Chapter 15.40
TRANSPORTATION CONCURRENCY MANAGEMENT
Sections:
15.40.050 Level of service standards.
15.40.060 Application for concurrency review.
15.40.070 Concurrency evaluation and determination.
15.40.080 Concurrency approval and temporary certificates of concurrency.
15.40.090 Final certificate of concurrency.
15.40.100 Denial of concurrency.
15.40.110 Concurrency management program administration – Purpose and procedure.
15.40.120 Annual concurrency study and report.
15.40.130 Relationship to street standards.
15.40.140 Relationship to SEPA.
15.40.150 Relationship to transportation impact fees.
15.40.010 Authority.
This chapter is enacted to implement the concurrency provisions of the Transportation Element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, in accordance with RCW 36.70A.070(6)(e), consistent with WAC 365-195-510 and 365-195-835. No development permit or project permit shall be issued except in accordance with this chapter, which shall be cited as the concurrency management ordinance, unless exempted in FMC 15.40.040. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008. Formerly 15.40.020)
15.40.020 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish the procedures for assuring that adequate transportation facilities are available to serve development activity.
A. The Director shall be responsible for implementing and enforcing this chapter, including conducting concurrency evaluations, making concurrency determinations, issuing temporary and final certificates of concurrency, and monitoring and updating the program, as needed according to the procedures in this chapter.
B. The Director’s determination of concurrency and the issuance or nonissuance of temporary or final certificates of concurrency shall be integrated, insofar as possible, with any applicable decision making processes on permits, applications, and proposals submitted to the City for review and decision. For each application subject to concurrency review and evaluation and the requirement for a certificate of concurrency, the Director shall determine how the review can be best integrated with the decision making process. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008. Formerly 15.40.010)
15.40.030 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter the terms, phrases, words and their derivations have the following definitions. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number. The word “shall” is always mandatory. The word “may” is permissive. The Director, as defined herein, shall have the authority to resolve questions of interpretation or conflicts between definitions.
1. “Adequate transportation facilities” means transportation facilities are in place or that a financial commitment is in place to provide the road facilities within six years of the time of development (Chapter 365-195 WAC) to meet the City of Ferndale’s adopted level of service standard.
2. “Adopted level of service (LOS) standards” means the level of service (LOS) standards as described and adopted in the Transportation Element of the Ferndale Comprehensive Plan.
3. “Annual concurrency study” means an assessment of the existing and forecast travel speeds on concurrency corridors conducted by the Director, their designee, or an authorized agent of the City. The annual concurrency study will determine the existing average weekday PM peak hour travel speeds on concurrency corridors as defined by the Ferndale Comprehensive Plan, and will compare these speeds against adopted levels of service in order to measure relative increases or decreases in travel time over the previous year. The annual concurrency study also will include a forecast of travel speeds on concurrency corridors based on forecast PM peak hour traffic and committed transportation improvement for conducting concurrency evaluations for the next year.
4. “Applicant” means a person seeking a concurrency determination under this chapter and who is the owner of the subject property or the authorized agent of the property owner.
5. “Concurrency corridor” means the transportation facilities identified in the Transportation Element of the Ferndale Comprehensive Plan subject to review of concurrency.
6. “Concurrency service area” means a defined geographic area in which concurrency measurements provide data used to calculate the number of trips available to new development on the network serving the area.
7. “City” means the City of Ferndale, Washington.
8. “Concurrency application” means the completed form submitted to the City requesting a determination of concurrency and issuance of a temporary certificate of concurrency.
9. “Concurrency approval” means determination by the Public Works Director that adequate transportation facilities are available to serve the new development based on a concurrency evaluation and the adopted level of service standards.
10. “Concurrency denial letter” means a letter issued by the Director which summarizes the results of the concurrency evaluation and the reason for denying the request for a temporary or final certificate of concurrency.
