[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Skippack 7-25-2001 by Ord. No. 260. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Skippack Township Impact Fee Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to establish an impact fee program to
ensure that the transportation system is available and adequate to support
new growth and development. To advance this objective, there is hereby created
an impact fee payable to the Township at the time of building permit issuance.
The Board of Supervisors hereby finds and declares that:
A.
The conditions and standards for the determination and
imposition of the impact fee set forth herein are those set forth in Act 209
of 1990 by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and any and
all amendments thereto (hereinafter the "Act," and consist of the following
as if set forth fully at length in this chapter and are hereby incorporated
by reference):
(1)
The recital set forth above;
(2)
Analysis, advice and recommendations of the Impact Fee
Advisory Committee;
(3)
The land use assumptions as adopted by the Board of Supervisors;
(4)
The Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the Board
of Supervisors;
(5)
The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan, as adopted
by the Board of Supervisors; and
(6)
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 an impact fee and consistent with the provisions of the
Act and any of the amendments thereto.
B.
The collection, disbursement and accounting of impact
fees shall be administered by the office of the Township Manager, subject
to review, oversight and control by the Board of Supervisors.
The terms and definitions set forth in Section 502-A of the Act are
hereby adopted and incorporated in this chapter by reference.
There is hereby enacted an impact fee to be imposed upon new development
for the purpose of off-site transportation capital improvements authorized
by the Act and as described in the plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
The impact fee shall apply to all new developments or subdivisions within
each of the transportation service areas identified herein and shall be a
condition precedent to final approval of a development or a subdivision plan
or issuance of a building permit.
Impact fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be expended for
costs incurred for improvements attributable to new development and designated
in the Transportation Capital Improvements Plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors
in Res. No. 2001-25B for improvements within each of the transportation service
areas in which the new development will be located. Additionally, such fees
may be used for the acquisition of land and right-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 cost to prepare the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as is allowed
under the provisions of the Act.
The following documents, previously adopted by the Board of Supervisors,
are hereby incorporated by reference in this chapter:
A.
Land Use Assumptions report as adopted by the Township.
B.
Roadway Sufficiency Analysis as adopted by the Township.
C.
The Transportation Capital Improvements Plan as adopted
by the Township.
D.
Designation of Transportation Service Areas as set forth
on the Transportation Service Area Map identified as and incorporated herein
by reference.
E.
The Impact Fee Schedule established by this chapter.
A.
Where intended to assist in determining the appropriate
amount of impact fees, the Township may require the preparation of special
transportation 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
a deviation from the land use assumptions used to create the program.
B.
Any such studies required by the Township shall be submitted
prior to the imposition of the impact fee and shall be considered in the determination
of the fee.
This chapter shall be uniformly applicable to all development that occurs
within a designated service area.
No building permit shall be issued for development in a designated transportation
service area, as herein defined, unless the applicant therefore has paid the
impact fee imposed by and calculated pursuant to this chapter.
(Reserved)
A.
The impact fee for the transportation capital improvements
shall be based upon the total cost of the road improvements included in the
adopted Transportation Capital Improvements Plan within a given transportation
service area attributable to and necessitated by new development within the
service area as defined, divided by the number of anticipated peak hour trips
generated by all new development consistent with the adopted land use assumptions
and calculated in accordance with the Trip Generation Manual published by
the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Sixth or subsequent additions,
which is hereby adopted by the Township, to equal a per-trip cost for transportation
improvements within the service area.
B.
The specific impact fee for a specific new development or subdivision within the service area for road improvements 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 determined in § 106-14 hereof by the estimated number of trips to be generated by the new development or subdivision 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 traffic
generation or circulation for a new nonresidential development to assist in
the determination of the amount of transportation fees for such development
or subdivision.
A.
Transportation service areas are established as shown
on the Transportation Service Area Map in the Roadway Sufficiency Analysis,
Figure 1, that is incorporated by reference.
B.
