Chapter 4.30
TRAFFIC IMPACT FEES
Sections:
4.30.010 Purpose.
4.30.020 Authority.
4.30.030 Definitions.
4.30.040 Applicability.
4.30.050 Exemptions.
4.30.055 Additional exemptions.
4.30.060 Service area.
4.30.070 Use of funds.
4.30.080 Impact fee determination and collection.
4.30.090 Impact fee adjustments, independent calculations.
4.30.100 Impact fee credits.
4.30.110 Impact fee refunds.
4.30.120 Appeals and payments under protest.
4.30.130 Council review of impact fees.
4.30.140 Administrative fees.
4.30.150 Impact fee calculations.
4.30.160 Schedule of fees.
4.30.170 Existing authority unimpaired.
4.30.180 Severability.
4.30.190 Effective date.
4.30.010 Purpose.
This chapter is intended to:
A. Assist in the implementation of the comprehensive plan for the city of Edgewood.
B. Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy and use, or shortly thereafter, without decreasing current service levels below established minimum standards for the city.
C. Establish standards and procedures so that new development pays a proportionate share of costs for new facilities and services and does not pay arbitrary or duplicative fees for the same impact. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.020 Authority.
A. This chapter is enacted pursuant to the Washington State Growth Management Act codified at Chapter 36.70A RCW and RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.100.
B. The city has conducted studies documenting cost and demand for new facilities and services. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.030 Definitions.
A. “Dwelling unit” means one or more rooms designed for or occupied by one family for living or sleeping purposes and containing kitchen, sleeping, and sanitary facilities for use solely by one family.
B. “Encumber” means to transfer impact fee dollars from the traffic mitigation impact fee fund to a fund for a particular system improvement that is fully in the current year's budget. Funds may only be encumbered by an action of the city council.
C. “Project improvements” means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development project and that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements. No improvement or facility included in the city's capital improvement plan or transportation improvement program approved by the city council shall be considered a project improvement.
D. “System improvements” means transportation facilities that are included in the city's six-year capital improvement plan and are designed to provide service to the community at large, in contrast to project improvements.
E. “Applicant” means a person, individual, or organization seeking permission to develop land within the city of Edgewood by applying for a building permit.
F. “Interest” means the interest earned by the account during the period the fees were retained.
G. “Traffic mitigation impact fee” means payment of money imposed by the city of Edgewood upon development activity pursuant to this chapter as a condition of granting development approval and/or a building permit in order to pay for the public facilities needed to serve new growth and development. Traffic mitigation impact fees do not include permit fees, an application fee, the administrative fee for collecting and handling impact fees, the cost of reviewing independent fee calculations or the administrative fee required for an appeal.
H. “Peak hour” means the consecutive 60-minute period during the 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. peak period during which the highest volume occurs.
I. “Traffic mitigation impact fee fund” means the fund established by the adoption of Ordinance 05-253 on August 23, 2005, for the public facilities for which traffic impact fees are collected, in compliance with the requirements of RCW 82.02.060.
J. “Traffic impact fee study” means the study which determined the traffic mitigation impact fee dated February 2007. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.040 Applicability.
All persons receiving building permits, including remodels or expansions, within the city of Edgewood after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be required to pay traffic mitigation impact fees in an amount and manner set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.050 Exemptions.
The following development activities are exempt from paying traffic mitigation impact fees because they do not have a measurable impact on the city's transportation facilities, or because the city has chosen to exempt them, pursuant to RCW 82.02.060(2), as development with broad public purposes:
A. Existing Dwelling Unit. Any alteration, expansion, reconstruction, remodeling, replacement, or demolition/removal of an existing single-family or multifamily dwelling unit that does not result in the generation of additional peak hour trips with the exception that any building permit for replacement must be approved within 12 months of removal of the previous structure.
B. Existing Nonresidential Building. Any alteration, reconstruction, remodeling, replacement, or demolition/removal of an existing nonresidential building that does not result in the generation of any new peak hour trips with the exception that any building permit for replacement must be approved within 12 months of removal of the previous structure.
C. The city manager or designee shall be authorized to determine whether a particular development activity falls within an exemption from traffic mitigation impact fees identified in this section or under other applicable law. Determinations of the city manager or designee shall be in writing and shall be subject to appeal to the hearing examiner as provided in Chapter 2.40 EMC. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.055 Additional exemptions.
