[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
former Art. VIII, Development Impact Fees, adopted 6-3-1998 by Ord.
No. 98-10.
This article shall be known as the "Lower Salford Township Traffic
Impact Fee Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to establish a Traffic Impact
Fee Program (referred to hereinafter as the "program") to ensure that
the Township's transportation system is available and adequate to
support new growth and development. To advance this objective, there
is hereby created an impact fee payable to Lower Salford Township
at the time of building permit issuance.
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that:
A.
The conditions and standards for the determination and imposition
of the traffic impact fees set forth herein are those set forth in
Act 209 of 1990, and any and all amendments thereto (hereinafter referred
to as the "Act"),[1] and consist of:
(1)
The analysis, advice and recommendations of the Transportation Impact
Fee Advisory Committee.
(2)
The Land Use Assumptions Report dated October 2017, prepared by the
Montgomery County Planning Commission, as adopted by the Board of
Supervisors.
(3)
The Roadway Sufficiency Analyses Report and Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan dated January 2018, prepared by McMahon Associates,
Inc., as adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
(4)
Such other conditions and standards as the Board of Supervisors may,
by resolution, identify from time to time as being relevant and material
to the imposition of traffic impact fees and consistent with the provisions
of Act 209 of 1990, and any amendments thereto.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10501-A et seq.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section 502-A[1] of the Act are hereby adopted and incorporated into this
article by reference. The term "traffic impact fee," as used in this
article, shall have the same meaning as "impact fee" used in the Act.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10502-A et seq.
Traffic impact fees collected pursuant to this Article shall
be expended for costs incurred for improvements attributable to new
development and designated in the Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan within the transportation service area designated in the Roadway
Sufficiency Analyses Report and Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan as more particularly set forth hereinafter. Additionally, such
traffic impact fees may be used for the acquisition of land, rights-of-way,
engineering, legal, planning and all other costs, including debt service
related to road improvements within the designated service area, and
including such proportionate amount of the cost of the Roadway Sufficiency
Analysis permitted under the provisions of the Act.
A.
Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate amount of
traffic impact fees, the Township may require or permit the preparation
of special traffic impact studies to determine the traffic generation
or circulation patterns in new nonresidential developments only; provided,
however, that no such studies may be required where the proposed development
will not require a deviation from the land use assumptions used to
create the program.
B.
Any special traffic impact studies required or permitted by the Township
shall be submitted prior to the imposition of the traffic impact fee
and shall be considered in the determination of the fee.
No building permit shall be issued for construction in a designated
transportation service area unless the building permit applicant has
paid the traffic impact fees imposed by and calculated pursuant to
this article.
A.
The total impact fee for transportation capital improvements shall
be based upon the total costs of the road improvements enumerated
in the transportation capital improvements plan within a given transportation
service area which are attributable to and necessitated by new development
within the transportation service area, divided by the number of anticipated
"new" p.m. peak hour trips generated by all new development in the
transportation service area consistent with the Land Use Assumptions
Report and calculated in accordance with the Trip Generation Manual
published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Ninth Edition
or subsequent editions, which is hereby adopted by the Township, to
equal a per-trip cost for transportation improvements within the transportation
service area.
B.
The specific traffic impact fees for a specific new development or subdivision within a transportation service area shall be determined as of the date of preliminary land development or subdivision approval by multiplying the per-trip cost established for the service area (as set forth in § 142-98) by the estimated number of trips to be generated by the new development using generally accepted traffic engineering standards.
C.
The Board of Supervisors may authorize or require the preparation
of a special transportation study in order to determine the traffic
generation or circulation for a new nonresidential development to
assist in the determination of the amount of the traffic impact fee
for such development or subdivision. No special transportation study
shall be required or permitted when there is no deviation from the
land use assumptions resulting in increased density, intensity or
trip generation by a particular development. A developer or the Board
of Supervisors may, however, at any time, voluntarily prepare and
submit a traffic study for a proposed development or may have such
a study prepared at its expense after the development is completed
to include actual trips generated by the development for use in any
appeal as provided for under Act 209. Any such special transportation
study shall be prepared by a qualified traffic or transportation engineer
using procedures and methods established by the Township based on
generally accepted transportation planning and engineering standards.
A special study required by the governing body shall be submitted
prior to the imposition of a traffic impact fee and shall be taken
into consideration by the governing body in increasing or reducing
the amount of the traffic impact fee for the new development.
There is hereby established one transportation service area
in the Township consisting of the area as delineated on the map labeled
"Figure 1, Transportation Service Area," found in the Lower Salford
Township Roadway Sufficiency Analyses Report and Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In accordance with the Lower Salford Township Roadway Sufficiency
Analyses and Transportation Capital Improvements Plan prepared by
McMahon Associates, Inc., dated January 2018, the traffic impact fee
per new weekday p.m. peak-hour trip generated by new development for
the transportation service area shall be in the amount of $2,948.
Prior to making an application for a building permit, an applicant
may request a nonbinding traffic impact fee estimate from the Township,
which shall be based upon the maximum development potential of the
site pursuant to existing zoning regulations, unless the applicant
specifies a lesser use of development.
