Chapter 17.75
CONCURRENCY MANAGEMENT
Sections:
17.75.030 Concurrency applicability and procedures.
17.75.040 Concurrency level of service adopted and test.
17.75.060 Finding of concurrency.
17.75.070 Preliminary concurrency test – Fees.
17.75.080 Concurrency test – Alternative calculation – Fees.
17.75.010 Intent and purpose.
A. Intent. Pursuant to the State Growth Management Act, Chapter 36.70A RCW, after the adoption of its comprehensive plan, the city of Milton is required to ensure that applicable public improvements or strategies to accommodate the impacts of development are made concurrent with the development. The intent of this chapter is to establish a concurrency management system to ensure that transportation facilities and services needed to maintain minimum level of service standards are available simultaneous to, or within a reasonable time after, development occupancy or use.
B. Purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter:
1. To ensure adequate levels of service on transportation facilities for existing land uses as well as new development;
2. To provide transportation facilities that achieve and maintain the city’s level of service standards as established in the comprehensive plan; and
3. To ensure that the city’s level of service standards are achieved concurrently with development as required by the Growth Management Act. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.020 Definitions.
A. “Adequate transportation facilities” means transportation facilities that meet or exceed the adopted standard of service set forth in the city’s comprehensive plan.
B. “Applicant” means a person or entity who has applied for a development permit.
C. “Available capacity” means the capacity for a transportation facility that is currently available for use.
D. “Completion of development” means:
1. The certificate of occupancy, or other approval, has been issued by the city authorizing occupancy and the use of a development.
2. Final plat approval in the case of residential plats involving single-family, townhouse or duplex development.
E. “Concurrency test” means the comparison of the traffic generated by a proposed development with the unused or uncommitted capacity of existing and planned transportation facilities, in order to assess the impact of the proposed development on the transportation level of service.
F. “Concurrent with development” means the improvements or transportation strategies are in place at the time of building permit issuance or residential preliminary plat approval, or the financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years.
G. “Development” means any proposed use of land or buildings or other structures and improvements on the land that create more than 10 additional peak p.m. trips.
H. “Development permit” means a land use or building permit.
I. “Development permit, final” means a building permit.
J. “Development permit, preliminary” means short plat, preliminary plat, shoreline substantial development/conditional use permit, site plan approval, special use permit, conditional use permit.
K. “Existing transportation facilities” means those transportation facilities in place at the time a concurrency test is applied.
L. “Financial commitment” means revenue sources forecast to be available and designated for transportation facilities or strategies in the comprehensive plan or in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan, other unanticipated revenue from federal or state grants, or other sources for which the city has received a notice of commitment, and/or revenue that is assured by an applicant in a form approved by the city.
M. “Finding of concurrency” means the finding that is a part of the building permit or residential preliminary plat approval issued by the city indicating that the transportation system has adequate unused or uncommitted capacity, or will have adequate capacity, to accommodate traffic generated by the proposed development, without causing the level of service standards to decline below the adopted standards, at the time of development.
N. “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, and of transit service. Roadway and intersection level of service standards are commonly denoted by a letter ranking from “A,” the highest level of service, to “F,” the lowest level of service.
O. “Peak hour” means that hour of the day which experiences the most critical LOS for a particular roadway or intersection.
P. “Planned capacity” means capacity for a transportation facility that is not yet available, but for which the necessary facility construction, expansion or modification project is contained in the current adopted capital facilities plan and scheduled to be completed within six years.
Q. “Planned transportation facilities” means those transportation facilities scheduled to be completed no later than the sixth year of the capital facilities plan and/or transportation element in effect at the time the city approves the development.
R. “Preliminary concurrency test” means an informal, nonbinding assessment of available transportation capacity.
S. “Pro rata share” means the number of peak hour vehicle trips which the development adds to that intersection divided by the total peak hour vehicle trips at that intersection.
T. “Service provider” means the department or agency responsible for providing the transportation facility.
U. “Street system” means all vehicular, public thoroughfares and accessories thereto in the city except freeways. It may also, at the city’s discretion, apply to such facilities located outside the city.
V. “Transportation facilities” means arterials and transit routes owned, operated, or administered by the state of Washington and its political subdivisions, such as the city of Milton.
