[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Limerick as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-16-2001 by Ord. No. 227; amended
in its entirety 12-7-2021 by Ord. No. 408]
This article shall be known as the "Limerick Township Transportation
Impact Fee Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to establish a transportation
impact fee to ensure that the transportation system is available and
adequate to support new growth and development. To advance this objective,
there is hereby created a transportation 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 transportation impact fee set forth herein are those set forth
in Act 209 of 1990, Article V-A, Municipal Capital Improvement, of
the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10501-A
et seq., and any and all amendments thereto (hereinafter the "Act"),
and consists of:
(1) The recitals set forth above;
(2) The analysis, advice, and recommendations of the Transportation Impact
Fee Advisory Commission;
(3) The Land Use Assumptions Report 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
by resolution identify from time to time as being relevant and material
to the imposition of a transportation impact fee and consistent with
the provisions of the Act and any amendments thereto.
B. The collection, disbursement, and accounting of transportation impact
fees shall be administered by the office of the Township Manager,
subject to review, oversight, and control by the Board of Supervisors.
C. The amount of the per peak hour trip transportation impact fees shall be as set forth in §
82-13 of this article.
D. The time, method, and procedure for payment of transportation impact fees shall be as set forth in §
82-18 of this article.
E. The procedures for credits against transportation impact fees shall be as set forth in §
82-19 of this article.
F. The procedures for refunds of transportation impact fees shall be as set forth in §
82-20 of this article.
G. Such exemptions as the Board of Supervisors shall choose to enact shall be as set forth in §
82-21 of this article.
The terms and definitions set forth in § 502-A of
the Act, 53 P.S. § 10502-A, are hereby adopted and incorporated
by reference in full in this article, as if they were attached hereto.
There are hereby enacted transportation impact fees to be imposed
upon new development, as defined in the Act, for the purpose of off-site
public transportation capital improvements authorized by the Act and
as described by the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan adopted
by the Board of Supervisors. Said transportation impact fees shall
apply to all new subdivisions and land developments within the transportation
service area established pursuant hereto and the imposition and payment
shall be a condition precedent to final approval of a subdivision
or land development plan and issuance of a building permit.
Transportation 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 for improvements within the transportation service area 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 transportation 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 full in this
article, as if attached hereto:
A. Recommendations of the Transportation Impact Fee Advisory Committee,
including those set forth in the documents identified below.
B. Land Use Assumptions Report as adopted by Resolution No. 2021-29.
C. Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by Resolution No. 2021-30.
D. Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted by Resolution
No. 2021-31.
E. Transportation Service Area Map as prepared by Traffic Planning and
Design, Inc., attached as Exhibit A to the Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan, and incorporated by reference in full herein, as
if attached hereto.
Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate amount
of traffic transportation impact fees, the Township may require the
preparation of a special transportation study to determine the traffic
generation of circulation patterns in new nonresidential developments
only; provided, nevertheless, that no studies may be required where
the proposed development will not require a deviation from the land
use assumptions used to create the Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan. Any such studies required by the Township shall be submitted
prior to the imposition of the transportation impact fee and shall
be considered in the determination of the fee.
This article shall be uniformly applicable to all developments
that occur within a defined transportation service area.
No building permit shall be issued for a development in the
transportation service area hereto unless the applicant therefor has
paid the transportation impact fees imposed by and calculated pursuant
to this article.
A. The transportation impact fees for transportation capital improvements
shall be based upon the total costs of the road improvements included
in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvements Plan within the
transportation service area, which are attributable to and necessitated
by the new development within the transportation service area as calculated
in accordance with the Act and herewith, divided by the number of
anticipated peak-hour trips generated by all new development consistent
with the adopted Land Use Assumptions Report and calculated in accordance
with the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation
Engineers, 6th or subsequent editions, as amended, which is hereby
adopted by the Township to equal a per-trip cost for transportation
improvements within the transportation service area.
