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CHAPTER 5. TRAFFIC IMPACT FEE

Article 1. General Provisions

Article 1 of Chapter 5, of Title 10 (Planning and Zoning) of the Walnut Creek Municipal Code repealed by Section 1, Ordinance No. 1723, eff. 9/8/89 and reenacted to read as follows:

10-5.101 Purpose.

In order to implement the goals and objectives of the Circulation Element of the City of Walnut Creek's General Plan, and to reduce the traffic impacts caused by new development in all of the City, certain public roads, bikeways, HOV, pedestrian, and parking facilities must be constructed, and transit services provided. The City Council has determined that a traffic impact fee is needed to finance these public improvements and to pay for the development's fair share of the construction costs of these improvements. In establishing the fee described in the following Sections, the City Council has found the fee to be consistent with its General Plan pursuant to Government Code Section 65913.2, and has considered the effects of the fee with respect to the City's housing needs as established in the Housing Element of the General Plan.

10-5.102 Citywide Traffic Fee to Help Mitigate Future Traffic Impacts.

A citywide Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee is hereby established on development in the City to pay for transportation improvements including public roads, bikeways, transit services, HOV, pedestrian, and parking facilities. The City Council shall, in a Council resolution, set forth the specific amount of the fee, describe the area in which the traffic impact mitigation fee is imposed, list the specific public improvements to be financed, describe the estimated cost of these facilities, describe the reasonable relationship between the fee and the various types of development and set forth time for payment. As described in the fee resolution, the traffic impact mitigation fee shall be paid by each developer either prior to issuance of building permit or prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the commercial or industrial project or the respective dwelling units in a residential project, depending on the applicability of Government Code Section 66007. On a biennial basis, the City Council shall review the proposed transportation improvements as part of the Capital Improvement Program and determine whether the fees continue to be reasonably related to the impacts of developments and whether the described public facilities are still needed.

10-5.103 Limited Use of Fees.

The revenues raised by payment of the fee shall be placed in a separate and special account and such revenues, along with any interest earnings on that account, shall be used solely to:

(a) pay for the City's future construction of facilities described in the resolution enacted pursuant to Section 10-5.102 above, or to reimburse the City for those described or listed facilities constructed by the City with funds advanced by the City from other sources, or

(b) reimburse developers who have been required or permitted by Section 10-5.104, to install such listed facilities which are oversized with supplemental size, length, or capacity. (§1, Ord. 1723, eff. 9/8/89)

10-5.104 Developer Construction of Facilities.

Whenever a developer is required, as a condition of approval of a development permit, to construct a public facility described in a resolution adopted pursuant to Section 10-5.102 which is determined by the City to have supplemental size, length or capacity over that needed for the impacts of that development, and when such construction is necessary to ensure efficient and timely construction of the facilities network, a reimbursement agreement with the developer and a credit against the fee, which would otherwise be charged pursuant to this ordinance on the development project, shall be offered. The reimbursement amount shall not include the portion of the improvement needed to provide services or mitigate the need for the facility or the burdens created by the development. (§1, Ord. 1723, eff. 9/8/89)

10-5.105 Fee Adjustments.

A developer of any project subject to the fee described in Section 10-5.102 may apply to the City Council for a reduction or adjustment to the fee, or a waiver of the fee, based upon the absence of any reasonable relationship or nexus between the traffic and transportation impacts of that development and the amount of the fee charged or the type of facilities to be financed. The application shall be made in writing and filed with the City Clerk not later than (1) ten days prior to the public hearing on the development permit application for the project, or (2) if no development permit is required, at the time of the filing of the request for a building permit. The application shall state in detail the factual basis for the claim of waiver, reduction, or adjustment. The City Council shall consider the application at the public hearing on the permit application or at a separate hearing held within 60 days after the filing of the fee adjustment application, whichever is later. The decision of the City Council shall be final. If a reduction, adjustment, or waiver is granted, any change in use within the project shall invalidate the waiver, adjustment or reduction of the fee. (§1, Ord. 1723, eff. 9/8/89)