Chapter 15.32
TRANSPORTATION CONCURRENCY
Sections:
15.32.030 Concurrency requirement.
15.32.050 Level of service standards.
15.32.060 Certificate of concurrency.
15.32.080 Annual reporting and monitoring.
15.32.010 Authority.
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the city’s powers as a noncharter code city pursuant to RCW Title 35A; Article XI, Section 10 of the Washington State Constitution; the Growth Management Act, Chapter 36.70A RCW, generally, and RCW 36.70A.070, specifically. (Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.020 Definitions.
“Certificate of concurrency” means the document issued by the city indicating the location or other description of the property on which the development is proposed, the type of development permit for which the certificate is issued, the uses, densities, and intensities of the development approved for the property, the transportation facilities that are available and reserved for the property described in the certificate, and an expiration date of the certificate.
“Concurrency” means that adequate transportation improvements or strategies needed to maintain the adopted level of service standards are in place at the time of development or that a financial commitment is in place to provide the improvements or strategies within six years.
“Concurrency test” means a comparison of a development’s impact on the level of service standards to determine whether adequate capacity exists on the affected transportation facilities.
“Development” means improvements to, or changes in use of land that results in more dwelling units or buildings, or changes in the use of the land, buildings or improvements on the land in a manner that increases the impact on transportation facilities, that requires a development permit from the city.
“Development permit” means any order, permit or other official action of the city granting, or granting with conditions, an application for development.
“Level of service standard” means a measurement of the quality of service provided by a facility including traffic conditions along a given roadway or at a particular intersection. Descriptions and measuring methodology shall be as provided in the “levels of service” section of the transportation element of the comprehensive plan and are in accordance with the Transportation Research Board’s Highway Capacity Manual (HCM).
“Transportation facilities” shall mean transportation facilities as defined in BIMC 15.40.050. (Ord. 2014-03 § 1, 2014: Ord. 2003-22 § 24, 2003; Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.030 Concurrency requirement.
A. The following development permit applications shall be subject to a concurrency test which shall be conducted in the processing of the development permit application:
1. Preliminary plat (subdivision of five or more residential lots);
2. Site plan and design review;
3. Any development permit that generates 50 or more average trips per day (ADT) or five or more a.m. or five or more p.m. peak hour trips, per the latest edition of the ITE Trip Generation Manual.
B. The following development permits are exempt from this chapter, and applicants may submit applications, obtain development permits and commence development without a certificate of concurrency:
1. Any development permit issued for uses, densities and intensities that were disclosed in a completed application filed before the effective date of this chapter.
2. Any permit for development that generates less than the number of trips described in subsection A.3 of this section.
C. A traffic impact analysis sufficient for the city to perform a concurrency test shall be provided in accordance with the procedures of Chapter 15.40 BIMC.
D. The city shall not issue a development permit until:
1. A concurrency test has been conducted in accordance with BIMC 15.32.040 and a certificate of concurrency has been issued; or
2. The application has been determined to be exempt from the concurrency test as provided in subsection B of this section.
E. A fee as established by city council resolution shall be charged for all development applications subject to the concurrency test in subsection A of this section. (Ord. 2014-03 § 2, 2014: Ord. 2005-07 § 1, 2005; Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.040 Concurrency test.
A. The city shall perform a concurrency test for each application for a development permit which is not otherwise exempt from the requirements of this chapter, to determine if adequate capacity exists on affected transportation facilities.
B. If the capacity of transportation facilities affected by the proposed development is equal to or greater than the capacity required to maintain the level of service standard for the impact of the development, the concurrency test is passed, and the city shall issue a certificate of concurrency.
C. If the capacity of transportation facilities affected by the proposed development is less than the capacity required to maintain the level of service standard for the impact of the development, the concurrency test is not passed, and the city shall issue a letter denying a certificate of concurrency. The applicant may re-test for concurrency after doing one or both of the following:
1. Amend the application to reduce the need for capacity of transportation facilities in order to maintain the affected transportation facilities level of service at the same level of service that existed at the time of complete development permit application submittal; or
2. Arrange to provide capacity for transportation facilities that maintains the affected transportation facilities level of service at the same level of service that existed at the time of complete development permit application submittal.
D. The city shall conduct the concurrency test first for the earliest completed development application received. Subsequent applications will be tested in the same order as the city receives completed applications.
E. A concurrency test, and any resulting certificate of concurrency, shall be administrative actions of the city that are categorically exempt from the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). (Ord. 2014-03 § 3, 2014: Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.050 Level of service standards.
In conducting the concurrency test, the city shall use the level of service standards for transportation facilities adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan, as amended. (Ord. 2014-03 § 4, 2014: Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.060 Certificate of concurrency.
A. The public works director or designee shall have the authority to issue a certificate of concurrency.
B. A certificate of concurrency shall be valid for the same period of time as the development permit with which it was issued, except that if the development permit does not expire, the certificate of concurrency shall expire after three years.
C. A certificate of concurrency may be extended according to the same terms and conditions as the underlying development permit. If a development permit is granted an extension, the certificate of concurrency, if any, shall also be extended, except that certificates of concurrency shall not be extended more than two times. Certificates of concurrency shall not be extended beyond the expiration of the underlying development permit, or any extensions thereof.
D. A certificate of concurrency is valid only for the uses and intensities authorized for the development permit with which it is issued. Any change in use or intensity that increases the impact of development on transportation facilities is subject to an additional concurrency test of the incremental increase in impact on transportation facilities.
E. A certificate of concurrency is valid only for the development permit with which it is issued, and for subsequent development permits for the same property, as long as the applicant obtains the subsequent development permit, and where the use or intensity has not changed, and the previous development permit has not expired.
F. A certificate of concurrency runs with the land, and cannot be transferred to a different property. A certificate of concurrency transfers automatically with ownership of the property for which the certificate was issued. Upon subdivision of a property that has obtained a certificate of concurrency, the city shall replace the certificate of concurrency by issuing a separate certificate of concurrency for each subdivided parcel, assigning to each a pro rata portion of the transportation facility capacity or other measure that was reserved for the original certificate.
G. A certificate of concurrency shall expire if the underlying development permit expires or is revoked or denied by the city and the certificate has not been extended to a subsequent development permit for the same property. (Ord. 2014-03 § 5, 2014: Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.070 Appeals.
A. An applicant may, within 10 calendar days of the date of denial of a certificate of concurrency, appeal the denial on the following grounds:
1. The city committed a technical or mathematical error; or
2. The applicant provided alternative data that was rejected by the city.
B. Appeal of denial of a certificate of concurrency shall be to the hearing examiner in accordance with BIMC 2.16.020.R. The period of the appeal shall be excluded from the permit processing time period of BIMC 2.16.020.J. (Ord. 2014-03 § 6, 2014: Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)
15.32.080 Annual reporting and monitoring.
The public works director or designee shall monitor the city’s transportation facilities and issue an annual report, no later than June 30th of each year, which shall include the following:
A. A summary of the level of service for the city’s roads as currently monitored, noting which, if any, are below the adopted level of service standards adopted in the city’s comprehensive plan;
B. A summary of significant current and future development activity likely to have an adverse impact on the level of service on the city’s roads; and
C. Recommendations, based on growth projections and monitoring data, for amendments to the city’s capital improvements program and the city’s six-year capital facilities plan for transportation facilities identified in subsection A this section. (Ord. 2014-03 § 7, 2014: Ord. 2001-09 § 1, 2001)