Additional transportation district subareas or combinations
of transportation district subareas may be designated by the Board of Supervisors
from time to time consistent with the procedures set forth in this chapter
and in consideration of the following factors:
(1)
The Comprehensive Capital Plan;
(2)
Any standards for adequate public facilities incorporated
in the program;
(3)
The projected build-out and timing of development areas;
(4)
The need for and cost of unprogrammed transportation
improvements necessary to support projected development; and
(5)
Such other factors as the Board of Supervisors may deem
relevant.
C.
Fees collected from development in each of the transportation
district subareas will be used exclusively to fund transportation improvement
projects scheduled for that district.
A.
Impact fees due pursuant to this chapter shall be collected
by the Township in the manner or manners prescribed herein prior to the issuance
of a building permit.
B.
Establishment of fund. Upon receipt of impact fees, the
Township Manager's office shall be responsible for the separate and proper
accounting of such fees. All such fees shall be deposited in an interest-bearing
account in a bank authorized to receive deposits of the Township's 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.
Establishment and maintenance of accounts. The Township
Manager's office shall establish appropriate trust fund accounts and
shall maintain records whereby impact fees collected can be segregated for
each transportation district area.
D.
Maintenance of records. The Township Manager's office
shall maintain and keep adequate financial records for each such account which
shall show the source and disbursement of all revenues, which shall account
for all moneys received and which shall insure the disbursement of funds from
each account shall be solely and exclusively for the provision of projects
specified in the program for the particular transportation district area.
Payments of the transportation impact fee shall be made by the traffic
generator prior to the issuance of the building permit by the Township to
the traffic generator for development on the applicable site pursuant to the
impact fee Schedule attached as Exhibit A.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Exhibit A is included at the end of this chapter.
Any applicant who performs, at his own expense and with the consent
and agreement of the Board of Supervisors, off-site improvements, as herein
defined, 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 must enter
into an agreement with the Board of Supervisors 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. 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. It however, the amount of credit is calculated to be
greater than the amount of the impact fee due, the applicant may use such
excess credit towards the impact fee imposed on other building permits for
development on the same site and in the same ownership.
B.
Any such applicant shall be required to supply financial
security sufficient, in the judgment of the Township, to cover the cost of
any such improvement installed by the applicant for which credit is sought.
C.
An applicant shall be entitled as a credit against impact
fees 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.
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
Capital Improvements Plan and there remain undisbursed funds, the respective
payer shall be entitled to a share of the fund balance in the same proportion
of the payer's impact fee payment, plus interest, earned bears to the
total impact fee collected, plus interest.
B.
In the event any specific road improvements 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 in equal amounts to the excess
budgeted costs over actual costs to the payers, per 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 fee paid by any payer making written request therefor
which is attributable to said project with the accumulated interest, provided
no refunds shall be paid with respect to any project actually begun prior
to the receipt of such refund request.
D.
In the event the development for which impact fees were
paid has not commenced prior to the expiration of the building permit issued
therefor, the impact fees paid with the accumulated interest shall be refunded
to the payer upon written request therefor made within one year from the date
of expiration of the applicable permit. Further, if a building permit after
issuance is altered in such a way as to reduce the indicated impact fee, the
difference between the amount indicated and the amount actually paid shall
be refunded. The payer, at his option, may roll over the impact fee attributable
to an expired building permit to cover fees incurred by a renewal of said
expired permit.
E.
With respect to refunds arising out of Subsections A and 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 that refund shall lapse. It is the responsibility of the payer to provide the Township with the current address of his place of business.
This chapter shall not affect, in any manner, the permissible use of
property, density of a development, previously adopted design and improvement
standards and requirements for any other aspect of the development of land
or provision of public improvements which remain subject to applicable zoning,
subdivision and PRD regulations of the Township, which shall be operated and
remain in full force and effect without limitation with respect to all such
development.
The 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 effect 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 an amount in excess of the
amount calculated pursuant to this chapter; provided, however, that a property
owner may be required to pay, pursuant to Township ordinance, regulations
or policies, for other public facilities in addition to the impact fee for
transportation improvements as specified herein.
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, welfare and convenience. Included herein shall
be as part of the interpretation of the chapter, the Township has adopted
all powers as set forth in Act 209 of 1990 as if set forth herein at length.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
Notwithstanding § 106-21 above, the impact fee imposed by this chapter shall have retroactive application to the extent permissible by law.
