Ord 1828 - Adding chapter 37 of the Town Code establishing Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees[119131 GNXIMA[F. W
ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS
ADDING CHAPTER 37 TO THE TOWN CODE OF
THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS
ESTABLISHING TRAFFIC IMPACT MITIGATION FEES
The Town Council of the Town of Los Gatos does hereby ordain:
SECTION I
Chapter 37 of the Town Code of the Town of Los Gatos is hereby enacted and
added to read as follows:
CHAPTER 37
TRAFFIC IMPACT MITIGATION FEES
ARTICLE I
TITLE, PURPOSE AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 37.01.010 Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees.
This chapter shall be known as the "Town of Los Gatos Traffic Impact Mitigation
Fee Ordinance" and may be so cited.
Section 37.01.015 Purpose.
(a) The Town Council finds that all new development and expansion of
uses contribute to cumulative traffic impacts. These impacts are difficult to measure
and mitigate on a project -by- project basis, yet are cumulatively measurable and
mitigable. Failure to expand the capacity of the existing circulation system will cause
unacceptable levels of service and congestion on streets and intersections, traffic
accidents, air pollution, noise, and restrictions on access for emergency vehicles.
(b) The Town Council finds that the purpose of the Traffic Impact
Mitigation Fee is to assure that each new development or expansion of use pays its
fair share of the transportation improvements needed to accommodate the
cumulative traffic impacts. Existing and known future sources of revenue are
inadequate to fund a substantial portion of the transportation improvements
necessary to avoid unacceptable levels of service, congestion, and related adverse
impacts.
(c) The Town Council declares the Traffic Improvement area shall be the
Town limits to finance transportation improvements where such improvements have
been identified by the Town's General Plan and any applicable Specific Plan.
(d) The Town Council has determined that Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees
are necessary in order to finance transportation and traffic improvements within the
Traffic Improvement area.
Ord Res \Ords \Chap.37
(e) In establishing the fees described in this chapter, the Town Council has
found that these fees will replace the Intersection Capacity In -lieu fees and median
island fees.
Section 37.01.020 General Provisions.
This Chapter establishes cumulative Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees through
assessments on new developments and expansion of uses authorized through the approval
of minor land divisions, major subdivisions, building permits, and all zoning approvals in the
Town of Los Gatos. This chapter further provides for the establishment of trust funds to
receive the revenues collected by the Town, and authorizes the Council to establish the
inventory of capital improvement facilities for which funds may be expended and the
amount of fees to be assessed, subject to periodic review.
ARTICLE II
DEFINITIONS
Section 37.02.010 Definitions.
(a) "Future growth" shall mean the level of future development anticipated
in the Town of Los Gatos consistent with the General Plan and any applicable
Specific Plan and shall be expressed as the difference between the existing and
potential land use within the Town. Both the existing and potential land use data
shall be used to estimate the number of trips arriving and /or leaving from various
planning areas within the Town through the use of a "trip generation rate."
(b) "Trip generation rate" shall mean the number of vehicle trips over a
weekday 24 -hour period generated by a particular type of land use and shall be
expressed in terms of the number of acres or square feet of land for each land use
category. The Town Engineer may exercise reasonable discretion to establish
recommended trip generation rates for land use categories consisting of groupings
of land uses having similar use and functional characteristics. When the trip
generation rate is multiplied by the amount of land, the number of trips, both
incoming and outgoing, shall be estimated.
(c) A 'vehicle trip end" shall mean an incoming or outgoing trip going to
or coming from anywhere within Los Gatos or outside Los Gatos.
(d) "Transportation improvements" shall mean those improvements and
related actions necessary to implement the circulation element of the Town's
General Plan and any applicable Specific Plan and shall include and not be limited
to: paving, curb and gutter, sidewalks, medians with landscaping, drainage facilities,
traffic signals, street lighting, signing, striping, noise walls, right -of -way and other
improvements or actions necessary to mitigate significant cumulative traffic impacts.
Ord Res \Ords \Chap.37 2
(e) "Site" shall mean a plot of ground consisting of one or more lots or
parcels on which a common improvement is proposed or exists.
(f) "Use" shall mean the purpose for which a site or structure is arranged,
designed, intended, constructed, erected, moved, altered or enlarged or for which
either a site or a structure is or may be occupied or maintained.
(g) "Building Permit" shall mean the permit issued or required by the Town
for the construction of any structure pursuant to and as defined by the Building
Code.
(h) "Development" shall mean residential or non - residential improvements
on a site.
(i) "Expansion of use" to determine traffic increases shall include any
increase in the number of living units, gross floor area in a non - residential
development and /or any intensification of use which increases trips generated.
6) "Existing development" shall mean any already existing habitable
residential or non - residential building or projects which rebuild or remodel without
increasing the trips generated. No fee shall be charged for development already
existing.
ARTICLE III
ESTABLISHMENT AND PAYMENT OF FEES
Section 37.03.010 Fee Determination.
(a) The traffic impact mitigation fee shall be based upon the unfunded cost
of the transportation improvements necessary to upgrade the traffic circulation
system as identified in the Town's General Plan. The Traffic /Build -out Analysis
(prepared as a part of the Environmental Impact Report for the Town of Los Gatos'
General Plan dated February 4, 1985, on file with the Planning Department)
identified the projected new vehicle trip ends that will be generated by new growth
occurring at the build -out of the Town in accordance with the existing General Plan.