Reserved. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.060 Service area.
This section establishes one service area which shall be consistent with the city limits of the city of Edgewood. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.070 Use of funds.
A. Impact fees shall:
1. Be used for system improvements; and
2. Not be imposed to make up for deficiencies in the facilities serving existing development; and
3. Not be used for maintenance or operation.
B. Impact fees may be spent for improvements listed in the six-year transportation improvement program and identified as being funded in part by impact fees. Expenditures may include, but are not limited to, facility planning, land acquisition, site improvements, necessary off-site improvements, construction, engineering, permitting, financing, grant match funds and administrative expenses, applicable impact fees or mitigation costs, capital equipment pertaining to public facilities, and any other capital cost related to a particular system improvement.
C. Impact fees may also be used to recoup transportation facility improvement costs previously incurred by the city to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously acquired or constructed improvements resulting in such costs.
D. In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments are or have been issued for the construction of a public facility or system improvement for which impact fees may be expended, impact fees may be used to pay debt service on such bonds or similar debt instruments to the extent that the facilities or improvements provided are consistent with the requirements of this chapter and are used to serve new development. The transportation improvement program should distinguish between facilities and funds needed to serve new development and those facilities and funds needed to correct existing deficiencies. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.080 Impact fee determination and collection.
A. At the time of building permit issuance, city staff shall determine the total impact fee owed based on the fee schedule in effect at the time of such issuance.
B. Impact fee collection shall also occur at the time of building permit issuance.
C. An applicant may request that the impact fee be calculated in advance of building permit issuance, but any such advance calculation shall not be binding upon the city and should only be used as guidance by the applicant. If the city council revises the impact fee formula or the impact fees prior to the time that a building permit is issued for a particular development, the formula or fee amount in effect at the time of building permit issuance shall apply to the development. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.090 Impact fee adjustments, independent calculations.
An applicant may request an adjustment to the impact fees determined according to the fee schedule adopted by the ordinance codified in this chapter by preparing and submitting to the city manager or designee an independent fee calculation for the development activity for which a building permit is sought. The documentation submitted shall show the basis upon which the independent fee calculation was made. Independent fee calculations for traffic impact fees shall use the same formulas and methodology used to establish the impact fees in this chapter and shall be limited to adjustments in trip generation rates used in the traffic impact fee study, and shall not include travel demand forecasts, trip distribution, traffic assignment, transportation service areas, costs of road projects, or cost allocation procedures.
A. If the city manager or designee agrees with the independent fee calculation, a written agreement to accept such amount shall be transmitted to the applicant who shall, in turn, present it to the city upon impact fee collection.
B. If the city manager or designee does not agree with the independent fee calculation, the fee payer may appeal this decision to the hearing examiner through procedures outlined in Chapter 2.40 EMC. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.100 Impact fee credits.
A. An applicant shall be entitled to a credit against the applicable traffic impact fee collected under the fee schedule adopted by the ordinance codified in this chapter for the value of any dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of, any system improvements provided by the applicant, to facilities that are:
1. Included within the six-year transportation improvement program and identified as system improvements that are to be funded in part by traffic impact fees; and
2. At suitable sites and constructed at an acceptable quality as determined by the city; and
3. Completed, dedicated, or otherwise transferred to the city prior to the determination and award of a credit as set forth in this section.
B. No credit shall be given for project improvements.
C. The value of a credit for improvements shall be established by original receipts provided by the applicant for one or more of the same system improvements for which the impact fee is charged.
D. The value of a credit for land shall be established on a case-by-case basis by an appraiser selected by, or acceptable to, the city. The appraiser must be licensed and in good standing with the state of Washington for the category of the property appraised. The appraisal shall be in accordance with the most recent version of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and shall be subject to review and acceptance by the city. The appraisal and review shall be at the expense of the applicant.
E. Whenever a development is granted approval subject to a condition the system improvements that are identified in the six-year transportation improvement program be constructed or provided, or whenever the applicant has agreed, pursuant to the terms of a voluntary agreement with the city of Edgewood, to donate or dedicate land for road facilities that are identified in the six-year transportation improvement program, and which are included in the list of road projects that are used to determine the traffic impact fee, as listed in the traffic impact fee study, the applicant shall be entitled to a credit for the value of the land or actual costs of capital facility construction against the fee that would be chargeable under the formula provided. The land value or costs of construction shall be determined pursuant to this section.