W. “Transportation facility capacity” means the maximum number of vehicles that can be accommodated during a specified travel period at a specified level of service. Capacity will be calculated according to the methodology used in the most current highway capacity manual. An alternative methodology may be used only if it is preapproved by the director of public works or his/her designee.
X. “Transportation strategies” means transportation demand management plans, schemes, techniques, programs, and methodologies for minimizing transportation facility demand, such as improved transit service, off-peak travel, and ride-sharing programs.
Y. “Traffic study” means a specialized study of the impacts that a certain type and size of development in a specific location will have on the surrounding transportation system.
Z. “Transportation system management” means increasing the efficiency of the existing street system by modifying travel behavior, such as by providing incentives for travel by multi-occupancy vehicles or by shifting travel demand away from the peak hour. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.030 Concurrency applicability and procedures.
A. Applicability. Except for the exemptions provided for in MMC 17.75.090, the test for concurrency will be conducted as a part of all preliminary development permits. Final development permits which did not have a preceding preliminary development permit shall also be subject to the concurrency test, unless exempted by MMC 17.75.090.
B. Procedures. The concurrency test will be performed in the processing of the development permit and conducted by the community development and public works departments.
1. The community development department shall provide the overall coordination of the concurrency test by notifying the service providers of all applications requiring a concurrency test; notifying the service providers of all exempted applications which use capacity; notifying the applicant of the test results; notifying the service providers of the final outcome (approval or denial) of the development permit; and notifying the service providers of any expired development permits, discontinued findings of capacity, or other action resulting in an applicant no longer needing capacity which has been reserved.
2. All service providers shall be responsible for maintaining and monitoring their available and planned capacity by conducting the concurrency test for their individual facility for all applications requiring a concurrency test; reserving the capacity needed for each application; accounting for the capacity for each exempted application which uses capacity; notifying the community development department of the results of the tests; and reinstating any capacity for an expired development permit, discontinued findings of capacity, or other action resulting in an applicant no longer needing capacity which has been reserved. The service providers shall also be responsible for reporting the capacity of their facility to the city of Milton annually. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.040 Concurrency level of service adopted and test.
A. The level of service standards established in the city of Milton comprehensive plan are hereby adopted for the purposes of this chapter.
B. For transportation facilities, available and planned capacity will be used in conducting the concurrency test.
C. If the capacity of transportation facilities is equal to or greater than the capacity required to maintain the level of service standard for the impact from the development permit, then the concurrency test is passed.
D. Development permits that result in a reduction of a level of service below the minimum level of service standard as identified in the city of Milton comprehensive plan fail the concurrency test. In such cases, development shall not be approved unless the development is mitigated pursuant to MMC 17.75.050.
E. In conducting the concurrency test, the city will use the trip generation rates set forth in the latest edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Information Report – Trip Generation. The presumption is that the rates used by the city are accurate unless proven otherwise. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.050 Mitigation options.
If the concurrency test is not passed, the applicant may implement one or more of the following:
A. Modify the application to reduce the need for transportation facilities. This may include inclusion of a transportation system management plan.
B. Arrange with the service provider to provide the additional capacity of transportation facilities required to maintain adopted level of service standards. The improvements necessary to provide available capacity shall be determined by the public works director. If this method is used, the public works director shall insure completion by not issuing any occupancy permit until required traffic lanes are complete or by requiring a bond or other security instrument acceptable to the city to insure that the improvement is completed within six years of development.
C. Form a local improvement district created to assess the benefitting property owners for their fair share of the costs for the needed transportation improvement.
D. Phase or alter the development such that the development’s impact on transportation facilities does not result in the level of service falling below the adopted level of service.
E. Postpone the development until the city can provide the necessary transportation capacity.
F. Request formal reconsideration of the concurrency test to the public works director in accordance with the provisions of MMC 17.75.080. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.060 Finding of concurrency.
A. The finding of concurrency shall be valid for the same time period as the underlying development permit, including any extensions thereof and shall expire if the underlying development permit expires or is revoked by the city.
B. A finding of concurrency shall be valid even if the ownership of the property changes.
C. A finding of concurrency shall only apply to the specific land uses, densities, intensities and development project described in the application and the development permit and is not transferable to other land. The applicant shall describe the proposed development in a manner adequate for the city to determine the peak-hour traffic to be generated by the proposed development.