B. The specific transportation impact fee for a specific new subdivision
or land development within the transportation service area for road
improvements shall be determined as of the date of preliminary subdivision
or land development approval by multiplying the per-trip cost established
for the transportation service area by the estimated number of p.m.
peak-hour trips to be generated by the new subdivision or land development
using Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation
Engineers, 7th or subsequent editions, as amended.
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 transportation fee
for such subdivision or land development.
A. Transportation Service Areas 1 and 2 are established as shown on
the Transportation Service Area Map prepared by Traffic Planning and
Design, Inc., attached as Exhibit 1 to the Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan, and incorporated by reference in full herein. Additional
transportation service areas or subareas or combinations of transportation
service areas or subareas may be designated by the Board of Supervisors
from time to time, consistent with the procedure set forth in this
article and in consideration of the following factors:
(2) Any standards for adequate public facilities incorporated in the
Transportation Capital Improvements Plan;
(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.
B. Fees collected from development in each transportation service area
or subarea will be used exclusively to fund transportation improvement
projects scheduled for that area or subarea.
A. The amount of peak-hour trip fee for the Transportation Service Area
1 and 2 shall be $1,792 and $2,291, respectively, unless revised or
amended in accordance with the provisions hereof and the Act, calculated
in accordance with § 504-A and 505-A(a)(1) of the Act and §
82-11 hereof, as follows:
(1) Transportation Service Area 1. Total costs of road improvements in
Service Area 1 included in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan attributable to and necessitated by new development within the
transportation service area including 50% of the estimated costs of
improvements to highways, roads, and streets qualifying as a state
highway or portion of the rural highway system as provided in § 102
of the State Highway Law.
Total costs attributable to Service Area 1
|
$4,317,500
|
(2) Transportation Service Area 2. Total costs of road improvements in
Service Area 2 included in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan attributable to and necessitated by new development within the
transportation service area including 50% of the estimated costs of
improvements to highways, roads, and streets qualifying as a State
highway or portion of the rural highway system as provided in § 102
of the State Highway Law.
Total costs attributable to Service Area 2
|
$2,775,000
|
There is hereby imposed an additional transportation impact
fee upon new developments which generate 1,000 or more new peak-hour
trips, net of pass-by trips as defined by the Trip Generation Manual
published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 7th subsequent
editions, during the peak-hour period designated in this article.
The applicant for such a development shall perform traffic analysis
of development traffic impact on highways, roads, or streets outside
the transportation service area in which the development site is located
but within the boundaries of the Township. Any such highways, roads
or streets or parts thereof outside the transportation service area
which will accommodate 10% or more of development traffic and 100
or more new peak-hour trips shall be studied, and the applicant shall
mitigate the traffic impacts of the development on such highways,
roads and streets to maintain the predevelopment conditions after
completion of the development.
Any other provisions of this article to the contrary notwithstanding,
in accordance with the provisions of Act, the Township may expend
transportation impact fees paid by an applicant on projects not contained
in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan or may provide credit
against the transportation impact fees for the value of any construction
projects not contained in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan
or may provide credit against transportation impact fees for the value
of any construction projects not contained in the Transportation Capital
Improvement Plan, which are performed at the applicant's expense
if all of the following criteria are met:
A. The applicant has provided written consent to use of its transportation
impact fees or the provision of such credit against the applicant's
transportation impact fees for the specific transportation projects,
which are not included in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan.
B. The alternative transportation projects, whether highway or multimodal,
have as their purpose the reduction of traffic congestion or the removal
of vehicle trips from the roadway work.