A.
Collection. Traffic impact fees due pursuant to this article shall
be collected by the Township Treasurer, subject to review, oversight
and control of the Board of Supervisors, in the manner or manners
prescribed herein prior to the issuance of a building permit.
B.
Establishment of fund. Upon receipt of traffic impact fees, the Township
Treasurer shall be responsible for the separate and proper accounting
of such fees. All such fees shall be deposited in interest-bearing
accounts in a bank authorized to receive deposits of Township funds.
Interest earned by each account shall be credited to that account
and shall be used solely for the purpose specified for funds of such
account.
C.
Establishment and maintenance of accounts. The Township Treasurer
shall establish appropriate accounts and shall maintain records whereby
traffic impact fees collected can be segregated for each transportation
service area.
D.
Maintenance of records. The Township Treasurer shall maintain and
keep adequate financial records for each such account which shall
show the source and disbursement of all revenues, which shall account
for all moneys received and which shall ensure that the disbursement
of funds from each account shall be used solely and exclusively for
the provision of projects specified in the program for the particular
transportation service area.
Payment of the traffic impact fee shall be made by the person
seeking to build or develop prior to the issuance of a building permit
by the Township for development on the applicable site.
A.
Any applicant who shall perform, at his or her own expense and with
the consent and agreement of the Board of Supervisors, any off-site
improvements enumerated on the Roadway Sufficiency Analyses and Transportation
Capital Improvements Plan shall be eligible for a credit from the
traffic 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 traffic impact fee.
B.
If the applicant makes such improvements, he or she 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, a requirement 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 Board of Supervisors, including the deposit with the Township of financial security in an amount sufficient to guarantee the construction of the improvement in the manner provided for by Article V of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The Board of Supervisors 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 traffic impact fee prior to issuance of any building permit. In no event shall the Board of Supervisors provide a credit which is greater than the applicable traffic impact fee. If, however, the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater than the amount of the traffic impact fee due, the applicant may use such excess credit toward the impact fees imposed on other building permits for development on the same site and in the same ownership.
C.
An applicant shall be entitled, as a credit against traffic impact
fees, to an amount equal to the fair market value of land dedicated
by the applicant and accepted by the Township for future rights-of-way,
realignment or widening of existing roadways.
D.
As a credit against traffic impact fees, an applicant shall be entitled
to an amount equal to the value of any road improvement construction
which is contained in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan
and which was performed at the applicant's expense.
Traffic impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall
be refunded, together with interest earned thereon, to the payor of
the fees under the following circumstances:
A.
In the event the Township completes or terminates the Transportation
Capital Improvements Plan and there remain undisbursed funds, the
respective payors shall be entitled to a share of the fund balance
in the same proportion that the payor's traffic impact fee payment,
plus interest earned, bears to the total impact fees collected plus
interest.
B.
In the event that any specific road improvement project is completed
at a cost to the Township of less than 95% of the budgeted cost of
the road project, the Township shall refund an amount equal to the
excess budgeted cost over actual cost to the payors, pro rata, plus
accumulated interest.
C.
In the event that the development for which traffic impact fees were
paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of the building permit
issued therefor, the traffic impact fees paid, with accumulated interest,
shall be refunded to the payor. Further, if a building permit, after
issuance, is altered in such a way as to reduce the indicated traffic
impact fee, the difference between the amount indicated and the amount
actually paid shall be refunded. The payor, at his or her option,
may roll over the traffic impact fees attributable to an expired building
permit to cover fees incurred by a renewal of such expired permit.
D.
With respect to refunds arising out of Subsection A or B hereof, any funds unclaimed within one year, after notice as required by law, shall be transferred to the general account of the Township, and the payor's entitlement to such refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payor to provide the Township with the current address of his or her place of business.
This article shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible
use of property, the density of development, previously adopted design
and improvement standards and requirements or any other aspect of
the development of land or provision of public improvements, which
remain subject to applicable zoning and subdivision regulations of
the Township, which shall be operative and remain in full force and
effect without limitation with respect to all such development.
The traffic impact fee is additional and supplemental to, and
not in substitution of, any other requirements imposed by the Township
on the development of land or the issuance of building permits. Nothing
herein contained shall be deemed to alter or affect the Township's
existing ordinances and regulations regarding on-site improvements.
In no event shall a property owner be obligated to pay for transportation
capital improvements in an amount in excess of the amount calculated
pursuant to this article; provided, however, that a property owner
may be required to pay, pursuant to Township ordinances, regulations
or policies, for other public improvements or facilities (including
on-site transportation capital improvements) in addition to the impact
fee for off-site transportation improvements as provided herein.
A.
This article shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
B.
Notwithstanding the above subsection, traffic impact fees may be
imposed on those projects involving land developments and subdivisions
for which an application has been filed on or after the first publication
of Township's notice of intention to adopt this article; provided,
however, that such retroactivity does not exceed 18 months after the
adoption of the resolution that created the advisory committee in
connection herewith.
The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed
to effectively carry out its purposes, which are hereby found and
declared to be in furtherance of the public health, safety, welfare
and convenience.