11. “Concurrency determination” means a determination by the Director whether adequate transportation facilities are available or are not available to serve a development based on a concurrency evaluation.
12. “Concurrency evaluation” means the process used by the Director to determine if adequate transportation facilities are available to serve a proposed development.
13. “Development activity” means any proposal or action for which a development permit is required, and from which an accurate assessment of future PM peak hour trips can be determined, including residential short plats, residential preliminary plats, zoning permits, shoreline substantial development permits, conditional use permits, building permits, design review, change in use, or any other permit or approval required under the City of Ferndale development regulations. For the purposes of this chapter, development activity does not include legislative proposals, including but not limited to rezones, zoning text amendments, or Comprehensive Plan amendments which may increase the potential for development, unless the proposal is accompanied by an action which requires a development permit. Commercial and/or industrial subdivisions including but not limited to binding site plans and planned unit developments may be included within this definition for the purposes of this section; provided, that an accurate assessment of future PM peak hour trips is provided. Applications that are exempt from concurrency are set forth in FMC 15.40.040.
14. “Development approval” means written authorization from the City authorizing the commencement of development activity.
15. “Development permit” means any order, permit or other official action of the City granting, or granting with conditions, an application for development as defined by Chapter 14.09 FMC, which authorizes the commencement of development activity. Permits that are exempt from concurrency are set forth in FMC 15.40.040.
16. “Development trips” means the total number of new PM peak hour trips generated by the development.
17. “Director” means the Director of the Department of Public Works of the City of Ferndale or her/his designee.
18. “Financial commitment” means, in the City’s sole discretion, that sources of public or private funds or combinations thereof have been identified which shall be sufficient to finance transportation improvements necessary to support development and that there is reasonable assurance that such funds shall be timely used. Grants, loans and bond funds shall be considered to be committed only if they have been fully approved by the appropriate body.
19. “Final certificate of concurrency” means the certificate issued by the Director based on the approved development permit reserving the number of PM peak hour trip generation based on the densities and intensities of an approved development permit. A final certificate of concurrency cannot be issued for commercial/industrial preliminary subdivisions in which future uses are unknown, including general binding site plans, commercial or industrial subdivisions or planned unit developments, unless the range and scope of proposed uses is clearly established and acceptable to the Director.
20. “Forecast PM peak hour traffic” means the projected weekday PM peak hour traffic volume that includes existing traffic, general increases in traffic not associated with developments within the City of Ferndale, traffic from developments that have a valid temporary or final certificate of concurrency issued by the City, plus traffic from the subject development.
21. “Impacted concurrency corridor” means a major corridor for which the City of Ferndale has jurisdictional authority that is impacted or otherwise affected by net new trips generated by a development permit or activity. These corridors include Main Street, Grandview Road, Vista Drive, and Slater Road. Main Street and Vista Drive are each bisected into two concurrency corridors.
22. “Level of service (LOS)” means the standards and criteria established in the City’s Comprehensive Plan to measure adequacy of transportation facilities, pursuant to the Washington State Growth Management Act.
23. “Net new trips” means the trip generation of the development activity less any allowable credit for existing activity that will be replaced, demolished or abandoned as part of the proposal.
24. “Owner” means the owner of record of real property, although when real property is being purchased under a real estate contract, the purchaser is considered the owner of the real property if the contract is recorded.
25. “Peak hour” means the highest volume of traffic for a continuous hour between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. during a typical weekday.
26. “Project improvements” means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development project, that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements.
27. “Road facilities” means the transportation facilities comprising interstate freeways, state highways, arterials, collectors and local roads, and does not typically include pedestrian, bicycle and transit routes or facilities.
28. “Six-year transportation improvement program (TIP)” means the annually updated transportation improvement program which identifies the City’s program transportation system funding over the next six years. The projects included within the TIP are based upon, but do not reflect the entirety of, improvements identified within the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan.
