Prior to making an application for a building permit, an applicant
may request a nonbinding transportation impact fee estimate from South
Fayette 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 chapter
shall be collected by South Fayette 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, South Fayette Township 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 South Fayette 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 municipality in cash, bank cashier's check, certified check or electronic fund transfer approved by the Township Manager and shall be administered by South Fayette Township in accordance with the provisions of § 211-18 hereof.
Any applicant who shall perform, at its own expense and the
consent and agreement of the South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners,
off-site improvement, 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.
An applicant shall be entitled as a credit against impact fees an
amount equal to the value of any road improvement construction which
is contained in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan and which
was performed at the applicant's expense.
B.
If the applicant makes such improvements, he shall enter into an
agreement with the South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners 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 South Fayette Township and Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation standards and design criteria, as applicable, and
such other terms and conditions as deemed necessary by the South Fayette
Township Board of Commissioners. The South Fayette Township Board
of Commissioners 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 South Fayette
Township Board of Commissioners 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 South Fayette Township, to cover the cost of any improvement installed
by the applicant for which credit is sought.
C.
An applicant shall be entitled as a credit against transportation
impact fees an amount equal to fair market value of land dedicated
by the applicant to South Fayette Township and accepted by South Fayette
Township for future right-of-way, realignment or widening of existing
roadways. The fair market value of any land dedicated to and accepted
by South Fayette Township shall be determined as of the date of the
submission of the subdivision or land development application to South
Fayette Township.
Transportation impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter
shall be refunded, together with interest earned thereon, to the payor
of the transportation impact fees under the following circumstances:
A.
In the event South Fayette 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. South Fayette
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 South Fayette
Township. In the event that any of the funds remain unclaimed following
one year after the notice, South Fayette Township shall be authorized
to transfer any funds so remaining to any other fund in South Fayette
Township without any further obligation to refund said funds. It shall
be the responsibility of the payor to provide South Fayette Township
at all times with a current address for such notice.
B.
In the event South Fayette Township fails to commence construction
(i.e., earthwork or other municipally defined action) within three
years of the scheduled construction dates of the project as set forth
in the Transportation Capital Improvement Plan, South Fayette 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 is less than 95% of the budgeted
costs for such project, South Fayette 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 new permit.
This chapter 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 South Fayette 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
South Fayette Township on the development of land or the issuance
of building permits. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to alter
or affect the South Fayette Township 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 chapter;
provided, nevertheless, that a property owner may be required to pay,
pursuant to South Fayette 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 South
Fayette Township that the public health, safety and welfare be protected
and furthered by the provisions of this chapter, 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.
Any person required to pay an impact fee shall have the right to
contest the land use assumptions, the development and implementation
of the transportation capital improvement program, the imposition
of impact fees, the periodic updating of the transportation capital
improvement program, the refund of impact fees and all other matters
relating to impact fees, including the constitutionality or validity
of the impact fee ordinance by filing an appeal with the Court of
Common Pleas.
B.
A master may be appointed by the court to hear testimony on the issues
and return the record and a transcript of the testimony, together
with a report and recommendations, or the court may appoint a master
to hold a nonrecord hearing and to make recommendations and return
the same to the court, in which case either party may demand a hearing
de novo before the court.
C.
Any cost incurred by parties in such an appeal shall be the separate
responsibility of the parties.
This chapter was ordained and enacted at a regularly constituted,
duly convened meeting of the Board of Commissioners of South Fayette
Township, on the 17th day of October, 2011.
