[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Lower Pottsgrove 3-24-2016 by Ord. No. 327. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch.
100.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch.
228.
Subdivision and land development — See Ch.
215.
This chapter shall be known as the "Lower Pottsgrove Township
Impact Fee Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to establish an Impact Fee Program
to ensure that the transportation system is available and adequate
to support new growth and development. To advance this objective,
there is hereby created an impact fee payable to the Township at the
time of building permit issuance.
The Board of Commissioners hereby finds and declares that:
A. The conditions and standards for the determination and imposition
of the impact fee set forth herein are those set forth in Act 209
of 1990, and any and all amendments thereto (hereinafter the "Act"),
and consist of:
(1) The recitals set forth above;
(2) The analysis, advice and recommendation of the Impact Fee Advisory
Committee;
(3) The Land Use Assumptions Report as adopted by the Board of Commissioners;
(4) The Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the Board of Commissioners;
(5) The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as adopted by the Board
of Commissioners; and
(6) Such other conditions and standards as the Board of Commissioners
may by resolution identify from time to time as being relevant and
material to the imposition of an impact fee and consistent with the
provisions of the Act and any amendments thereto.
B. The collection, disbursement and accounting of impact fees shall
be administered by the office of the Township Manager, subject to
review, oversight and control by the Board of Commissioners.
C. The time, method and procedure for payment of impact fees shall be as set forth in §
144-10 of this chapter.
D. The procedure for credits against or refunds of impact fees shall be as set forth in §§
144-17 and
144-18 of this chapter.
E. Such exemptions as the Board of Commissioners shall choose to enact and shall be as set forth in §
144-11 of this chapter.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section 502-A of the
Act are hereby adopted and incorporated in this chapter by
reference, except that "transportation service area" and "transportation
study area" shall be synonymous terms.
There is hereby enacted an impact fee to be imposed upon new
development for the purpose of off-site public transportation capital
improvements authorized by the Act and as described in the program
adopted by the Board of Commissioners. Said impact fee shall apply
to all new developments or subdivisions within the transportation
service area identified herein and shall be a condition precedent
to final approval of a development or a subdivision plan or issuance
of a building permit.
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 adopted
by the Board of Commissioners in Resolution No. 1096-16 on February
18, 2016, 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 designated service area, and
including such proportionate amount of the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis
as is allowed under the provisions of this Act.
The following documents, previously adopted by the Board of
Commissioners, are hereby incorporated by reference in this chapter.
A. Recommendations of the Impact Fee Advisory Committee, identified
as follows: Land Use Assumptions Report, Roadway Sufficiency Analysis,
and Transportation Capital Improvements Plan.
B. Land Use Assumptions Report as adopted by the Township Resolution
No. 1082-15.
C. Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the Township Resolution
No. 1083A-16.
D. The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted by Township
Resolution No. 1096-16.
E. Designation of a transportation study area as set forth on the Land
Use Assumptions Study Area Map.
A. Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate amount of
traffic impact fees, the Township may require the preparation of special
transportation studies to determine the traffic generation or circulation
patterns in new nonresidential developments only; provided, however,
that no studies may be required where the proposed development will
not require a deviation from the land use assumptions used to create
the program.
B. Any such studies required by the Township shall be submitted prior
to the imposition of the impact fee and shall be considered in the
determination of the fee.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all developments
that occur within a designated transportation service area.
No building permit shall be issued for a development in a designated
transportation service area, as herein defined, unless the applicant
therefor has paid the "impact fee" imposed by and calculated pursuant
to this chapter.
A. The impact fee 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 attributable to and necessitated by new development within
the service area as defined, 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, 4th or subsequent editions, which is hereby adopted by
the Township, to equal a per-trip cost for transportation improvements
within the service area.
B. The specific impact fee for a specific new development or subdivision within the service area for road improvements shall be determined as of the date of preliminary land development or subdivision approval by multiplying the per-trip cost established for the service area as determined in §
144-13 hereof by the estimated number of trips to be generated by the new development or subdivision using generally accepted traffic engineering standards.
C. The Board of Commissioners may authorize or require the preparation
of a special transportation study in order to determine traffic generation
or circulation for a new nonresidential development to assist in the
determination of the amount of the transportation fee for such development
or subdivision.
The transportation service area is established as shown on the
Land Use Assumptions Study Area Map (incorporated herein by reference).
Additional transportation service area or combinations of transportation
service areas may be designated by the Board of Commissioners from
time to time consistent with the procedure set forth in this chapter
and in consideration of the following factors:
B. Any standards for adequate public facilities incorporated in the
program;
C. The project build-out and timing of development areas;
D. The need for and cost of unprogrammed transportation improvements
necessary to support projected development; and
E. Such other factors as the Board of Commissioners may deem relevant.
Prior to making an application for a building permit, an applicant
may request a nonbinding 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
a lesser use of development.
