to the last known address provided by the payer of the fees
to the Township, the Township shall be authorized to transfer any funds so
remaining to any other fund in the Township without any further obligation
to refund said funds.
B.
The request for refund must be submitted to the Township
Manager in writing specifying the details and basis for the request for refund.
The words and phrases of this chapter are to be construed in accordance
with the following rules:
A.
Definitions.
B.
Construction. The words, phrases and provisions of this
chapter are not to be interpreted in a way the results in an absurd construction
of the meaning, or in a way that causes one provision to contradict another.
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effectively
carry out the purposes that are hereby found and declared to be in furtherance
of the public health, safety, welfare and convenience.
Impact fees may be imposed on new development for which an application
has been filed on or after the first publication of notice of the Township's
intent to adopt this chapter; provided, however, that such retroactivity does
not exceed 18 months after the adoption of the resolution that created the
Advisory Committee in connection herewith. In retroactive applications, the
per-trip fee may not exceed $1,000 or the actual calculated fee, whichever
is less.
