This chapter shall be known as the "Peters Township Impact Fee
Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to establish the Peters Township
Impact Fee Program, including a Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan, to ensure that the transportation system is available
and adequate to support existing volumes of traffic and traffic projected
to be generated by new growth and development. To advance this objective,
the Peters Township Impact Fee Program shall be based upon the imposition
of an impact fee payable to the Township at the time of building permit
issuance. Additionally, the program identifies existing deficiencies
due to pass-through trips and future trip generation attributable
to new development. The program will provide a continuing generation
of funds necessary for the Township to initiate and complete capital
transportation improvements as needed in support of new growth and
development. Such a program will involve participation by developers
as well as local, state and federal governments. Through the Impact
Fee Program, the Township is establishing a process whereby future
traffic needs can be addressed in a timely manner and the impact of
increased traffic volumes can be minimized to the extent possible.
The Council hereby finds and declares that:
A. The recitals set forth at the beginning of this chapter are incorporated
herein as findings of the Council as if fully set forth below.
B. The Township is committed to the provision of a transportation system
at service levels necessary to support residential and nonresidential
growth and development.
C. Transportation service levels will be provided by the construction
of road improvements by the Township or by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation ("PennDOT") utilizing funds allocated via the capital
budget, capital improvements programs, gifts, grants and donations,
formal and informal partnerships with PennDOT and impact fees.
D. The aggregation of development in the defined transportation service
area intensifies the demand for transportation improvements designed
to accommodate traffic volumes at a "D" level of service as defined
by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Science,
which is the minimum acceptable level of service to accommodate such
development and the intensity thereof.
E. The development potential of properties in the defined transportation service area is reflected in the RSA Report and the Township's Comprehensive Plan and is implemented via Chapter
385, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Peters Township Code of Ordinances, and the Zoning Ordinance.
F. To the extent that new development in the transportation service
area places demands upon the transportation system, those demands
should be satisfied by the establishment of an Impact Fee Program
that distributes the responsibility for financing the provision of
such transportation facilities among the Township, state and federal
governments, and developers.
G. The amount of the impact fee to be imposed has been calculated in
accordance with the provisions of the MPC and this chapter, applying the engineering standards set
forth in Trip Generation, 7th Edition, 2003, Vols. 1 to 3, Institute
of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments or future editions
thereof.
H. The Township hereby finds and declares that an impact fee imposed
upon new development, in order to assist in the financing of specified
major transportation capital improvements in the defined transportation
service area, the demand for which has been quantified through the
application of land use assumptions provided by the Impact Fee Advisory
Committee appointed by the Council, is in the best interest of the
Township and its residents.
I. The maximum impact fee that could be levied in accordance with the
provisions of the MPC is $6,913 per trip in the Northern District and $6,002
in the Southern District. A calculation of the maximum allowable impact
fee is attached hereto and made a part hereof as Attachment D.
[Amended 11-28-2022 by Ord. No. 880; 11-27-2023 by Ord. No. 896]
J. The Council has set an impact fee at a level substantially below
the maximum that the MPC would allow.
K. Flexibility in assigning impact fee revenue across eligible TCIP
projects is imperative because the total fees collected will not be
the maximum allowed by the MPC.
L. The match requirements set by PennDOT may vary substantially from
the assumptions made by the IFA Committee in recommending a proposed
impact fee to the Council, and impact fees collected need to be available
to advance TCIP projects when PennDOT and federal funds are available.
As used in this chapter, the words shall have the meanings set
forth in Sections 107 and 502-A of the MPC unless the context clearly indicates to the contrary.
The following words and terms, not defined in the MPC or defined differently
than in the MPC, shall have the following meanings unless the context
clearly indicates to the contrary:
BUILDING PERMIT
A permit for the activities regulated under the Pennsylvania
Uniform Construction Code as administered by the Township and any
activity requiring an occupancy permit, including without limitation
the following activities:
A.
The construction or alteration of a man-made object having a
stationary location on land or water;
B.
The construction of an addition;
C.
The demolition of or the movement of a man-made object having
a stationary location on land or water;
D.
A change of occupancy or use;
E.
The installation of or the alteration of any equipment regulated
by the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The overall policy guide for the physical man-made change
to improved or unimproved real estate of Peters Township adopted by
the Council as the Comprehensive Plan of Peters Township either as
a whole or in parts, consisting of documents, maps, drawings and charts
in accordance with the MPC and as amended from time to time. The Peters Township
Comprehensive Plan includes but is not limited to the Peters Township
Comprehensive Plan adopted in March 2001 by the Council and designs
or plans or any studies or surveys emanating therefrom.
DEVELOPER
Any person who has legal title of land, agent of the legal
title or tenant with permission of the person who has legal title
of land, who makes an application for development. A developer is
also known as an applicant. In the case of the assessment of additional
impact fees, it shall also mean a successor in title.
IMPACT FEE
A fee, to be paid at building permit issuance, and calculated
in accordance with the provisions of the MPC, as amended, and this article or the fee to be paid in accordance with §
241-6D after a special transportation study pursuant to §
241-10A(5).