A. Collection of impact fee. Impact fees due pursuant to this chapter
shall be collected by the Township in the manner or manners prescribed
herein to the issuance of a building permit.
B. Establishment of fund. Upon receipt of impact fees, the Township
Manager or Secretary-Treasurer 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
for 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 impact fees collected can be segregated for each transportation
district subarea.
D. Maintenance of records. The Township Manager or Secretary-Treasurer
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 disbursements of funds from each account shall be used solely
and exclusively for the provision of projects specified in the program
for the particular transportation district subarea.
Payment of the transportation capital improvements impact fee
shall be made by the traffic generator prior to the issuance of building
permit by the Township to the traffic generator for development on
the applicable site.
Any applicant who shall perform, at his own expense and with
the consent and agreement of the Board of Commissioners, off-site
improvements, as herein defined, shall be eligible for a credit from
the impact fee otherwise due in the amount of the actual cost of such
off-site improvements as approved by the Township Engineer. Such credit
shall not exceed the amount of the impact fee.
A. If the applicant makes such improvements, he must enter into an agreement
with the Board of Commissioners prior to the issuance of any building
permit. The agreement must establish the estimated cost of the improvement,
the schedule for initiation and completion of the improvement, a requirement
that the improvement be completed to the Township and Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation standards and design criteria and such
other terms and conditions as deemed necessary by the Board of Commissioners.
The Board of Commissioners must 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 impact
fee prior to issuance of any building permit. In no event shall the
Board of Commissioners provide a credit which is greater than the
applicable impact fee. If, however, the amount of the credit is calculated
to be greater than the amount of the impact fee due, the applicant
may use such excess credit toward the impact fees imposed on another
building permit for development on the same site and in the same ownership,
provided that any such applicant shall be required to supply financial
security sufficient, in the judgment of the Township, to cover the
cost of any such improvement installed by the applicant for which
credit is sought.
B. An applicant shall be entitled to a credit against impact fees in
an amount equal to the fair market value of land dedicated by the
applicant and accepted by the Township for future right-of-way, realignment
or widening of existing roadways.
C. An applicant shall be entitled to a credit against impact fees in
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.
A. Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be refunded,
together with the interest earned thereon, to the payor of the fees
under the following circumstances:
(1) In the event the Township completes or terminates the capital improvements
plan and there remain undisbursed funds, the respective payors shall
be entitled to a share of the fund balance in the same proportion
as the payor's impact fee payment plus interest earned equal
to the total impact fee collected plus interest.
(2) In the event any specific road improvement project is completed at
a cost to the Township less than 95% of the budgeted cost of the road
project, the Township shall refund an amount equal to the excess budgeted
cost over actual cost to the payors, pro rata, plus accumulated interest.
(3) In the event the Township fails to commence construction within three
years of the scheduled construction date of the project as set forth
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as may be amended
from time to time, the Township shall refund the portion of the fee
paid by any payor making written request therefor which is attributable
to said project, with accumulated interest, provided that no refund
shall be paid with respect to any project actually begun prior to
the receipt of such refund request.
(4) In the event the development for which impact fees were paid has
not commenced prior to the expiration of the building permit issued
therefor, the 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 indicated impact fee, the
difference between the amount indicated and the amount actually paid
shall be refunded. The payor, at his option, may roll over the impact
fees attributable to an expired building permit to cover fees incurred
by a renewal of said expired permit.
B. With respect to refunds arising out of Subsection
A(1) or
(2) hereof, any funds unclaimed within one year after notice as required by law shall be transferred to the general account of the Township, and the payor's entitlement to said refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payor to provide the Township with the current address of his residence and/or place of business.
This chapter shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible
use of property, density of development, previously adopted design
and improvement standards and requirements or any other aspect of
the development of land or provision of public improvements which
remain subject to applicable zoning, subdivision and PRD regulations
of the Township, which shall be operative and remain in full force
and effect without limitation with respect to all such development.
The 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 chapter; provided, however, that a property owner
may be required to pay, pursuant to Township ordinances, regulations
or policies, for other public facilities in addition to the impact
fee for transportation improvements as shown herein.
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed
to effectively carry out its purposes, which are hereby found and
declared to be in furtherance of the public health, safety, welfare
and convenience.
All ordinance, code sections or parts thereof in conflict herewith
shall be repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Should any sentence, section, clause, part or provision of this
chapter be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
the same shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole,
or any part thereof, other than the part declared to be invalid.
A. Notwithstanding any section to the contrary hereof, impact fees may
be imposed on those projects involving developments, subdivisions
and PRDs for which an application has been filed on or after the first
publication of notice of the Township's intent to adopt this
chapter; provided, however, that such retroactivity does not exceed
18 months after the adoption of the resolution that created the advisory
committee in connection herewith.
B. In retroactive applications, the per-trip fee may not exceed $1,000
or the actual calculated fee, whichever is less.