29. “Temporary certificate of concurrency” means the certificate issued by the Director confirming that each concurrency corridor would meet the adopted level of service standards with the addition of traffic from the subject development consistent with the concurrency evaluation and reserving the number of PM peak hour trip generation for the densities and intensities of development activity on that site within the time frame designated on the certificate.
30. “Traffic impact study” means a study prepared by a competent professional according to the format and content established by the City of Ferndale Public Works Department.
31. “Transportation Element” means a required element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, including an inventory of existing facilities and conditions, travel forecasts, transportation systems plans including planned transportation improvements, financing analysis, and goals and policies.
32. “Transportation facilities” means the facilities and services that provide for travel within the City and also connect Ferndale with the rest of the region. The City’s existing transportation system is comprised of interstate freeways, state highways, arterials, collectors, local roads, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and transit routes and facilities, and is primarily measured by the road system’s capacity to support the efficient movement of vehicles from one place to another.
33. “Trip generation” means the number of peak hour trips estimated to be produced by the development activity using Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, current edition, other recognized national standard, or trip generation studies accepted by the Director.
34. “Trip generation credit” means a reduction in the number of new PM peak hour trips attributed to an application, equal to the number of PM peak hour trips currently being generated on the site from uses that will not continue if the development permit is granted. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008)
15.40.040 Applicability.
A. All construction or change in use initiated pursuant to a development permit for which a development permit, concurrency approval, or a certificate of concurrency was issued prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be continued. However, if the City determines that a previously issued development permit for which the concurrency approval was granted has lapsed or expired, pursuant to the applicable development regulations, then no subsequent development permit shall be issued except in accordance with this chapter.
B. All developments that generate an increase in PM trips are required to apply for and obtain a temporary certificate of concurrency prior to applying for the associated development permit. Upon approval of the development permit, the City will issue a final certificate of concurrency that is valid as long as the permit is valid unless otherwise defined in this section.
C. If the Director determines that a change of use shall result in a lesser PM peak hour trip generation than the previous use, then no concurrency evaluation shall be required. For the purpose of this subsection, “previous use” shall mean:
1. The use existing on the site when a concurrency evaluation is applied for; or
2. The most recent use on the site, within the one-year period prior to the date of application for development activity that had previously been approved for concurrency.
D. For the purposes of this chapter, application for a development permit shall include consideration of the cumulative impacts of all development permit applications for contiguous properties that are owned or under the control of the same person, firm or corporation, when one or more development permits would be issued, or, in the judgment of the Director may be issued, within two years of the date of issuance of a development permit for such contiguous property.
E. The Director shall have sole authority to define development permits and activities that are exempt from concurrency management review on a case by case basis. The following types of development permits are typically exempt from the concurrency management ordinance and the requirements of this chapter because they do not generate additional PM peak hour trips. This type of development includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Access permit;
2. Demolition permit;
3. Encroachment permit;
4. Fill and grade, land disturbance/clearing permit;
5. Fire code permit;
6. Interior alterations with no change of use;
7. Mechanical permit;
8. Plumbing permit;
9. Sign permit;
10. Single-family remodeling with no change of use;
11. Street use permit;
12. Street vacation permit;
13. Utility permit (waste, sewer, storm);
14. Building permit for fences or retaining walls;
15. Rezones/zoning text amendments/Comprehensive Plan amendments/boundary line adjustment;
16. Residential final plat, provided concurrency was approved for the preliminary plat. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008)
15.40.050 Level of service standards.
The Director shall use the level of service standards set forth in the Transportation Element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to make concurrency evaluations as part of the review of any application for a concurrency certificate issued pursuant to this chapter. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008)
15.40.060 Application for concurrency review.
A. An applicant shall submit a completed application for concurrency review in advance of submitting an application for a development permit. A temporary certificate of concurrency is a requirement for a complete application for a development permit.
