[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
North Coventry 11-12-2001 by Ord. No. 117.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "North Coventry 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,[1] 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; and
(6)
Such other conditions and standards as the Board of Supervisors
may be 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10501-A et seq.
B.
The collection, disbursement and accounting of impact
fees shall be administered by the office of the Township Manager or Secretary-Treasurer,
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 § 203-10 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 Program 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 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 on October 9, 2001, for improvements within each of the transportation
service areas in which the new development will be located. Additionally,
such fees may be used 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, and including such
proportionate amount of the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as is allowed under
the provisions of the Act.
The following documents, previously adopted by the Board of Supervisors,
are hereby incorporated by reference in this chapter:
A.
Recommendations of the Impact Fee Advisory Committee,
identified as follows: Land Use Assumption, Roadway Sufficiency Analysis,
Transportation Capital Improvements Plan and Impact Fee Schedule.
B.
Land use assumptions as adopted by the Township resolution.
C.
Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by Township resolution.
D.
The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted
by Township resolution.
E.
The Impact Fee Schedule as established by Township resolution.
F.
Designation of transportation districts as set forth
on the Transportation Service Area Map identified as Service Area East and
Service Area West and incorporated herein by reference.
A.
Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate
amount of traffic impact fees, the Township may require the preparation of
special transportation studies to determine the traffic generation or circulation
patterns in new nonresidential developments only; provided, however, that
no 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 such studies required by the Township shall be submitted
prior to the imposition of the impact fee and shall be considered in the determination
of the fee.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all development that occurs
within a designated development subarea.
No building permit shall be issued for a development in a designated
transportation district subarea, as herein defined, unless the applicant therefor
has paid the impact fee imposed by and calculated pursuant to this chapter.
(Reserved)
A.
The impact fee for 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 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, 4th 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 service area for road improvements 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 determined in § 203-13 hereof by the estimated number of trips to be generated by the new development or subdivision 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 traffic
generation or circulation for a new nonresidential development to assist in
the determination of the amount of the transportation fee for such development
or subdivision.
B.
Additional transportation district subareas or combinations
of transportation district subareas may be designated by the Board of Supervisors
from time to time consistent with the procedure set forth in this chapter
and in consideration of the following factors:
(1)
The Comprehensive Plan;
(2)
Any standards for adequate public facilities incorporated
in the program;
(3)
The projected build-out and timing of development areas;
(4)
The need for and cost of unprogrammed transportation
improvements necessary to support projected development; and
(5)
Such other factors as the Board of Supervisors may deem
relevant.
C.
Fees collected from development in each of the transportation
district subareas will be used exclusively to fund transportation improvement
projects scheduled for that district.
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 lesser 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 Secretary-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 for 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 Secretary-Treasurer shall establish appropriate trust fund accounts
and shall maintain records whereby impact fees collected can be segregated
for each transportation district subarea.
D.
Maintenance of records. The Township Manager or Secretary-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 monies received, and which shall ensure that the disbursements 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
subarea.
Payment of the transportation capital improvements impact fee shall
be made by the traffic generator prior to the issuance of building permit
by the Township to the traffic generator 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 from 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.
A.
If the applicant makes such improvements, 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 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. Provided 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 fair market value of land dedicated by the applicant
and accepted by the Township for future right-of-way, realignment or widening
of existing roadways.
C.
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.
A.
Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall
be refunded, together with the interest earned thereon, to the payor of the
fees under the following circumstances:
(1)
In the event the Township completes or terminates the
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
as the payor's impact fee payment plus interest earned bears to the total
impact fees collected plus interest.
(2)
In the event any specific road improvement project is
completed at a cost to the Township 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.
(3)
In the event the Township fails to commence construction
within three years of the scheduled construction date of the project as set
forth in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, the Township shall
refund the portion of the fee paid by any payor making written request therefor
which is attributable to said project, with accumulated interest, provided
no refund shall be paid with respect to any project actually begun prior to
the receipt of such refund request.
(4)
In the event the development of which impact fees were
paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of the building permit issued
therefor, the 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 impact fee, the difference between the amount
indicated and the amount actually paid shall be refunded. The payor, 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.
B.
With respect to refunds arising out of Subsection A(1) or (2) 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 said refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payor to provide the Township with the current address of his 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,
subdivision and PRD regulations of the Township, which shall be operative
and remain in full force and effect without limitation with respect to all
such development.
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 subdivided 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.
A.
Notwithstanding the effective date hereof, impact fees
may be imposed on those projects involving developments, subdivisions and
PRD's 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.
B.
In retroactive applications, the per-trip fee may not
exceed $1,000 or the actual calculated fee, whichever is less.