C. The Township amends its Transportation Capital Improvement Plan components
required by Section 504-A(e)(1)(vi) of the Act to provide replacement of the collected transportation
impact fees transferred to transportation projects outside the Transportation
Capital Improvement Plan from sources other than transportation impact
fees or developer contributions within three years of completion of
the alternative projects to which the transferred fees were applied
or for which credit was provided. All interest earned on such funds
shall become funds of that account. The Township shall make an accounting
annually for any fund account containing transportation impact fee
proceeds and earned interest. Such accounting shall include, but not
be limited to, the total funds collected, the source of 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 shall
be included and published as part of the annual audit required by
the Township. A copy of the report shall also be provided to the Transportation
Impact Fee Advisory Board.
Prior to making an application for a building permit, an applicant
may request a nonbinding transportation 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 use of the development.
A. Collection of transportation impact fees due pursuant to this article
shall be collected by the Township in the manner or manners prescribed
herein prior to the issuance of a building permit.
B. Establishment of the fund. Upon receipt of transportation impact
fees, the Township Manager 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 shall
establish appropriate trust fund accounts and shall maintain records
whereby transportation impact fees collected can be segregated for
each transportation service area.
D. Maintenance of records. The Township Manager 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 disbursement
of funds from each account shall be used solely and exclusively for
the provision of projects specified in the Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan for the particular transportation service area.
The transportation impact fee for a specific subdivision or land development shall be paid prior to the issuance of the building permit for the development. The transportation impact fee shall be paid to the Township in cash, bank cashier's check, certified check, or electronic fund transfer approved by the Township Manager and shall be administered by the Township in accordance with the provisions of §
82-17 hereof.
Any applicant who shall perform, at its 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 a transportation
impact fee otherwise due. Such credit shall not exceed the amount
of the transportation impact fee that would have been charged if a
credit was not due.
A. If the applicant makes such improvements, he shall enter into an
agreement with the Board of Supervisors prior to the issuance of any
building permit. The agreement shall 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, as applicable, and such other terms and conditions
as deemed necessary by the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors
shall 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 transportation impact fee prior to issuance
of any building permit. The amount of such credit for any capital
improvement constructed shall be the amount allocated in the Transportation
Capital Improvement Plan, including contingency factors, for such
improvement. In no event shall the Board of Supervisors provide a
credit, which is greater than the applicable transportation impact
fee. If however, the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater
than the amount of the transportation impact fee due, the applicant
may use such excess credit toward the transportation 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 improvement installed by the applicant for which
credit is sought.
B. An applicant shall be entitled as a credit against transportation
impact fees an amount equal to the fair market value of land dedicated
by the applicant to the Township and accepted by the Township for
future right-of-way, realignment or widening of existing roadways.
The fair market value of any land dedicated to and accepted by the
Township shall be determined as of the date of the submission of the
subdivision or land development application to the Township.
Transportation impact fees collected pursuant to this article
shall be refunded, together with interest earned thereon, to the payor
of the transportation impact fees under the following circumstances:
A. In the event the Township terminates or completes the Transportation
Capital Improvements Plan and there remains at the time of termination
or completion undisbursed funds, the respective payors shall be entitled
to a share of the fund balance in the same proportion as the payor's
transportation impact fee payment plus interest earned bears to the
total transportation impact fees collected plus interest. The Township
shall provide written notice by certified mail to each person who
previously paid the fees and remain undisbursed, that such person's
proportionate share of the fund balance is available for refund to
such person. Such notice shall be provided to the last known address
provided by the payor of the transportation impact fees to the Township.
In the event that any of the funds remain unclaimed following one
year after the notice, 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. It shall be the responsibility
of the payor to provide the Township at all times with a current address
for such notice.
B. In the event the Township fails to commence construction within three
years of the scheduled construction dates of the project as set forth
in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan, the Township shall
refund the portion of the transportation impact fee paid by any payor
making written request therefor, which is attributable to said project,
with accumulated interest; provided, nevertheless, that no refund
shall be payable or paid with respect to any project actually commenced
prior to the receipt of such refund request and the failure of a payor
to make such written request prior to the commencement of such project
shall be deemed a waiver of any right to such refund.
