Chapter 18.36
SMALL PROJECT IMPACT FEE
Sections:
18.36.010 Title, authority, and purpose.
18.36.020 Location of definitions and usage.
18.36.030 When a transportation impact fee is required.
18.36.040 Credit for improvements and non-duplication of mitigation.
18.36.050 Option to prepare traffic analysis.
18.36.060 Administrative procedures and appeals.
18.36.070 Application to projects currently underway.
18.36.080 Projects in core area.
18.36.090 Interpretation and implementation.
18.36.010 Title, authority, and purpose.
A. Title. The ordinance codified in this chapter may be referred to or cited as the small project impact fee ordinance, or “SPIFO,” and will be referred to herein as “this chapter.”
B. Purpose and Authorization. The purpose of this chapter is to implement the city’s comprehensive plan including its transportation and capital facility elements. This chapter enables the city to collect impact fees from proposed projects that generate additional traffic and are categorically exempt under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and the state rules adopted thereunder (WAC 197-11-305) and therefore not subject to Ordinance No. 2425-99, the city’s transportation mitigation ordinance (TMO), codified in Chapter 18.40 of this title. The fees adopted under this chapter are authorized by and in accordance with the provisions of RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090. (Ord. 2505-00 § 1, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 1, 1999)
18.36.020 Location of definitions and usage.
This chapter adopts by reference the definitions contained in RCW 82.02.090. For terms not defined therein, this chapter adopted by reference the definitions and uses contained in Section 18.40.180 of this title. (Ord. 2505-00 § 2, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 2, 1999)
18.36.030 When a transportation impact fee is required.
A project that is not subject to TMO and will generate ten or more average daily vehicle trips, is required to pay a transportation impact fee of nine hundred dollars per peak hour trip, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The fee assessed under this chapter is and shall be based on a method of calculation that takes into account the factors specified by RCW 82.02.060. There shall be one service area for purposes of this chapter; however, within the core area the fee shall be phased in as provided in Section 18.36.080 of this chapter. (Ord. 2505-00 § 3, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 3, 1999)
18.36.040 Credit for improvements and non-duplication of mitigation.
A. A person required to pay an impact fee for system improvements under this chapter shall not be required to pay a fee under RCW 43.21C.060, TMO, or any other development regulation for those same system improvements.
B. The city engineer shall take into consideration and give fair credit for an applicant’s contribution to transportation system improvements for facilities identified in the capital facilities plan, including dedication of land, that: (1) address some or all of a proposed project’s impacts; and/or (2) have previously been imposed and fulfilled as a condition of a prior land use approval related to the proposed project. The city engineer shall also take into consideration and give fair credit for the contributions made by the subject property owner or his/her predecessor(s) in interest under any transportation funding device, such as a local improvement district (LID), transportation benefit district (TBD), development agreement, or similar mechanism. Any claim for credit made later than the time of application for a building permit shall be deemed to be waived.
C. The prohibition on nonduplication limits the city from requiring an applicant to pay more than once for a transportation improvement to address the same environmental impact. It is not a duplicative requirement for an applicant to pay an impact fee for system improvements and to pay for or install transportation improvements that are otherwise authorized by law, provided these different mitigation obligations do not address the same, specific environmental impact resulting from the project.
D. Agreements may provide for credit for future improvements if the city and applicant agree that the applicant is implementing transportation improvements beyond those required under this chapter. (Ord. 2505-00 § 5, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 5, 1999)
18.36.050 Option to prepare traffic analysis.
In order to allow the impact fee to be adjusted to consider unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly or to calculate an adjustment in the standard fee for a particular development that permits consideration of studies and data submitted by the applicant, the applicant has the option of preparing a traffic analysis at its expense to provide a basis for an adjustment in the standard fee. The traffic analysis shall meet the specifications for a traffic analysis provided in Sections 18.40.060 through 18.40.080 of this title or as otherwise approved by the city engineer. (Ord. 2505-00 § 6, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 6, 1999)
18.36.060 Administrative procedures and appeals.
A. RCW 82.02.070 and 82.02.080 are hereby adopted by reference into this chapter as the administrative procedures for collection and refunding of impact fees under this chapter.
