[Added 9-17-2003 by Ord. No. 192]
This article shall be known as the "Worcester 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.
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"), and consist of:
(1) 
The analysis, advice and recommendations of the Traffic Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
(2) 
The Land Use Assumptions Report as adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
(3) 
The Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
(4) 
The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
(5) 
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.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section 502.A. 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.
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 Improvement Plan within the North and South Transportation Service Areas designated in the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis and Transportation Capital Improvement 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 Improvement 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 p.m. peak hour trips generated by all new development in the transportation service areas consistent with the Land Use Assumptions Report and calculated in accordance with the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Sixth Edition or subsequent editions, which is hereby adopted by the Township, to equal a per-trip cost for transportation improvements within the transportation service areas.
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 § 130-56) 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.
[Amended 12-16-2015 by Ord. No. 253]
There are hereby established two transportation service areas in the Township consisting of the North Transportation Service Area and the South Transportation Service Area. The boundaries of the North and South Transportation Service Areas are delineated on "Figure 1" of the Worcester Township Roadway Sufficiency Analysis and Transportation Capital Improvement Plan, dated June 2015, and are incorporated herein by reference.
[Amended 12-16-2015 by Ord. No. 253]
In accordance with the Worcester Township Roadway Sufficiency Analysis and Transportation Capital Improvement Plan prepared by McMahon Associates, Inc., dated June 2015, the traffic impact fee per p.m. peak trip generated by new development for the North Transportation Service Area shall be in the amount of $3,977. The traffic impact fee for each p.m. peak trip in the South Transportation Service Area shall be $3,125.
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.
[Amended 12-16-2015 by Ord. No. 253]
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 Transportation Capital Improvement 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, 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 Improvement Plan and which was performed at the applicant's expense.
E. 
De minimis applications shall be exempted from the fee. "De minimis applications" shall mean those subdivisions and developments that can be shown to generate less than two additional p.m. peak-hour trips, without rounding, using the most current version of the Institute of Transportation Engineer's publication, "Trip Generation," or a mutually agreed upon traffic study. To qualify for the exemption, applicants shall be required to place a waiver request on their final plat and submit information to support their request.
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 Improvement 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 Township fails to commence construction within three years of the scheduled construction date of the project as set forth in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan, the Township shall refund the portion of the fee paid by any payor making written request therefor which is attributable to such 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 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, and 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.
E. 
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.
[Amended 12-16-2015 by Ord. No. 253]
A. 
In the event that any section, subsection or portion of this chapter shall be declared by any competent court to be invalid for any reason, such decision shall not be deemed to affect the validity of any other section, subsection or portion of this chapter. The invalidity of section, clause, sentence, or provision of this chapter shall not affect the validity of any other part of this chapter, which can be given effect without such invalid part or parts. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Township that this chapter would have been adopted had such invalid section, clause, sentence, or provision not been included therein.
B. 
To the extent this chapter is inconsistent with the Code of Worcester Township, the provisions of this chapter shall take precedence. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
C. 
This chapter shall become effective immediately upon enactment.
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.