[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Silver Spring 12-13-2017 by Ord. No. 14-2017. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall
have the following meanings unless another meaning is plainly intended:
A permit for the activities regulated under the Township
Building Code, including the following activities:
Construct or alter a man-made object having a stationary location
on land or water.
Construct an addition.
Demolish or move a man-made object having a stationary location
on land or water.
Make a change of occupancy. Install or alter any equipment regulated
by the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code including Township UCC
amendments.
Move a lot line which divides a lot from another lot or street.
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 fee to be paid at building permit issuance and calculated
in accordance with the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code,
53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as amended, and this chapter.
Any commercial, industrial, 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 an improved development.
Those public capital improvements that are not on-site improvements
and that serve the needs of more than one development.
All improvements constructed on the applicant's property or the improvements constructed on the property abutting the applicant's property necessary for ingress or egress to the applicant's property and required to be constructed by the applicant pursuant to any Township ordinance, including but not limited to the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, as amended; Chapter 360, Subdivision and Land Development, and Chapter 415, Zoning, of this Code.
The Township has identified the p.m. peak hour as the relevant
peak-hour period for the calculation of impact fees.
Any Silver Spring Township entity, including the Township
Administration, Police Department, Fire Department, Emergency Services
and the Sewer Authority.
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. (See Exhibit A.[1])
Those off-site road improvements that have a life expectancy
of three or more years, not including costs for maintenance, operation
or repair.
A plan in effect at the time an impact fee is calculated,
adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township prior to the enactment
of any impact fee ordinance for the purpose of identifying and planning
for transportation capital improvements, and as may be amended from
time to time.
Those rates of traffic for the peak hour of adjacent street
traffic between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., as determined in the most
recent edition of Trip Generation published by the Institute of Transportation
Engineers, and any amendments or future editions thereof.
The dollar figure calculated by dividing the total costs
of the road improvements included in the adopted Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan within a given transportation service area attributable
to and necessitated by new development within the service area by
the number of anticipated p.m. peak-hour trips generated by all new
development consistent with the land use assumptions and calculated
in accordance with the most recent edition of Trip Generation published
by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments and
future editions thereto.
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A, the Transportation Service Area
Map, is on file in the Township offices.
A.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all new development
that occurs within a defined transportation service area.
B.
This chapter shall not apply to de minimis new development. "De minimis"
is defined to be new development that results in a total of five or
less p.m. peak-hour trips, including any preexisting p.m. peak-hour
trips. This subsection sets forth a threshold limit for the applicability
of this chapter and shall not be construed to provide a five-trip
credit to new development.
C.
This chapter shall not apply to a Township agency or buildings associated
therewith. Local government agencies serve an overriding public interest,
warranting an exemption from impact fees.
No building permit subject to this chapter shall be issued for
a development in a transportation service area unless the applicant
has paid the impact fee imposed by and calculated pursuant to this
chapter.
A.
The unit cost per trip is derived from the Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan and may be amended as transportation needs dictate
and as directed by the Board of Supervisors.
B.
The impact fee imposed by this chapter upon all new development shall be determined by applying the unit cost per trip to the p.m. peak-hour trips generated by a project as identified in the most recent edition of Trip Generation published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments or future editions thereof, or by a special transportation study pursuant to § 212-7. To determine the fee for a specific use, the p.m. peak-hour trip generation rate for the proposed use shall be multiplied by the unit cost per trip in each transportation service area.
C.
If the development for which a building permit is sought contains
a mix of uses, the applicant must separately calculate the impact
fee due for each type of development.
A.
Applicability. An additional impact fee shall be imposed upon new
developments that generate 1,000 or more p.m. peak-hour trips, net
of pass-by trips, as defined by the most recent edition of Trip Generation
published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and any amendments
or future editions thereof. This section is in addition to the impact
fee calculated under this chapter.
B.
Traffic study. An applicant for a new development that generates
1,000 or more p.m. peak-hour trips shall be required to perform a
traffic analysis of development traffic impact on highways, roads
or streets outside the transportation service area in which the new
development is located, but within the boundaries of the Township.
Any highways, roads or streets, or parts thereof, outside the transportation
service area that will accommodate 10% or more of the new development
traffic and 100 or more new p.m. peak-hour trips may be required to
be studied. The traffic study is to be conducted in accordance with
the Township requirements, as determined by the Township Traffic Engineer.
C.
Mitigation. Applicants for new development that generate 1,000 or
more new p.m. peak-hour trips, less pass-by trips, will be required
to mitigate the traffic impact of the new development on the affected
roads, highways and streets per the traffic study to maintain the
predevelopment conditions.
The Township has defined transportation service areas as shown
on the transportation service area map (See Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein[1]) in accordance with the provisions of the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A, the Transportation Service Area
Map, is on file in the Township offices.
A.
Applicability of this section. The Board of Supervisors may require
a new development to perform a special transportation study to document
actual trip generation from a particular use. The instances when a
special transportation study can or must be performed are limited
to instances where:
(1)
The Township requests a special transportation study.
(2)
The Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual is
not applicable because the proposed land use does not match an ITE
land use category within the most recent edition of the Trip Generation
Manual.