B. All developments not exempt per FMC 15.40.040 shall submit a complete application for concurrency review to the City.
C. The application will include, as a minimum, the project name, location, type and size of development, and type of development permit that will be sought upon approval of concurrency.
D. The Director may require the application to include an analysis of project trip generation and distribution for review and approval by the Director prior to conducting the concurrency evaluation.
E. If a change of use shall result in an increase in PM peak hour traffic generation than the previous use, then the application for concurrency review shall be required for the net increase only; provided, that the applicant provides reasonably sufficient evidence, to the satisfaction of the Director, that the previous use has been continuously maintained on the site during the two-year period prior to the date of application, or since the previous use was permitted, if that period is less than two years, for the concurrency evaluation. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.070 Concurrency evaluation and determination.
A. Concurrency evaluations shall generally be processed in the order in which the applications for concurrency review are received. The concurrency evaluation shall result in issuance of a temporary certificate of concurrency or issuance of a concurrency denial letter.
B. To the greatest extent possible, the City will seek to identify concurrency-related issues as part of the Technical Review Committee process or other application review process employed by the City. Issuance of a temporary certificate of concurrency reserves concurrency for the development project as long as the development application remains valid.
C. For developments that would generate 30 or fewer net new PM peak hour trips, a concurrency evaluation will not be required unless an impacted concurrency corridor is less than two mph over the level of service standard pursuant to subsection (D)(3) of this section, and the project will be issued a temporary certificate of concurrency and the traffic from the development will be accounted for in subsequent annual concurrency studies or project-specific concurrency evaluations, unless the development is abandoned or expires prior to completion.
D. For developments that are estimated to generate 31 to 200 net new trips, a concurrency evaluation may be required depending on the results of the annual concurrency studies (FMC 15.40.110).
1. If an impacted concurrency corridor is projected to be two mph or more over the level of service standard, then a temporary certificate of concurrency will be issued and the development will be included in future concurrency evaluations and annual concurrency studies.
2. The Director may, at his/her discretion, require a project-specific concurrency evaluation be conducted based on the number and size of development projects that have been approved for concurrency that could impact travel speeds in a concurrency corridor, changes in financial commitments for transportation improvements that were assumed in the annual concurrency study, or other factors. The Director will document in writing the reasons for requiring a project-specific concurrency evaluation.
3. If an impacted concurrency corridor is projected to be between the adopted level of service standard or is within two mph of the adopted standard, a project-specific concurrency evaluation shall be required and conducted per subsection (E) of this section.
4. If an impacted concurrency corridor is below the adopted LOS standard, then concurrency will be denied and a temporary certificate of concurrency will not be issued. Upon determination by the Director that adequate transportation facilities are not available to serve the proposed development, then the procedures of FMC 15.40.100 shall be followed.
Based on the denial of concurrency, the applicant can pursue options per FMC 15.40.100.
E. For developments that are estimated to generate more than 200 net new PM peak hour trips, a project-specific concurrency evaluation shall be required.
F. When a project-specific concurrency evaluation is needed, the City shall prepare an analysis consistent with the procedures used in the annual concurrency study, to assess the potential impacts of the development on travel speeds and levels of service of the designated concurrency corridors.
1. If the project-specific concurrency evaluation results in the City’s level of service standards being met, then a temporary certificate of concurrency will be issued per FMC 15.40.060 and the development will be included in future concurrency evaluations and annual concurrency studies.
2. The results of the project-specific concurrency evaluation will supersede the latest annual concurrency study and shall be the basis for subsequent concurrency evaluations.
3. If the project-specific concurrency evaluation results in one or more concurrency corridors not meeting the adopted level of service standards, then concurrency will be denied for the development and a temporary certificate of concurrency will not be issued. Upon determination by the Director that adequate transportation facilities are not available to serve the proposed development, then the procedures of FMC 15.40.100 shall be followed. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008. Formerly 15.40.060 and 15.40.070)
15.40.080 Concurrency approval and temporary certificates of concurrency.
A. The City shall not grant concurrency approval or issue a temporary certificate of concurrency for a proposed development permit application unless there are adequate transportation facilities based on the committed transportation system to serve the new development as determined by the concurrency evaluation (FMC 15.40.070).