D. A finding of concurrency for a development permit that requires one or more transportation facilities to be provided by the applicant shall be conditioned upon an appropriate financial commitment by the applicant which is binding upon subsequent owners, heirs, executors, successors or assigns, and upon the completion of such transportation facilities in a timely manner, prior to the issuance of the certificate of occupancy or prior to occupancy, unless stated otherwise in writing by the city. Such financial commitment shall be subject to the approval of the city attorney, including performance bond, escrowed funds, or other similar instrument.
E. Revisions to the proposed development that may create additional impacts on transportation facilities will be required to undergo an additional concurrency test.
F. The city may adjust the trip generation forecast of the proposed development in order to account for any transportation strategies proposed by the applicant that are acceptable to the city. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.070 Preliminary concurrency test – Fees.
An applicant may request a preliminary concurrency test without an accompanying request for a development permit. A fee, as set forth in the approved fee schedule, will be charged for such preliminary concurrency test. Any available capacity cannot be reserved. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.080 Concurrency test – Alternative calculation – Fees.
The applicant may submit a calculation of alternative trip generation rates for the proposed development. The city shall review the alternate calculations and indicate in writing whether such calculations are acceptable in lieu of the standard trip generation rates.
If the applicant requests an alternative calculation for the concurrency test, or if the city determines that an alternative calculation is required due to the size, scale, or other unusual characteristics of the proposed development, a fee for the alternative calculation shall be paid by the applicant prior to the initiation of review. Final determination of which test or calculation is used shall be within the sole discretion of the city. The fee for conducting the review of the alternative calculation shall be as set forth in the approved fee schedule. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.090 Exemptions.
A. No Impact. Development permits for development which creates no measurable additional impacts on any transportation facility are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. Such development includes, but is not limited to:
1. Any addition or accessory structure to a residence with no change in use or increase in the number of dwelling units;
2. Interior renovations with no change of use or, if a residential use, no increase in number of dwelling units;
3. Interior completion of a structure for use(s) with the same or less intensity as the existing use or a previously approved use;
4. Replacement structure with no change in use or increase in number of dwelling units;
5. Temporary construction trailers;
6. Driveway resurfacing or parking lot paving;
7. Reroofing of structures;
8. Demolitions;
9. Clearing, filling and grading permits;
10. Any development for which the city is the development proponent; and
11. Any proposed development that creates no additional impacts on any transportation facility as determined by the public works director.
The public works director shall be responsible for determining if other types of development also meet this “no impact” standard so as to be included under this exemption.
B. Exempt Development Permits. The following preliminary development permits are exempt from the requirements of this chapter:
1. Boundary line adjustment;
2. Final plat;
3. Temporary use/stand permit;
4. Variance or administrative adjustment;
5. Clearing, filling and grading permits;
6. Shoreline exemption;
7. Rezone/comprehensive plan amendments;
8. Any additional preliminary development permit that creates no additional transportation facility impacts as determined by the community development director.
C. Application Filed before Effective Date of Chapter. Complete development permit applications that have been submitted before the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
D. Single-Family and Two-Family Homes. Single-family and two-family (duplex) homes on lots platted before the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
E. Accessory Dwelling Units. All accessory dwelling units, as defined in this code, are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
F. Accounting for Capacity. The capacity for development permits exempted under subsections C, D, and E of this section shall be taken into account. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.100 Studies required.
A. Traffic studies which the public works director finds the applicant shall prepare and are necessary to implement the requirements of this chapter will be prepared by a qualified transportation engineer at the applicant’s expense. The transportation engineer shall be acceptable to the public works director.
B. The city may, at the applicant’s expense, hire a licensed and qualified engineer to review the applicant’s submittal for accuracy. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.110 Phased projects.
This chapter shall apply separately to each phase of a phased project. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.120 Decision process.
A decision on a concurrency test is a Process Type II permit, decided on by the applicable director, in accordance with Chapter 17.71 MMC. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).
17.75.130 Appeals.
Findings of concurrency may be appealed to the Milton hearing examiner pursuant to Chapter 17.71 MMC. Written notice of appeal must be filed with the city within 14 calendar days of the determination. (Ord. 1865 § 8, 2015).