(3)
The traffic projections provided by the most recent edition of the
ITE Trip Generation Manual are not applicable because the site characteristics
are such that local data collection is required. The ITE Trip Generation
Manual provides guidance for land uses where local data should be
collected in lieu of using data from the Manual.
B.
Guidelines for conducting a special transportation study. Special
transportation studies must be conducted in accordance with the guidance
in the most recent version of Trip Generation published by the Institute
of Traffic Engineers or as determined with consultation with the Township.
The new development is responsible for all costs associated with the
special transportation study. The parameters of the special transportation
study should be agreed upon with the Township prior to the start of
the study.
A.
Collection of impact fees. Impact fees due pursuant to this chapter
shall be collected by the Township in the manner prescribed herein
prior to issuance of a building permit.
B.
Establishment and maintenance of accounts. The Township Manager shall establish interest-bearing trust fund accounts created solely for impact fees and shall maintain records whereby impact fees collected are segregated by transportation service areas. All interest earned shall become the funds of that account. Impact fees generated from new development may only be expended for transportation capital improvements identified as being funded by impact fees under the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan in a particular transportation service area, except as provided for in § 212-10.
C.
Maintenance of records. The Director of Finance shall maintain and
keep adequate financial records for each such account that will show
the source and disbursement of all revenues, that will account for
all moneys received, and that shall ensure that the disbursement of
funds from each account will be used solely and exclusively for the
provision of projects specified in the Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan for the particular transportation service area.
D.
Annual accounting. The Township will provide that an annual accounting
is made for any account containing impact fee proceeds and earned
interest. The accounting shall include the total funds collected,
the source for 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
will be included and published as part of the Township's annual
audit.
A.
Role of the Impact Fee Advisory Committee. The "Impact Fee Advisory
Committee" or "Advisory Committee" is a committee formed pursuant
to the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et
seq., as amended, to serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of
Supervisors. The Advisory Committee has as its duties:
(1)
To make recommendations with respect to land use assumptions, the
development of comprehensive road improvements and impact fees.
(2)
To make recommendations to approve, disapprove or modify a capital
improvements program by preparing a written report containing these
recommendations to the Township.
(3)
To conduct public hearings with respect to any recommendations on
land use assumptions in accordance with the requirements of this chapter
and the Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et
seq., as amended.
(4)
To prepare or cause to be prepared a roadway sufficiency analysis
in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and the Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as amended.
B.
Review of transportation capital improvements or impact fees charge.
The Board of Supervisors may request, no more than annually, the Advisory
Committee to review and make recommendations on the transportation
capital improvements or impact fee charges, based only on:
(1)
Subsequent new development which has occurred in the Township.
(2)
Completion of capital improvements in the Transportation Capital
Improvements Plan.
(3)
Unavoidable delays in construction of capital improvements contained
in the plan beyond the Township's control or responsibility.
(4)
Significant changes in the land use assumptions.
(5)
Changes in the estimated costs of the transportation improvements
proposed which may be recalculated by applying the construction cost
index as published in the American City/County Magazine or the Engineering
News Record.
(6)
Significant changes in the projected revenue from sources listed.
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 its collected impact
fees for specific transportation projects which are not included in
the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan.
B.
The alternative transportation project 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 new development
prior to the issuance of a building permit by the Township to the
new development for development on the applicable site.
A.
A developer is entitled to a credit against the impact fee in the
amount of the fair market value of any land dedicated by the applicant
to the Township for future right-of-way, realignment or widening of
any existing roadways or for the value of any construction of road
improvements which are performed at the applicant's expense and
are contained in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan. The
amount of such credit for any capital improvement constructed shall
be the amount allocated in the capital improvement program, including
contingency factors for such work. The fair market value of any land
dedicated by the applicant shall be determined as of the date of the
submission of the land development or subdivision application to the
Township.
B.
Any new development which performs, at its own expense, off-site
improvements as defined by this chapter shall be eligible for a credit
toward 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. In order
for a new development to be eligible for this credit it must announce
the intent to perform off-site improvements during the subdivision
or land development approval process. The announcement must be in
writing and must set forth the off-site improvement project for which
the developer is seeking credit. The developer must enter into an
agreement with the Township 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, guarantee
that the improvement be completed to Township and Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation standards and design criteria and such other terms
and conditions as deemed necessary by the Township. The Township 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 may the Township provide a credit that 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 new development may utilize such excess credit toward the impact
fees imposed on other building permits for development on the same
site and in the same ownership.
The words and phrases of this chapter are to be construed in
accordance with the following rules:
A.
Definitions and interpretations.
(2)
Words and phrases that are not defined by this chapter are to be
interpreted as defined in §§ 107 and 502-A of the Municipalities
Planning Code (MPC), 53 P.S. §§ 10107 and 10502-A,
as amended.
(4)
Words and phrases that are not defined in this chapter, §§ 107
and 502-A of the MPC, 53 P.S. §§ 10107 and 10502-A
or in the Township's Zoning Ordinance or Subdivision and Land
Development Ordinance 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.