B. If the concurrency evaluation shows that adequate transportation facilities exist to serve the new development, then the concurrency application shall be approved. The Director shall issue a finding of concurrency approval and issue a temporary certificate of concurrency.
1. A temporary certificate of concurrency must be issued prior to determination of complete application for a development permit.
2. A temporary certificate of concurrency shall expire exactly one year after the date of issue by the Director.
C. A temporary certificate of concurrency shall apply only to the specific land uses, densities, intensities and development projects described in the approved concurrency application. In no event shall the Director determine concurrency for a greater number of PM peak hour trip generation than is needed for the development proposed in the underlying development permit application.
D. A temporary certificate of concurrency shall be issued for all phases of a development permit, unless a project phasing plan is approved by the Director. When a phasing plan is approved by the Director, the temporary certificate of concurrency shall be conditioned to note that additional concurrency applications, evaluations, and certificates shall be required for future phases. The certificate shall specifically identify the amount, extent and timing of any required concurrency mitigation.
1. A final certificate of concurrency cannot be issued for commercial/industrial preliminary subdivisions in which future uses are unknown, including general binding site plans, commercial or industrial subdivisions or planned unit developments, unless the range and scope of proposed uses is clearly established and acceptable to the Director.
E. A temporary certificate of concurrency is not transferable to other land. The temporary certificate of concurrency, once issued, shall become part of the development permit or application and shall be transferred to new owners of the original land, if and only if the development permit or application is so transferred to the new owners.
F. The applicant may, as part of a development permit application, designate in writing the amount of trips approved within the temporary certificate of concurrency that may be allocated to portions of the property, such as lots, blocks, parcels, or tracts included in the application. Any such allocation shall be reflected in the temporary certificate of concurrency. Trips may be reassigned or allocated within the boundaries of the original property only by application to and approval from the Director. If approval is granted, the Director shall amend the temporary certificate of concurrency accordingly.
G. If a temporary certificate of concurrency is issued for a proposed development, but the proposed development permit is denied, expires, or is voluntarily withdrawn, then the temporary certificate of concurrency will be rescinded and transportation capacity will not be reserved for that development.
H. In the event that a development that has been issued a temporary certificate of concurrency is modified to generate higher traffic impacts on the transportation system, a new concurrency application and evaluation shall be required.
I. The determination of concurrency approval shall become final at the time of final development permit approval as per FMC 15.40.090.
J. The issue of concurrency approval may be raised as part of any appeal of the development permit for which the concurrency approval was granted. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008)
15.40.090 Final certificate of concurrency.
A. A final certificate of concurrency shall be issued upon final approval of the development permit for which a temporary certificate of concurrency was issued.
B. The final certificate of concurrency will only be valid for the type and intensity of development that was approved by the City, unless concurrency approval also covered subsequent project phases, as identified in the temporary certificate of concurrency.
C. The final certificate of concurrency shall be adjusted to account for any reduction in traffic generation previously accounted for and reserved by the temporary certificate of concurrency.
D. If a proposed development project is modified during the review process and results in an increased traffic generation, then a new concurrency application, evaluation, approval, and temporary certificate of concurrency shall be required prior to development approval and issuance of final certificate of concurrency.
E. The final certificate of concurrency shall include the following information:
1. The property location/address and Whatcom County Assessor’s parcel number(s) for the development project;
2. The number and type of dwelling units, square footage of commercial or industrial floor area, specific uses, densities, and intensities for which permit(s) were approved, including the number of PM peak hour trips generated and accounted for in that particular concurrency service area;
3. Mitigating measures required to ensure adequate transportation capacity for the approved development project, as approved by the Director;
4. An effective date; and
5. An expiration date.
F. A final certificate of concurrency shall be valid for the same time period as the development permit. If the development permit approval does not have an expiration date, the final certificate of concurrency shall be valid for exactly five years from the date issued.