F. This subsection applies only to residential developments and the residential portion of a mixed use development. In cases where a developer would be entitled to a credit under this section, but the amount of the credit has yet to be determined on a per dwelling unit basis, the city shall take the total credit amount available to the entire plat or project, calculated by applying subsections (A) through (E) of this section, and divide that amount by the number of dwelling units approved for that plat or project. The impact fee and credit may then be calculated and collected on a per dwelling unit basis as building permits are issued for those dwelling units. Where building permits for some, but not all, of the dwelling units within a plat or project have already been obtained at the time the ordinance codified in this chapter becomes effective, the credit for the unpermitted dwelling units will be calculated to arrive at a per dwelling unit amount in the same manner. For example, if a plat has been approved for 20 dwelling units, and building permits have only been issued for 10 of those units, the per dwelling unit credit for the remaining 10 units will equal the total credit amount divided by 20 dwelling units.
G. This subsection applies to nonresidential developments, or the nonresidential portion of a mixed use development. In cases where a developer would be entitled to a credit under this section, but the amount of the credit has yet to be determined on a per square foot basis, the city shall take the total credit amount available to the entire plat or project, calculated by applying subsections (A) through (C) of this section, and divide that amount by the number of square feet approved for that plat or project. The impact fee and credit may then be calculated and collected on a per square foot basis as building permits are issued for that square footage. Where building permits for some, but not all, of the dwelling units within a plat or project have already been obtained at the time the ordinance codified in this chapter becomes effective, the credit for the unpermitted square footage will be calculated to arrive at a per square footage amount in the same manner. For example, if a 20,000 square foot commercial project has been approved, and building permits have only been issued for 10,000 square feet of the project, the per square foot credit for the remaining 10,000 square feet will equal the total credit amount divided by 20,000 square feet.
H. Pursuant to and consistent with the requirements of RCW 82.02.060, impact fee schedules have been adjusted for future taxes and other revenue sources to be paid by the new development which are earmarked or pro-ratable to the same new public facilities which will serve the new development.
I. After receiving the receipts for improvements, the appraisal of land value, the receipts and calculations of prior payments earmarked or pro-ratable to the same system improvements for which the impact fee is imposed, the city manager or designee shall provide the applicant with a letter setting forth the dollar amount of the credit, the reason for the credit, the legal description of the site donated where applicable, and the legal description or other adequate description of the project or development to which the credit may be applied. The applicant must sign and date a duplicate copy of such letter indicating their agreement to the terms of the letter and return such signed document to the city before the impact fee credit will be awarded. The failures of the applicant to sign, date, and return such document within 60 calendar days shall nullify the credit.
J. If the amount of the credit is less than the calculated fee amount, the difference remaining shall be chargeable as an impact fee and paid at the time of application for the building permit. In the event the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater than the amount of the impact fee due, no further sums shall be due from the applicant.
K. A claim for credit will be processed by the city using whichever of the following options is selected by the applicant:
1. Claims for credits that are submitted prior to, or with, an application for a building permit for which an impact fee will be due will be processed by the city before payment of the impact fee is due in order to allow any credit authorized by the city to reduce the amount of the impact fee; or
2. Claims for credits that are submitted no later than 30 days after the issuance of a building permit for which an impact fee is due shall be processed by the city after the impact fee is paid in full, and any credit authorized by the city will be refunded to the applicant within 90 days of receipt of the claim for credit.
L. Claims for credits that are submitted more than six months after the issuance of a building permit for which an impact fee is due are deemed to be waived and shall be denied.
M. Determinations made by the city manager or designee pursuant to this section shall be subject to appeal to the examiner subject to the procedures set forth in Chapter 2.40 EMC. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.110 Impact fee refunds.
A. The current owner of property on which impact fees have been paid may receive a refund of such fees if the impact fees have not been expended or encumbered within six years of their receipt by the city. In determining whether impact fees have been expended or encumbered, impact fees shall be considered expended or encumbered on a first in, first out basis.
B. The city shall provide for the refund of fees according to the requirements of this section and RCW 82.02.080. An owner's request for a refund must be submitted to the city manager or designee in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever date is later.
