[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Lower Makefield 11-18-1991 as Ord. No. 265.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 87.
Subdivision and land development — See Ch.
178.
This chapter shall be known as the "Lower Makefield Township Impact
Fee Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to establish an impact fee program to
ensure that the 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 the 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 impact fee set forth herein are those set forth in Act 209
of 1990, and any and all amendments thereto (hereinafter the "Act"), and consist of:
(1) The recitals set forth above.
(2) The analysis, advice and recommendations of the Impact
Fee Advisory Committee.
(3) The land use assumptions as adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
(4) The roadway sufficiency analysis as adopted by the Board
of Supervisors.
(5) The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as adopted
by the Board of Supervisors.
(6) 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 an impact fee and consistent with the provisions of the
Act and any amendments thereto.
B. The collection, disbursement and accounting of impact
fees shall be administered by the office of the Township Manager or Finance
Director, subject to review, oversight and control by the Board of Supervisors.
C. The time, method and procedure for payment of impact fees shall be as set forth in §
121-18 of this chapter.
D. The procedure for credits against or refunds of impact fees shall be as set forth in §
121-19 of this chapter.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section 502-A of the Act are hereby adopted and incorporated in this chapter by reference.
There is hereby enacted an impact fee to be imposed upon new development
for the purpose of off-site public transportation capital improvements authorized
by the Act and as described in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan
adopted by the Board of Supervisors. Said impact fee shall apply to all new
developments or subdivisions within each of the transportation service areas
identified herein and the acknowledgment of such obligation shall be a condition
precedent to final approval of a development or a subdivision plan or issuance
of a building permit.
Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be expended for
costs incurred for improvements attributable to new development and designated
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors
in Resolution No. 785 for improvements within each of the transportation service areas
in which the new development will be located. Such costs shall include those
for the acquisition of land and rights-of-way, engineering, legal and planning
costs and all other costs, including debt service related to road improvements
within the designated service area.
The following documents, previously adopted by the Board of Supervisors,
are hereby incorporated by reference in this chapter:
A. Land use assumptions as adopted by the township.
B. Roadway sufficiency analysis as adopted by the township.
C. The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted
by the township.
D. The impact fee schedule as established by the township.
E. Designation of transportation service areas as set forth
on the Transportation Service Area Map identified as Exhibit A and incorporated
herein by reference.
A. Where a new nonresidential development is proposed which
deviates from the land use assumptions resulting in increased density, intensity
or trip generation, the developer shall be required to prepare a special transportation
study in order to assist the township in determining traffic generation or
circulation and to serve as the basis for the determination of the amount
of the transportation impact fee for such development or subdivision. Such
transportation studies shall conform to the requirements of Township Ordinance
No. 208.
B. Any such studies shall be submitted prior to the imposition
of the impact fee and shall be considered in the determination of said fee.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all development that occurs
within a designated transportation service area.
No building permit shall be issued for a development in a designated
transportation service area, as herein defined, unless the applicant therefor
has paid the impact fee imposed by and calculated pursuant to this chapter.
The following new development or subdivision shall be exempt from the
imposition of the impact fee adopted pursuant to this chapter:
A. All new development or subdivisions which constitute
affordable housing to low- and moderate-income persons as defined in Act 209 shall be entitled to a credit of up to one hundred percent (100%)
against the impact fee otherwise accessible against said development.
B. All new development or subdivision which are determined
by the Board of Supervisors to serve an overriding public interest shall be
entitled to a credit of up to one hundred percent (100%) against the otherwise
applicable impact fee.
A. The impact fee for the transportation capital improvements
shall be based upon the total costs of the road improvements included in the
adopted Transportation Capital Improvements Plan within a given transportation
service area attributable to and necessitated by new development within the
service area as defined, divided by the number of anticipated p.m. peak hour
trips generated by all new development consistent with the adopted land use
assumptions and calculated in accordance with the trip generation manual published
by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 5th or subsequent editions,
which is hereby adopted by the township, to equal a per-trip cost for transportation
improvements within the service area.
B. The specific impact fee for a specific new development or subdivision within the transportation service area for road improvements shall be determined as of the date of preliminary land development or subdivision approval by multiplying the per peak hour trip cost established for the transportation service area as determined in §
121-14 hereof by the estimated number of p.m. peak hour trips to be generated by the new development or subdivision using generally accepted traffic engineering standards.
A. Transportation service areas are established as shown
on the Transportation Service Area Map (attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated
herein by reference).
B. Additional transportation service subareas or combinations
of transportation service subareas may be designated by the Board of Supervisors
from time to time consistent with the procedures set forth in this chapter
and in consideration of the following factors:
(2) Any standards for adequate public facilities incorporated
in the program.
(3) The projected build-out and timing of development.
(4) The need for and cost of unprogrammed transportation
improvements necessary to support projected development.
(5) Such other factors as the Board of Supervisors may deem
relevant.