G. The final certificate of concurrency may be extended by requesting a new issuance from the Director with an updated expiration date. The final certificate of concurrency can be extended to remain in effect for the life of each subsequent development permit approval for the same parcel, as long as the applicant obtains the subsequent development permit approval prior to the expiration of the first development permit approval.
H. No development shall be required to hold more than one valid final certificate of concurrency, unless the applicant or subsequent owner proposes changes or modifications to the property location, density, intensity, or land use that creates additional impacts on transportation facilities.
I. A final certificate of concurrency runs with the land and is valid only for subsequent development permit approvals for the same parcel, and to new owners of the original parcel for which it was issued. A final certificate of concurrency cannot be transferred to a different parcel and shall be limited to uses and intensities for which it was originally issued.
J. A final certificate of concurrency may be voluntarily surrendered or withdrawn by the owner of the parcel(s) for which the certificate was issued.
K. Upon issuance of a final certificate of concurrency, the City generally will be bound by its terms for the life of the certificate. The City is not bound, however, when funding is lost from previously committed transportation projects that would have added capacity needed for the specific final certificate of concurrency. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.100 Denial of concurrency.
A. If adequate transportation facilities are not available to serve a proposed development, then the concurrency evaluation shall not be approved and a temporary certificate of concurrency shall not be issued.
B. If the concurrency evaluation is not approved, the applicant shall select one of the following options:
1. Accept the denial of the concurrency evaluation and application for temporary certificate of concurrency. The development application will be determined to be incomplete, the project will be removed from subsequent concurrency evaluations, and the concurrency application will not be further processed by the Director.
2. Amend and resubmit the concurrency application within 90 calendar days to:
a. Reduce the scale and impact of the development project so the level of service standards on concurrency corridors are met with development of the project;
b. Phase the development project to match future construction of transportation infrastructure or services that will meet the level of service standards;
c. Voluntarily arrange, by a financial commitment or instrument approved by the Director, to implement transportation improvements or transportation demand management strategies needed to achieve concurrency. Transportation mitigation must be acceptable to the City in form and amount, to guarantee the applicant’s financial obligation for capital improvements to achieve concurrency approval for the development units.
3. The 90-day period to amend the concurrency application shall begin no later than 14 calendar days after notification of denial for the concurrency evaluation and temporary certificate of concurrency, as required under this chapter.
4. If the applicant elects to amend the concurrency application within the 90-day period, then the applicant’s 14-day appeal deadline shall begin on the date the Director issues a written decision on the amended concurrency application.
5. Appeal the denial of concurrency and nonissuance of a temporary certificate of concurrency, pursuant to the provisions of FMC 15.40.160.
C. If a development that is consistent with the zoning provided in the Comprehensive Plan fails the concurrency evaluation, the City may review whether the underlying zoning is appropriate in the given area, as well as the feasibility of providing increased transportation capacity in the area, consistent with the adopted Comprehensive Plan and projected six-year transportation improvement program funding. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.110 Concurrency management program administration – Purpose and procedure.
A. The concurrency management program shall be administered by the Director pursuant to this chapter.
B. The Director shall prepare administrative guidelines to assure the requirements of this chapter are implemented in a consistent and systematic process. The guidelines shall provide the basis for conducting the annual concurrency study and review of development applications including the concurrency application, evaluation, determination, and tracking of concurrency approvals and denials.
C. The Director is responsible for preparing the annual concurrency study and report, pursuant to FMC 15.40.120. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.120 Annual concurrency study and report.