C. Any impact fees that are not expended or encumbered within six years of their receipt by the city, and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period, shall be retained by the city and expended consistent with the provisions of this chapter.
D. Refunds of impact fees shall include any interest earned on the impact fees.
E. Should the city seek to terminate all impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds, including interest earned, shall be refunded to the current owner of the property for which an impact fee was paid. Upon the finding that all fee requirements are to be terminated, the city shall place notice of such termination and the availability of refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first-class mail addressed to the owner of the property as shown in the Pierce County tax records. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one year. At the end of the one-year period, any remaining funds shall be retained by the city, but must be expended for the original purposes, consistent with the provisions of this section. The notice requirement set forth above shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within the account or accounts being terminated.
F. An applicant may request and receive a refund, including interest earned on the impact fee, when:
1. The applicant does not proceed to finalize the development activity as required by statute or city code or the International Building Code; and
2. The city has not expended or encumbered the impact fees prior to the application for a refund. In the event that the city has expended or encumbered the fees in good faith, no refund shall be forthcoming. However, if, within a period of three years, the same or subsequent owner of the property proceeds with the same or substantially similar development activity, the owner shall be eligible for a credit against any then-existing traffic impact fee requirement. The owner must petition the city in writing and provide receipts of impact fees paid by the owner for a development of the same or substantially similar nature on the same property or some portion thereof. The city shall determine whether to grant a credit and such determinations may be appealed by following the procedures set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.120 Appeals and payments under protest.
A. This subsection applies when an applicant seeks a building permit to construct a portion of a development that has already been reviewed and approved, in other respects, pursuant to procedures that comply with Chapter 2.40 EMC. An example of this circumstance would be an application for a permit to build one house in a large subdivision that was previously approved. In this case, any appeal of the decision of the city with regard to the imposition of an impact fee or the amount of any impact fees, impact fee credit, or impact fee refund may be taken before the hearing examiner pursuant to Chapter 2.40 EMC in conjunction with an appeal of the underlying building permit.
B. This subsection applies when an applicant seeks a building permit in conjunction with other development approvals that may be subject to an open record hearing and closed record appeal pursuant to procedures that comply with Chapter 2.40 EMC. An example of this circumstance would be an application for a short plat and building permit to build a new office park. In this case, any appeal of the decision of the city with regard to the imposition of an impact fee or the amount of any impact fees, impact fee credit, or impact fee refund must be made according to the process outlined for and in conjunction with the underlying development approval.
C. Any applicant may pay the impact fees imposed by this chapter under protest in order to obtain a building permit.
D. Only the applicant has standing to appeal impact fee matters. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.130 Council review of impact fees.
The impact fee schedule adopted by the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be reviewed by the city council, as it deems necessary and appropriate in conjunction with the update of the city's transportation improvement program. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.140 Administrative fees.
A. The cost of administering the traffic impact fee program shall also include an amount equal to five percent of the amount of the total traffic impact fee determined from the fee schedules. The administrative fee shall be deposited into an administrative fee account within the traffic mitigation impact fee fund. Administrative fees shall be used to defray the cost incurred by the city in the administration and update of the traffic impact fee program, including, but not limited to, review of independent fee calculations and the value of credits. The administrative fee is not creditable or refundable.
B. The administrative fee, in addition to the actual impact fees, shall be paid by the applicant to the city at the same time as the impact fee. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.150 Impact fee calculations.
The traffic impact fee shall be calculated using a schedule that identifies a particular fee amount for a particular type of development. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.160 Schedule of fees.
A traffic impact fee shall be assessed against all new development as set forth in Exhibit A – Fee Schedule, attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter and incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full. This fee schedule represents the city's determination of the appropriate share of system improvement costs to be paid by new growth and development. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.170 Existing authority unimpaired.
Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the city from requiring the applicant to mitigate adverse environmental impacts of a specific development pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act, Chapter 43.21C RCW, based on the environmental documents accompanying the underlying development approval process, and/or Chapter 58.17 RCW governing plats and subdivisions; provided, that the exercise of this authority is consistent with the provisions of Chapters 43.21C and 82.02 RCW. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.180 Severability.
If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter should be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).
4.30.190 Effective date.
The ordinance codified in this chapter or a summary thereof consisting of the title shall be published in the official newspaper of the city, and shall take effect and be in full force five days after publication. (Ord. 07-282 § 1).