MANAGER
The Manager of Peters Township appointed pursuant to Section
31.2-206 of the Peters Township Home Rule Charter, Pa. Code, Title
363, Part IV, Chapter 31.
MUNICIPAL TRAFFIC ENGINEER
For the purpose of the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis and the
Transportation Capital Improvement Program Trans Associates, Inc.,
and thereafter, shall mean any Pennsylvania-licensed engineer with
experience in traffic and roadway engineering as may be appointed
from time to time by the Council.
NEW DEVELOPMENT
Any commercial, industrial or residential or other project
which involves new construction, enlargement, reconstruction, redevelopment,
relocation or structural alteration and which is expected to generate
additional vehicular traffic within the transportation service area
of the Township. New development also includes any change in use that
increases peak hour trips generated by such change in use whether
or not physical changes to the site or structures on the site are
required. Development pursuant to MPC Article VII (Planned Residential
Development) ("PRD") and MPC Article VII-A (Traditional Neighborhood
Development) ("TND") is included in new development.
[Amended 3-14-2016 by Ord. No. 794]
OCCUPANCY PERMIT
A permit for occupancy and use issued pursuant to the Zoning
Ordinance of the Township Code of Ordinances.
P.M. PEAK HOUR
The relevant peak hour period for the calculation of impact
fees. Trips generated in the p.m. peak hour shall be used to determine the impact
fee.
TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN ("TCIP")
A plan adopted by the Council of the Township prior to the
enactment of any impact fee ordinance for the purpose of identifying
and planning for transportation capital improvements. The TCIP may
be revised from time to time pursuant to the procedures set forth
in the definition of "trip generation rates" hereof.
[Amended 5-14-2018 by Ord. No. 828; 11-23-2020 by Ord. No. 859]
TRANSPORTATION SERVICE AREA
Those two geographically defined areas of the Township which,
pursuant to the Zoning Ordinance and applicable district regulations, have an aggregation
of sites with development potential creating the need for transportation
improvements for such area to be funded by impact fees as set forth
in the map entitled "Traffic Service Area (TSA)" prepared by Trans
Associates, Inc., and attached hereto and made a part hereof, Attachment
E. The two areas shall be known as the "Northern District"
and the "Southern District."
TRIP GENERATION RATES
Those rates of traffic for the p.m. peak hour, or in the
case of retail commercial use, the Saturday peak hour, of adjacent
street traffic as determined in Trip Generation, 7th Edition, 2003,
Vols. 1 to 3, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments
or future editions thereof.
UNIT COST PER TRIP
The dollar figure calculated by dividing the total costs
of the road improvements included in the adopted Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan, plus both a ten-percent contingency and the cost
of the Municipal Traffic Engineer's preparation of the Roadway Sufficiency
Analysis within a transportation service area attributable to and
necessitated by new development within the service area divided by
the number of anticipated p.m. peak hours trips generated by all new
development consistent with the land use assumptions and calculated
in accordance with Trip Generation, 7th Edition, 2003, Vols. 1 to
3, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments and future
editions thereto.
[Amended 5-14-2018 by Ord. No. 828]
The Township has defined two transportation service areas as
shown on the Transportation Service Area Map (See Attachment E.) in accordance with the provisions of the MPC.
The Township may expend impact fees paid by an applicant on
projects not contained in the adopted Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan if all of the following criteria are met:
A. The applicant has provided written consent to use of its collected
impact fees for specific transportation projects which are not included
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan;
B. The alternative transportation project, whether highway or multi-modal,
has as its purpose the reduction of traffic congestion or the removal
of vehicle trips from the roadway network;
C. The Township amends its Transportation Capital Improvements Plan
components required by § 504-A(e)(1)(vi) of the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10504-A(e)(1)(vi), to provide replacement
of the collected impact fees transferred to transportation projects
outside the approved Transportation Capital Improvements Plan from
sources other than impact fees or developer contributions within three
years of completion of the alternative projects to which the transferred
fees were applied.
Payment of the impact fee shall be made by the applicant prior
to the issuance of a building permit, or occupancy permit if no physical
improvements are required, by the Township for the new development
for development on the applicable site.
The words and phrases of this chapter are to be construed in
accordance with the following rules:
A. Definitions:
(1) First, words and phrases are to be interpreted as defined by this
chapter;
(2) Second, words and phrases that are not defined by this chapter are
to be interpreted as defined in Sections 107 and 502-A of the
Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), 53 P.S. §§ 10107
and 10502-A, as amended;
(3) Third, words and phrases that are not defined in this chapter or
Sections 107 and 502-A of the MPC are to be interpreted as defined
in the Township's Zoning Ordinance and Ch.
385, Subdivision and Land Development;
(4) Fourth, words and phrases that are not defined in this chapter, Sections 107
and 502-A of the MPC, or in the Township's Zoning Ordinance or Chapter
385, Subdivision and Land Development, are to be given their common, ordinary dictionary meaning within the context of the sentence in which they are used.
B. Construction. The words, phrases and provisions of this chapter are
not to be interpreted in a way the results in an absurd construction
of the meaning, or in a way that causes one provision to contradict
another.
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed
to effectively carry out the purposes that are hereby found and declared
to be in furtherance of the public health, safety, welfare and convenience.