[Adopted 11-14-1988 by Ord. No. 1629]
This article shall be known as the "Whitehall
Township Transportation Development Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to establish
transportation development districts and to provide a mechanism for
assessment of the costs of transportation improvements upon those
property owners who are benefitted by the improvements. The intent
of this article is to provide a program by which traffic problems
can be identified and solved in a timely fashion with the costs of
the solutions fairly distributed.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any property which is located in a designated traffic development
district and has a substantial relationship to the proposed transportation
facility project or service project.
Any system of public highway or passive transportation including,
but not limited to, local streets, roads, sidewalks, alleys, passageways,
traffic control systems, structure, road beds, railroads, buses, trolleys,
subways, other forms of public passenger transportation, guideways,
elevated structures, stations, terminals, docks, shelters and parking
areas for use in connection with any of the foregoing.
All public improvements required to be constructed by the
developer of property pursuant to any ordinance of Whitehall Township
including, but not limited to, the subdivision/land development regulations,
the Whitehall zoning ordinance or the Whitehall building code. Generally,
such improvements will be constructed on the developer's property
or on public streets and highways immediately abutting and adjacent
to the property being developed.
All public improvements necessary to be constructed which
are generally not contiguous with the property being developed and
not required as an onsite improvement.
The amount of traffic generated by a property for peak hours
as determined by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) in
"Trip Generation and Informational Report," the current edition and
all future editions thereof.
Transportation service projects which include any system
of passenger transportation by any mode and the salaries and costs
associated therewith, the provisions of any system of public highway
transportation and the salaries and costs associated therewith, and
any method by which Whitehall Township provides, plans for, implements,
undertakes or otherwise makes available to the public transportation
facilities and any method by which the Township operates, provides,
maintains or holds out for the public transportation benefits.
A specific area or areas established by the Township for
the purpose of planning, financing, acquiring, developing, constructing
and operating transportation facilities or transportation services
within the area designated as a district.
An amount equal to 1/2 the dollar calculated by dividing
the total improvement cost estimate for the construction of the necessary
transportation improvements by the peak hour traffic growth capacity
as the result of the construction of such improvements.
The Board of Commissioners shall direct that
a traffic study be made. This traffic study shall evaluate the present
highway infrastructure in the Township and identify areas where problems
exist because of inadequate capacity or safety. The study shall also
project the future traffic rates and identify anticipated problem
areas due to inadequate capacity or safety. This study shall also
identify existing and predicted areas where facility projects and/or
service projects are or will be needed in the near future. When these
problem areas are identified, the preparers of the study shall identify
areas which it recommends be designated as transportation development
districts. Upon the receipt of such study, the Board of Commissioners,
after public hearing thereon, shall adopt a list of specific areas
which shall be designated at traffic development districts. The Board
of Commissioners shall then assign a total improvement cost estimate
to the list of necessary improvements, together with a corresponding
traffic growth capability as a result of the construction of such
improvements. The unit improvement cost figure shall then be calculated.
There is hereby imposed upon all benefitted
properties which are located in a transportation development district
in Whitehall Township an assessment for the construction of necessary
public improvements in accordance with the formula to be set forth
below.
The assessment imposed by this article upon
all benefitted properties which are located in a traffic development
district shall be determined by applying the unit improvement cost
to the peak hour traffic generated by the benefitted property. To
determine the fee for a specific use, the peak hour trip generation
rate for the proposed use shall be multiplied by the unit improvement
cost rate.
Payment of the assessment shall be made in full
within 30 days notice to the owner of the benefitted property by the
Township of the amount of the assessment. Should the owner of the
benefitted property fail to pay the assessment within this period,
the Township Solicitor is hereby authorized to file a claim for the
unpaid amount using the method authorized by 53 P.S. § 1623(c).
Any owner or developer of a benefitted property
as defined in this article who shall be performing, at its own expense,
offsite improvements, as above defined, shall have deducted from the
traffic assessment the actual cost of such offsite improvements as
approved by the Township Engineer. These offsite improvements must
be listed on the specific list of highway projects with a need for
the improvements must be certified by the Board of Commissioners in
order for the owner or the developer of the benefitted property to
qualify for such deduction. Such deduction shall not exceed the amount
of the assessment.
Revisions to the list of highway development
districts and the cost of the improvements to be performed in those
districts shall be made by the Board of Commissioners pursuant to
public notice after a public hearing thereon. Annual adjustments to
the total improvement cost and unit improvement cost shall be made
for inflation and shall be based upon the January Construction Cost
Index as published in the American City and County Magazine (The ACC
Index). Adjustments shall also be made for the addition or deletion
of projects.