A. Annually, the City will collect data and conduct necessary studies to assess the existing and forecast conditions for each concurrency corridor, as adopted in the Transportation Element of the City of Ferndale Comprehensive Plan. The studies will determine the existing and forecast travel speeds and levels of service for each concurrency corridor. The forecast travel speeds and levels of service will be based on forecast PM peak hour traffic including developments that have been granted temporary or final certificates of concurrency and general traffic increases from areas outside of Ferndale. The forecasts also will assume completion of transportation improvements that have a financial commitment for construction within six years. The results of the annual concurrency studies will establish the parameters for concurrency evaluations.
B. The Director shall compare the existing and forecast travel speeds to the level of service standards set forth in the Transportation Element of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to make concurrency evaluations and determinations pursuant to this chapter.
C. The Director shall prepare a report documenting her/his findings to the City Council and make recommendation for any Ferndale Municipal Code revisions that may be appropriate. This report shall summarize the existing and forecast travel speeds compared to the level of service standards. The report shall document the assumptions related to committed transportation improvements used in the annual concurrency study. It also shall summarize the development activity for the previous 12-month period ending April 30th that has been granted temporary or final certificates of concurrency, denials of concurrency, and pending concurrency applications.
D. The findings of the annual report shall be considered by the City Council in preparing the annual update to the Capital Improvement Plan Element, any proposed amendments to the CIP and six-year transportation impact program, and shall be used in the review of development permits and concurrency evaluations during the next period. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008. Formerly 15.40.110)
15.40.130 Relationship to street standards.
Neither compliance with this chapter or the payment of any fee hereunder shall replace the requirements related to City street standards pursuant to Chapter 12.14 FMC. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.140 Relationship to SEPA.
A determination of concurrency approval shall be an administrative action of the City that is categorically exempt from the State Environmental Policy Act. However, this does not mean to imply that the development proposal itself is exempt from SEPA review, regardless of its exempt status under this chapter. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.150 Relationship to transportation impact fees.
Neither compliance with this chapter or the payment of any fee hereunder shall replace the requirements related to transportation impact fees pursuant to Chapter 15.44 FMC. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)
15.40.160 Appeals.
A. The applicant may request an administrative reconsideration of a denial of temporary certificate of concurrency on any of the following grounds:
1. A technical error; or
2. The applicant provided accurate alternative data or a traffic mitigation plan that was rejected by the City.
B. The applicant may request reconsideration of the results of the concurrency evaluation within 15 calendar days of the written notification of the evaluation results by filing a formal request for reconsideration specifying the grounds thereof, using forms authorized by the Department.
C. The Director shall reconsider the evaluation results and issue a determination within 30 calendar days of the filing of such request either upholding the original determination or amending it.
D. Appeals of the concurrency denial letter shall first be made to the Director for reconsideration as per subsection (A) of this section. If reconsideration is not granted and the original decision is not modified, an applicant or other person aggrieved by a concurrency determination (denial or approval) may file a formal appeal, pursuant to FMC 14.11.070.
E. Subsequent appeals of determinations made by the Director pursuant to this chapter, including a denial of reconsideration or approval or denial of the application for concurrency review, may be made by any party of record that feels aggrieved by the decision, and shall be heard by the City’s Hearings Examiner, under the procedures set forth in FMC 14.11.070.
F. Any appeal of a concurrency denial letter and the underlying development application shall be brought within 10 calendar days of the notice of decision pursuant to FMC 14.11.070. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012; Ord. 1486 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1479 § 1, 2008. Formerly 15.40.090 and 15.40.100)
15.40.170 Fees.
A. The fees charged for reviewing and processing a concurrency application, including the concurrency evaluation, issuance of temporary and final certificates of concurrency, or appeal of concurrency evaluation denial shall be as specified in the fee schedule as established by City Council ordinance.
B. Exemption from Concurrency Review and Processing Fees. City-owned facilities will be exempted from the concurrency review and processing fees provided in the unified fee schedule; City-owned facilities cannot be exempted from concurrency review by law. (Ord. 1702 § 1, 2012)