C. In the event that, upon completion of any road improvements project,
the actual expenditure for the project are less than 95% of the budgeted
costs for such project, the Township shall refund the pro rata difference
between the budgeted costs and the actual expenditures, including
interest accumulated thereon from the date of payment, to the person
or persons who paid the impact fees for such improvements.
D. In the event, the development for which transportation impact fees
were paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of the building
permit issued therefor, the transportation 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 amount of
the transportation impact fee due, the difference between such amount
and the amount actually paid shall be refunded. The payor, at its
option, may roll over the transportation impact fees attributable
to an expired building permit to cover fees incurred by a required
permit.
A. An exemption of traffic impact fees is applicable to a property owner
who proposes an extension or addition to an existing structure or
for placement of a separate freestanding structure when the total
proposed structure(s) are less than or equal to 3,000 square feet
in gross area. This exemption does not apply to:
(1) Any expansion or freestanding structure proposed which is greater
than 3,000 gross square feet.
(2) Total expansion of structure(s) over time exceeds 3,000 gross square
feet.
(3) Change of use of existing structure(s).
B. For purposes of traffic impact fee assessment, all expansion shall
be retroactively assessed when total structure(s) exceed 3,000 GSF.
"Total structure(s)" shall be defined as structures previously exempted
under this provision of this article plus currently proposed structures.
This article shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible
use of property, density or development previously adopted design
and improvement standards and requirements or any other aspect of
the subdivision or land development or provision of public improvements
which remain subject to applicable zoning, subdivision and land development,
and planned residential development regulations of the Township, which
shall be operative and remain in full force and effect without limitation
with respect to such development.
The transportation 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, nevertheless,
that a property owner may be required to pay, pursuant to Township
ordinances, regulations or policies, for other public facilities in
addition to the transportation impact fee as provided herein.
It is hereby found and declared to be the intention of the Township
that the public health, safety, and welfare be protected and furthered
by the provisions of this article, and it shall be interpreted and
construed liberally to effectively carry out its purposes and in such
manner as to favor such public interest as opposed to any private
interest.
A. Notwithstanding §
82-26 herein, transportation impact fees shall be imposed on those projects involving subdivisions, land developments, and planned residential developments for which an application has been filed on or after the first publication of notice of the intend of the Township to adopt this article; provided, nevertheless, that such retroactivity does not exceed 18 months after the adoption of the resolution that created the Transportation Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
B. With respect to such retroactive applications, the per-peak-hour
trip shall be $1,000, as set forth in Resolution No. 2000-24, duly
adopted at a regular public meeting held on the seventeenth day of
October 2000, and pursuant to which the Board of Supervisors declared
its intention to adopt this article.
This article shall take effect five days after adoption by the
Board of Supervisors.
[Adopted 10-9-2008 by Ord. No. 300]
The recitals are incorporated herein as if set forth in extenso.
A. Subject to the procedures set forth in this article, attorneys' fees
incurred in collecting delinquent accounts, fees and/or charges shall
be assessed against a delinquent customer, resident or developer in
the amount charged to the Township by its solicitor in collecting
the delinquent account, fee and/or charge.
B. The attorneys' fees to be assessed against delinquent customers,
residents or developers shall be based upon the solicitor's then-current
hourly rate charged to the Township prior to litigation, and the litigation
rate charged to the Township once a lien is filed as a result of a
delinquency or failure of payment. Such rates are available at the
Township building.
C. At least 30 days prior to assessing or imposing attorneys' fees,
the Township will notify, by certified mail, the delinquent customer,
resident or developer of its intention to impose attorneys' fees and
specify the manner in which the imposition of attorneys' fees may
be avoided by payment of the account. In the event certified mail
is refused, the Township will send a similar notice, by regular mail,
10 days prior to imposing attorneys' fees. The notice provided shall
be sent to the delinquent customer's, resident's or developer's last
known post office address, as it is maintained in the office of the
Tax Collector or county assessment office.