[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Town
of Lower Gwynedd 6-27-2023 by Ord. No. 539[1]. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Lower Gwynedd
Township Impact Fee Ordinance."
(a)
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a traffic
impact fee program (referred to hereinafter as the "program") to ensure
that the Township's transportation system situate within the Township
and servicing its residents and the general public is and continues
to be available and adequate to support new growth and development.
(b)
To advance this objective, there is hereby created
an impact fee as hereinafter calculated which shall be payable to
the Township at the time of and as a condition precedent building
permit issuance.
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares
that the conditions and standards for the determination and imposition
of the impact fee set forth herein are consistent and comply with
those set forth in Act 209 of 1990 and any and all amendments thereto
(hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), and consist of:
(a)
The analysis, advice and recommendations of the Traffic
Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
(b)
The Land Use Assumptions Report as adopted by the
Board of Supervisors.
(c)
The Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the
Board of Supervisors.
(d)
The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted
by the Board of Supervisors.
(e)
Such other conditions and standards as the Board of
Supervisors may, by resolution, identify from time to time as being
relevant and material to the imposition of traffic impact fees and
consistent with the provisions of Act 209 of 1990 and any amendments
thereto.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section
502-A of the Act are hereby adopted and incorporated into this section
by reference. The term "traffic impact fee," as used in this chapter,
shall have the same meaning as impact fee used in the Act.
Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter
shall be expended for such costs incurred for improvements attributable
to new development and designated in the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis
and Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as more particularly
set forth hereinafter. Additionally, such traffic impact fees may
be used for the acquisition of land and rights-of-way, engineering,
legal and planning costs, and all other costs, including debt service
related to road improvements within the designated service area, and
including such proportionate amount of the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis
permitted under the provisions of the Act.
(a)
Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate
amount of traffic impact fees, the Township may require or permit
the preparation of special traffic impact studies to determine the
traffic generation or circulation patterns in new nonresidential developments
only; provided, however, that no studies may be required where the
proposed development will not require deviation from the land use
assumptions used to create the program.
(b)
Any special traffic impact studies required or permitted
by the Township shall be submitted prior to the imposition of the
traffic impact fee and shall be considered in the determination of
the fee.
No building permit shall be issued for construction
in a designated transportation service area unless the building permit
applicant has paid the traffic impact fee imposed by and calculated
pursuant to this chapter.
(a)
The total impact fee for transportation capital improvements
shall be based upon the total costs of the road improvements enumerated
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan within a given transportation
service area attributable to and necessitated by new development within
the transportation service area, divided by the number of anticipated
p.m. peak-hour trips generated by all new development in the transportation
service areas consistent with the Land Use Assumptions Report and
calculated in accordance with the Trip Generation Manual published
by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 6th Edition, or subsequent
editions, which is hereby adopted by the Township to equal a pertrip
cost for transportation improvements within the transportation service
areas.
(b)
The specific traffic impact fees for new development
or subdivision within a transportation service area shall be determined
as of the date of preliminary land development or subdivision approval
by multiplying the per trip cost established for the service area
(as set forth in Section 1230.97) by the estimated number of trips
to be generated by the new development using generally accepted traffic
engineering standards.
(c)
The Board of Supervisors may authorize or require
the preparation of a special transportation study in order to determine
the traffic generation or circulation for a new nonresidential development
to assist in the determination of the amount of the traffic impact
fee for such development or subdivision. No special transporation
study shall be required or permitted when there is no deviation from
the land use assumptions resulting in increased density, intensity
or trip generation by a particular development. A developer or the
Board of Supervisors may, however, at any time, voluntarily prepare
and submit a traffic study for a proposed development or may have
such a study prepared at its expense after the development is completed
to include actual trips generated by the development for use in any
appeal as provided for under Act 209. Any such special transportation
study shall be prepared by a qualified traffic or transportation engineer
using procedures and methods established by the Township based on
generally accepted transportation planning and engineering standards.
A special study required by the governing body shall be submitted
prior to the imposition of a traffic impact fee and shall be taken
into consideration by the governing body in increasing or reducing
the amount of the traffic impact fee for the new development.
There is hereby established one transportation
service area in the Township, as delineated on the map labeled "Figure
3, Transportation Service Area" found on page 10 of the Lower Gwynedd
Township Roadway Sufficiency Anaylsis and Transportation Capital Improvement
Plan which is incorporated herein by reference.
The traffic impact fee shall be $3,865 per "new"
afternoon peak hour trip for the transportation service area.
Prior to making an application for a building
permit, an applicant may request a nonbinding traffic impact fee estimate
from the Township, which will be based upon the maximum development
potential of the site pursuant to existing zoning regulations, unless
the applicant specifies and documents a lesser use of development.
(a)
Traffic impact fees due pursuant to this section shall
be collected by the Township Treasurer, subject to review, oversight
and control of the Board of Supervisors, in the manner or manners
prescribed herein prior to the issuance of the building permit.
(b)
Upon receipt of traffic impact fees, the Township
Treasurer shall be responsible for the separate and proper accounting
of such fees. All such fees shall be deposited in interest-bearing
accounts in a bank authorized to receive deposits of the Township
funds. Interest earned by each account shall be credited to that account
and shall be used solely for the purpose specified for funds of such
account.
