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Township of South Fayette, PA
Allegheny County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The terms and definitions set forth in § 502-A of the Act are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference in full in this chapter, 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 South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners. Said transportation impact fees shall apply to all new subdivisions and land developments within the transportation service areas 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 chapter 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 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 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 South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners, are hereby incorporated by reference in full in this chapter, 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. 03-2010.
C. 
Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by Resolution No. 12-2011.
D. 
Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted by Resolution No. 13-2011.
E. 
Transportation Service Areas Map as prepared by McMahon Associates, Inc., attached as Exhibit "A" to the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, and incorporated by reference in full herein, as if attached hereto.
Where a new nonresidential development is proposed which deviates from the land use assumptions resulting in increased density, intensity or trip generation, the developer shall be required to prepare a special transportation study in order to assist the Township in determining traffic generation or circulation and to serve as the basis for the determination of the amount of the transportation impact fee for such development or subdivision. Such transportation studies shall conform to the requirements of the South Fayette Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1] Any such studies shall be submitted prior to the imposition of the impact fee and shall be considered in the determination of said fee.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 215, Subdivision and Land Development.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all developments that occur within the defined transportation service areas.
No building permit shall be issued for development in the transportation service areas hereto unless the applicant therefore has paid the transportation impact fees imposed by and calculated pursuant to this chapter.
The following new development or subdivision shall be exempt from the imposition of the impact fee adopted pursuant to this chapter:
A. 
All new development or subdivisions which constitute affordable housing to low- and moderate-income persons as defined in Act 209 (53 P.S. § 10501-A et seq.) shall be entitled to a credit of up to 100% against the impact fee otherwise assessable against said development.
B. 
All new development or subdivision which are determined by the South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners to serve an overriding public interest shall be entitled to a credit of up to 100% against the otherwise applicable impact fee.
C. 
De minimus applications.
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 areas, which are attributable to and necessitated by the new development within the transportation service areas 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 a) the adopted Land Use Assumptions Report and b) calculated in accordance with the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, sixth or subsequent editions, as amended, which is hereby adopted by South Fayette Township, to equal a per-trip cost for transportation improvements within the transportation service areas.
B. 
The specific transportation impact fee for a specific new subdivision or land development within a 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 PM peak-hour trips to be generated by the new subdivision or land development using the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, sixth or subsequent editions, as amended.
C. 
The South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners 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. 
South Transportation Service Area and the North Transportation Service Area are established as shown on the Transportation Service Area Map prepared by McMahon Transportation engineers and Planners, attached as Exhibit "B" 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 South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners 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 Transportation Capital Improvement 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 South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners 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.
Approach 1: The amount of per-peak-hour-trip fee for South Transportation Service Area and the North Transportation Service Area shall be $1,121 and $1,362, respectively, unless revised or amended in accordance with the provisions hereof and the Act, calculated in accordance with § 503A(e)(1)(iv)(C) and 505-A(a)(1) of the Act and § 211-11 hereof, as follows:
A. 
South Transportation Service Area. Total costs of road improvements in South Transportation Service Area 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.
(1) 
Total costs attributable to South Transportation Service Area: $2,253,921.
B. 
North Transportation Service Area. Total costs of road improvements in North Transportation Service Area 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.
(1) 
Total costs attributable to North Transportation Service Area: $5,347,868.
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, sixth or subsequent editions, during the peak-hour period designated in this chapter. 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 South Fayette 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 chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, South Fayette 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. 
South Fayette 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. South Fayette 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 South Fayette Township. A copy of the report shall also be provided to the Transportation