B. Payment of all fees shall be made prior to:
1. Final plat approval in the case of subdivisions and short subdivisions; or
2. In all other cases, be prior to the issuance of any building permits.
C. All fees collected under this chapter shall be obligated or expended on public facilities that are addressed by an adopted capital facilities plan element of a comprehensive land use plan. If fees are earmarked for a specific project, and the city determines that it is not feasible to implement that project within six years (or such other time period established pursuant to RCW 82.02.070(3) on public facilities intended to benefit the development activity for which the impact fees were paid), the fees may be expended or encumbered on a replacement project that provides similar or greater improvement to the transportation system.
D. The city engineer or designee shall be the official responsible for preparing the annual reports required under RCW 82.02.070.
E. An applicant’s commitment to specific performance to construct a transportation improvement, including any bonds or financial assurance associated with the improvement, shall not be considered a fee under this chapter, regardless of whether a monetary value has been assigned to the improvement in the traffic analysis or other project review documents or agreements.
F. An applicant may appeal the city engineer’s determination of the impact fee required under this chapter by following the administrative appeal procedures for the underlying development approval. If there are no administrative appeal procedures for the underlying development approval, the appeal shall follow the administrative appeal procedures in Title 15 of this code, Local Project Review Procedures, for the appeal of minor administration decisions. (Ord. 2505-00 § 7, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 7, 1999)
18.36.070 Application to projects currently underway.
This chapter does not apply to any project application that has been deemed complete by the city. This chapter applies to a subsequent phase of a project for which an application for project level review of the subsequent phase has not been deemed complete as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. If a mitigation commitment has been made but has not been fully met by an applicant, the applicant is required to fulfill the commitment and, in addition, may be responsible for complying with the traffic study and mitigation requirements of this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to contravene the authority of the responsible official to require or withdraw a SEPA threshold determination as provided in WAC 197-11-310 and 197-11-340(3)(a). (Ord. 2505-00 § 8, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 8, 1999)
18.36.080 Projects in core area.
For projects within the core area, the fee shall be calculated by using fifty percent of project trip generation using the ITE Trip Generation Manual, or as otherwise approved by the city engineer based on reasonable trip generation assumptions.
This fee to mitigate transportation system impacts in the core area shall be phased in over a two-year period in equal increments, with the fee beginning on the effective date set at three hundred dollars per p.m. peak hour trip. After one year the fee shall increase to six hundred dollars per p.m. peak hour trip. After two years the fee shall increase to nine hundred dollars per p.m. peak hour trip. For purposes of this chapter, the core area is defined as the area shown on the map in Exhibit 1, attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter, and on file in the office of the city clerk. (Ord. 2505-00 § 9, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 9, 1999)
18.36.090 Interpretation and implementation.
A. This chapter shall be liberally construed to achieve the purposes set forth in Section 18.36.010 of this chapter.
B. Nothing in this chapter shall affect the ability of the city to require nonduplicative mitigation of transportation impacts, including collection of fees, under other ordinances and development regulations.
C. Except as specifically provided in Section 18.36.070 of this chapter, the enactment of this chapter shall not affect any case, proceeding, appeal, or other matter in any court or before the city or in any way modify any obligation, right or liability, civil or criminal, which may be in existence on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter or as may exist by virtue of any of the ordinances herein superseded or repealed.
D. This chapter is intended to provide for and promote the health, safety and welfare of the general public, and is not intended to create or otherwise establish or designate any particular class or group of persons who will or should be especially protected or benefited by the terms of this chapter. It is the specific intent of this chapter to place the obligation of complying with its requirements upon the applicant.
It is the specific intent of this chapter that no provision nor any term used in this chapter is intended to impose any duty whatsoever upon the city or any of its officers or employees, for whom the implementation and enforcement of this chapter shall be discretionary and not mandatory.
Nothing contained in this chapter is intended to be nor shall be construed to create or form the basis for any liability on the part of the city, or its officers, employees or agents, for any injury or damage resulting from the failure of an applicant to comply with the provisions of this chapter, or by reason or in consequence of any inspection, notice, order, certificate, permission or approval authorized or issued or done in connection with the implementation or enforcement pursuant to this chapter, or by reason of any action or inaction on the part of the city related in any manner to the enforcement of this chapter by its officers, employees or agents.
E. The city engineer may interpret the requirements of this chapter on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the purposes set forth in Section 18.36.010 of this chapter. The city engineer and responsible official are authorized to promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the terms of this policy. (Ord. 2505-00 § 10, 2000: Ord. 2424-99 § 10, 1999)