Agenda #4i
memorandum
|
to: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
|
FROM: |
J.B. Culpepper, Planning Director George Small, Engineering Director Steve Spade, Transit Director David Bonk, Long Range and Transportation Coordinator Kumar Neppalli, Engineering Services Manager |
|
subject: |
Implementation Process for Legislation regarding Payment-in-Lieu for Public Transportation Improvements |
|
date: |
January 14, 2008 |
PURPOSE
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the Town Manager to hire a consultant to develop a mechanism and guidelines for implementation of legislative authority to allow the Town to accept contributions toward public transportation improvements as part of new developments.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
During the 2006 “Short Session” of the North Carolina General Assembly, a request to allow the Town to accept payments from development applicants for enhancement of public transportation in lieu of construction of roadway improvements was enacted into law. Please see Attachment 1 for a copy of the law.
The adopted legislation allows the Town to assess, with an applicant’s agreement, a fee for public transit capital improvements, as a condition of approval. We believe this fee could be calculated from the results of a Traffic Impact Analysis for the proposed development.
While the Town can develop an estimate for the cost of transit capital improvement, according to the legislation, it can only be assessed with the agreement of the applicant. In addition, the legislation allows the Town to assess the costs of capital improvements but not operating costs.
Town staff has met to discuss implementation of the new legislation which will allow the Town to accept payments from developers for enhancement of public transportation in lieu of construction of roadway improvements. The study of traffic impacts associated with new developments often results in the recommendation for specific roadway improvements. A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) is required as part of the development review process for development applications that meet a specific Council-endorsed threshold. Presently, developers provide the Town with funds for the Town to commission a TIA study associated with the new development. The data provided by the consultant as part of the TIA is used to evaluate the transportation impacts of the proposed development. Existing TIA guidelines are provided as Attachment 2.
In order to implement the new legislation, we believe it will be necessary to develop a new two-tiered Traffic Impact Analysis process. We believe the two-tiered approach will need to examine the proposed development both with and without public transportation service. As part of the process, it will be necessary to assess the impact of new development on the transit system capital costs in order to assign a payment amount to the associated impact.
This new process will require developing a transit related ridership/trip generation and payment-in-lieu formula to include in updated TIA guidelines. The development of a transit related ridership/trip generation and payment-in-lieu formula will require research and data collection that is not conventional or readily available. We recommend that a consultant be hired to assist in the development of these new TIA guidelines related to public transportation.
Further, as new guidelines are developed, we believe the Council may wish to amend the Land Use Management Ordinance to reflect this legislative authority.
If the Council adopts the attached resolution, the Town will hire a consultant and develop the required formulas. We will then return to the Council with updated TIA guidelines for review and approval. We recommend that the contract amount not exceed $20,000 and be funded from unexpended Transportation Grant funds.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution that would authorize the Town Manager to hire a consultant to develop a mechanism and guidelines for implementation of legislative authority to allow the Town to accept contributions toward public transportation improvements as part of new developments.
ATTACHMENTS