All of the anticipated trip ends for each land use category were added up to
determine the total number of additional trips that the Town's circulation system
must accommodate consistent with the General Plan.
(b) The traffic impact mitigation fee shall be calculated in accordance with
the following procedure:
Ord Res \Ords \Chap.37 3
(i) The Town Engineer shall determine the estimated cost of the
transportation improvements necessary to implement the circulation element
of the Town's General Plan.
(ii) The Town Engineer may also take into account the relative benefit of
particular transportation improvements to different land uses in order to
allocate the cost of such improvements fairly and equitably among the
different land uses.
(iii) The Town Engineer in conjunction with the Town Finance Manager
shall determine the current and anticipated funding available to pay the costs
of constructing the transportation improvements. In determining the amount
of finding available, the Town Engineer shall include funding from other
governmental entities and Town revenues earmarked for roadway construction
purposes.
(iv) The Town Engineer shall determine the difference between the
estimated costs and the estimated current and anticipated future funding
available to complete the transportation improvements.
(v) The extent to which the estimated cost exceeds the estimated current
and anticipated future funding shall be the unfunded cost of the transportation
improvements to be raised via Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees.
(c) The Town Engineer shall determine the fee for each land use in
accordance with the following procedure:
(i) The fee per vehicle trip end shall be calculated by dividing the
unfunded cost of transportation system improvements by the total number of
trip ends expected to be generated by future growth.
(ii) The unadjusted Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee shall be calculated by
multiplying the fee per trip end by the trip generation rate per land use
category.
(iii) The unadjusted Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee may then be adjusted
by the Town Engineer, in a reasonable exercise of discretion, to make the fee
reflect more accurately the interrelationships between the land use category,
traffic impacts, transportation improvement costs, the Town's General Plan
and any applicable Specific Plan, local and regional social, economic, and
commercial needs and a fair and equitable mitigation fee distribution. In
addition, the Town Council expressly reserves its full legislative discretion to
adjust or categorize the Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees to be assessed to the
maximum extent permitted by law.
(iv) The Town will utilize its best efforts to maintain records for the
purposes of determining credits that may be due to any particular property.
However, except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the ultimate burden
and responsibility for establishing entitlement to any credit shall rest with the
person claiming entitlement to a credit.
Ord Res \Ords \Ohap.37 4
(v) Unusual circumstances may result in this policy placing an undue
burden on a developer or landowner. In such cases, the Town reserves the
right to enter into an agreement to deviate from the policy as may be
approved by the Town Council.
Section 37.03.015 Amount and Payment of Fee.
(a) The Town Council shall by resolution, set forth the specific amount of
Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees. These fees are subject to periodic review by the
Town Council.
(b) All projects which are determined by the Town Engineer to have the
potential to generate additional present and future vehicle trips are required to pay
the Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee.
(c) The fee shall be paid in full to the Town Building Department prior
to issuance of the Building Permit for the development. If no Building Permit is
required for a change of use, the fee shall be paid in full prior to issuance of a
Certificate of Use and Occupancy.
(d) No final subdivision map, parcel map or certificate shall be filed for
recording until the Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee has been paid in full.
ARTICLE IV
GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Section 37.04.010 Establishment of Trust Fund.
There is hereby established a special trust fund into which all Traffic Impact
Mitigation Fees, and any interest thereon, collected pursuant to this chapter, shall be
deposited in a separate account in a manner to avoid any commingling of the fees with
other revenues and funds of the Town.
Section 37.04.015 Trust Fund.
Money to be used solely for construction of identified Traffic and Transportation
Improvement Projects.
The monies in the fund shall be eligible for expenditure only for projects related to
mitigating the impacts of new development. These funds can not be used for routine
repairs and maintenance.
Section 37.04.020 Preclusion of Additional Mitigation Measures Not Guaranteed.
This chapter shall not preclude the imposition of additional mitigation measures to
address significant direct impacts of any development or expansion of use, or to address
otherwise unfunded transportation improvements, nor shall this chapter preclude adoption
of statement of overriding considerations where desirable and appropriate.
Ord Res \Ords \Chap.37 5
SECTION II
This Ordinance establishing the Town of Los Gatos Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees
was developed based on the "Traffic Build -Out Analysis" which was included as part of the
Environmental Impact Report prepared for the 1985 General Plan. The "Traffic Build -
Out Analysis" was prepared to assess the environmental impacts associated with all potential
development allowed by the General Plan. No further environmental review is required
since the environmental impacts associated with buildout have been addressed and no
significant changes have occurred that would require a supplemental environmental analysis.
SECTION III
This ordinance takes effect 30 days after the date it is adopted. Within 15 days after
this ordinance is adopted, the Town Clerk shall cause it to be published once in a
newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the Town.
Ord Res \Ords \Chap.37 6
This ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the
Town of Los Gatos on June 18, 1990, and adopted by the following vote as an Ordinance
of the Town of Los Gatos at a regular meeting for the Town Council on July 2, 1990.
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN
Joanne Benjamin, Eric D. Carlson, Robert L. Hamilton,
Brent N. Ventura, Mayor Thomas J. Ferrito
None
None
None
SIGNED:
MAYOR OF OWN OF LOS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
CLERK eF TOWN OF LOS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
Ord Res \0rds \Chap.37 7