C. Fees collected from development in each of the transportation
service subareas will be used exclusively to fund transportation improvement
projects scheduled for that transportation service subarea.
The per peak hour trip cost for each transportation service area shall be as set forth in Chapter
A205, Fees.
The impact fee set forth in §
121-14 shall be adjusted annually in accordance with the Engineering News Record (ENR) cost index for the construction cost in the Philadelphia area. For purposes of the adjustment the base index shall be November 1991.
Prior to making an application for a building permit, an applicant may
request a nonbinding 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 different use of development.
A. Collection of impact fee. Impact fees due pursuant to
this chapter shall be collected by the township in the manner or manners prescribed
herein prior to the issuance of a building permit.
B. Establishment of fund. Upon receipt of impact fees, the
Township Manager or Finance Director 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 the 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
Manager or Financial Director shall establish appropriate trust fund accounts
and shall maintain records whereby impact fees collected shall be segregated
for each transportation service area.
D. Maintenance of records. The Township Manager or Finance
Director 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 district
area.
Payment of the transportation capital improvements impact fee shall
be made by the applicant prior to the issuance of each building permit by
the township to the applicant for development on the applicable site.
Any applicant who shall perform, at his own expense and with the consent and agreement of the Board of Supervisors, off-site improvements, as herein defined, shall be eligible for a credit against the impact fee otherwise due in the amount of the cost of the improvement as set forth in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as adjusted pursuant to §
121-15. Such credit shall not exceed the amount of the current impact fee.
A. If the applicant makes such improvements for which a
credit is to be granted he must enter into an agreement with the Board of
Supervisors 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/or applicable Pennsylvania Department of Transportation standards
and design criteria and such other terms and conditions as deemed necessary
by the Board of Supervisors. 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 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 impact fee. If, however,
the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater than the amount of the
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. Any such applicant shall be required to supply financial
security sufficient, in the judgment of the township, to cover the cost of
any such improvement installed by the applicant for which credit is sought.
B. An applicant shall be entitled as a credit against impact
fees 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, but such credit shall not be more
than the then-current impact fee.
A. Refunds of impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter.
(1) Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall
be refunded, together with interest earned thereon, to the payer of the fees
under the following circumstances:
(a) In the event that the township completes or terminates
the capital improvements plan for a transportation service area and there
remain undisbursed funds, the respective payers shall be entitled to a share
of the fund balance in the same proportion as the payer's impact fee
payment plus interest earned bears to the total impact fees collected plus
interest.
(b) In the event that the road improvement projects in any
transportation service area are completed at a cost to the township less than
ninety-five percent (95%) of the budgeted cost of the projects, the township
shall refund an amount equal to the excess budgeted cost over actual cost
to the payers, pro rata, plus accumulated interest.
(c) In the event that the township fails to commence construction
within three (3) years of the scheduled construction date of the project as
set forth in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as adopted or amended
hereafter, the township shall refund the portion of the fee paid by any payer
making written request therefor which is attributable to said project, with
accumulated interest, provided that no refund shall be paid with respect to
any project actually begun prior to the receipt of such refund request.
(d) In the event that the development for which impact fees
were paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of each building permit
issued therefor, the impact fees paid with accumulated interest shall be refunded
to the payer upon written request therefor made within one (1) year from the
date of expiration of the applicable permit. Further, if a building permit
after issuance is altered in such a way as to reduce the indicated impact
fee, the difference between the amount indicated and the amount actually paid
shall be refunded. The payer, at his option, may roll over the impact fees
attributable to an expired building permit to cover fees incurred by a renewal
of said expired permit.
(2) With respect to refunds arising out of Subsection
A(1)(a) and
(b) hereof, any funds unclaimed within one (1) year after notice sent to the payer's last known address shall be transferred to the general account of the township, and the payer's entitlement to said refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payer to provide the township with the current address of his place of business.
B. Refunds of impact fees paid pursuant to Township Ordinance
No. 224. To the extent an obligation exist for the township to refund any
impact fees previously paid, any claim for refund of impact fees previously
paid pursuant to Township Ordinance No. 224 shall be made within one (1) year subsequent to the date of adoption
of this chapter. Any refunds unclaimed within one (1) year subsequent to the
adoption of this chapter shall be transferred to the general account of the
township, and the payer's entitlement to said refund shall lapse. It
is the responsibility of the payer to provide the township with the current
address of its place of business.
This chapter shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible use of
property, 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 of the township, which shall be operative and remain in full
force and effect without limitation with respect to all such development.
Nor shall this chapter affect or impair, in any manner, the rights and obligations
of the township or any other party as same may be provided for in any development
agreement or other contractual obligation entered into prior to the effective
date of this chapter.
The 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 chapter; provided, however, that a property
owner may be required to pay, pursuant to township ordinances, regulations
or policies, for other public facilities in addition to the impact fee for
transportation improvements as specified herein.
The provisions of this chapter 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.