(c)
The Township Treasurer shall establish appropriate
accounts and shall maintain records whereby traffic impact fees collected
can be segregated for each transportation service area.
(d)
The Township Treasurer shall maintain and keep adequate
financial records for such accounts as will show the source and disbursement
of all revenues, which shall account for all moneys received, and
which shall ensure that the disbursement of the funds from each account
shall be used solely and exclusively for the provision of projects
specified in the program for the particular transportation service
area.
Payment of the traffic impact fee shall be made
by the person seeking to build or develop prior to the issuance of
a building permit by the Township for development on the applicable
site.
Any applicant who shall perform, at the applicant's
own expense and with the consent and agreement of the Board of Supervisors,
any off-site traffic improvements enumerated on the Transporatation
Capital Improvement Plan shall be eligible for a credit from 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.
(a)
If the applicant makes such improvements, he or she
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, a requirement 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 Board of Supervisors, including the deposit with
the Township of financial security in an amount sufficient to guarantee
the construction of the improvement in the manner provided for by
Article V of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. The Board
of Supervisors 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 shall the Board of Supervisors
provide a credit which is greater than the applicable impact fee.
If, however, the amount of the credit is calculated to be greater
than the amount of the traffic impact fee due, the applicant may use
such excess credit toward the impact fees imposed on other building
permits for development on the same site and in the same ownership.
(b)
Any applicant shall be entitled to, as a credit against
impact fees, an amount equal to the fair market value of land dedicated
by the applicant and accepted by the Township for future rights-of-way,
realignment or widening of existing roadways.
(c)
As a credit against impact fees an applicant shall
be entitled to an amount equal to the value of any road improvement
construction which is contained in the Transportation Capital Improvements
Plan and which was performed at the applicant's expense.
Traffic impact fees collected pursuant to this
chapter shall be refunded, together with interest earned thereon,
to the payer of the fees under the following circumstances:
(a)
In the event the Township completes or terminates
the Transporation Capital Improvements Plan and there remain undisbursed
funds, the respective payers shall be entitled to a share of the fund
balance in the same portion as the payer's traffic impact fee payment,
plus interest earned, bears to the total impact fees collected, plus
interest.
(b)
In the event that any specific road improvement project
is completed at a cost to the Township of less than 95% of the budgeted
cost of the road project, the Township shall refund an amount equal
to the excess budgeted cost over actual cost to the payers, pro rata,
plus accumulated interest.
(c)
In the event the Township fails to commence construction
within three years of the scheduled construction date of the project
as set forth in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, the
Township shall refund the portion of the fee paid by any payer making
written request therefore which is attributable to said project, with
accumulated interest, provided that no refund shall be paid with respect
to any project actually begun prior to the receipt of such refund
request.
(d)
In the event that the development for which traffic
impact fees were paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of
the building permit issued therefor, the traffic impact fees paid,
with accumulated interest, shall be refunded to the payer. Further,
if a building permit, after issuance, is altered in such a way as
to reduce the indicated traffic impact fee, the difference between
the amount indicated and the amount actually paid shall be refunded.
The payer, at his or her option, may roll over the traffic impact
fees attributable to an expired building permit to cover fees incurred
by a renewal of such expired permit.
(e)
With respect to refunds arising out of Subsection (a) or (b) hereof, any funds unclaimed within one year, after notice as required by law, shall be transferred to the general account of the Township, and the payer's entitlement to such refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payor to provide the Township with the current address of his or her place of business.
This chapter shall not affect, in any manner,
the permissible use of property, the density of development, previously
adopted design and improvement standards and requirements or any other
aspect of the development of land or provision of public improvements
which remain subject to applicable zoning and subdivision regulations
of the Township, which shall be operative and remain in full force
and effect without limitation with respect to all such development.
The traffic impact fee is additional and supplemental
to, and not in substitution of, any other requirements imposed by
the Township on the development of land or the issuance of building
permits. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to alter or affect
the Township's existing ordinances and regulations regarding on-site
improvements. In no event shall a property owner be obligated to pay
for transportation capital improvements in an amount in excess of
the amount calculated pursuant to this section; provided, however,
that a property owner may be required to pay, pursuant to Township
ordinances, regulations or policies, for other public improvements
or facilities (including on-site transportation capital improvements)
in addition to the impact fee for off-site transportation improvements
as provided herein.
(a)
This section shall take effect immediately upon its
passage.
(b)
Notwithstanding the above subsection, traffic impact
fees may be imposed on those projects involving land developments
and subdivisions for which an application has been filed on or after
the first publication of the Township's notice of intention to adopt
this Traffic Impact Fee chapter; provided, however, that such retroactivity
does not exceed 18 months after the adoption of the resolution that
created the advisory committee in connection herewith.
(c)
In retroactive applications, the per-trip fee may
not exceed $1,000 or the actual calculated fee, whichever is less.
The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally
construed to effectively carry out its purposes, which are hereby
found and declared to be in furtherance of the public health, safety
and welfare and convenience.
