Chapter 15.56
CONCURRENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Sections:
15.56.030 Facility and services concurrency required.
15.56.040 Transportation concurrency.
15.56.080 Development within unincorporated urban growth areas.
15.56.090 Certificate of capacity.
15.56.100 Facility and service capacity fees.
15.56.010 Purpose.
Pursuant to the State Growth Management Act, RCW 36.70A, after the adoption of its comprehensive plan, the city of Sedro-Woolley (hereafter “the city”) is required by RCW 36.70A.070(6)(e) to ensure that transportation improvements or strategies to accommodate the impacts of development are provided concurrent with development. In the same vein, the city is bound by the planning goals of RCW 36.70A to ensure that public facilities and urban level services necessary to support development shall be adequate to serve the development without decreasing current service levels below locally established minimum standards, hereinafter “concurrency.”
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a concurrency management system to ensure that concurrency facilities and services needed to maintain minimum level of service standards can be provided simultaneous to, or within a reasonable time after, development occupancy or use. Concurrency facilities are roads, transit, potable water, electric utilities, sanitary sewer or approved septic systems, solid waste, stormwater management, law enforcement, fire/emergency medical service, schools and parks. This chapter furthers the goals, policies, implementation strategies and objectives of the Sedro-Woolley comprehensive plan.
The concurrency management system provides a framework for determining facilities and services needs and provides a basis for meeting those needs through capital facilities planning. The concurrency management system also provides the necessary regulatory mechanism for evaluating requests for development to ensure that adequate concurrency facilities and services can be provided within a reasonable time of the development impact. (Ord. 1313-98 § 1, 1998)
15.56.020 Definitions.
For purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:
“Adequate” means at or above the level of service standards specified in the adopted capital facilities, transportation, or parks and recreation elements.
“Available capacity” means capacity of a concurrency facility or service that is currently available for use without requiring facility or service construction, expansion or modification.
“Capital facilities and services” means all roads, public water, stormwater and sewer pipelines, collection facilities and capital equipment, police, fire and emergency services, for which level of service standards have been established in the Sedro-Woolley comprehensive plan.
“Certificate of capacity” means a document issued by the service provider, indicating the quantity of capacity for each concurrency facility or service that has been reserved for a specific development project on a specific property. That document may have conditions and an expiration date associated with it.
“Concurrency facilities and services” means facilities and services for which concurrency is required in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. They are roads, transit, potable water, electric utilities, sanitary sewer, approved septic systems, solid waste, stormwater management, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical service, schools and parks.
“Concurrency test” means the comparison of an applicant’s impact on concurrency facilities to the capacity, including available and planned capacity, of the concurrency facilities.
“Concurrent with development (concurrency)” means that improvements or strategies are in place at the time of development or that financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years.
“Development” means any new PUD, clustered development approval, commercial or industrial building permit, subdivision, short plat, binding site plan or mobile home park.
“Development permit” means a land use or building permit. Development permits are classified as exempt, final or preliminary. Exempt permits are set forth in Section 15.56.050.
“Development permit, preliminary” means short plats, preliminary plats, PUDs, rezones, shoreline permits and special use permits.
“Facility and service provider” means the municipality, district or company responsible for providing the specific concurrency facility or service.
“Level of services standard” means the number of units of capacity per unit demand. The levels of service standards used in concurrency tests are those standards specified in the adopted capital facilities element for sanitary sewer, stormwater, potable water, solid waste, schools, fire, and police facilities and services; the transportation element for transportation facilities and services; and the parks and recreation element for parks facilities and services, in the comprehensive plan.
“Parks facilities” means all structures, trails and paths, parks and capital equipment, for which level of service standards have been established in the Sedro-Woolley comprehensive plan.
“Planned capacity” means capacity for a concurrency facility or service that is not currently available, but for which the necessary facility construction, expansion or modification project or service level is contained in the adopted capital facilities, transportation, and parks and recreation elements and scheduled to be completed within six years.
1. “Planned capacity, capital facilities and services” means capacity for sanitary sewer, potable water, stormwater, and solid waste facilities, including storage facilities, pipelines, and capital equipment, that does not exist, but for which the necessary facility construction and service expansion levels, for the construction, expansion or modification projects, and level of service for fire and police protection, including facilities, personnel and capital equipment, are contained in the adopted capital facilities element, including financial commitment.
2. “Planned capacity, parks facilities and services” means capacity for parks and recreation facilities, including buildings, recreational appurtenances, park property acquisition and development, and pedestrian and bicycle paths and trails, that does not exist, but for which the necessary facility construction, expansion or modification project is contained in the adopted parks and recreation element, including financial commitment.
3. “Planned capacity, transportation facilities and services” means capacity for transportation facilities, including roads, pedestrian, bicycles and transit, that does not exist, but for which the necessary facility construction, expansion or modification project is contained in the adopted transportation element and transportation improvement plan (TIP), including financial commitment.
“Strategies” means and includes increased public facilities and services, ride sharing programs, demand management, and other transportation, capital and parks system management techniques. Also included would be intergovernmental service provision and public-private sectors programs when feasible.
“Transportation facilities” means all public roads and streets, intersections and bridges for which level of service standards have been established in the Sedro-Woolley comprehensive plan. (Ord. 1313-98 § 2, 1998)
15.56.030 Facility and services concurrency required.
A. Development shall be prohibited, and all applications therefor shall be denied, if the development would cause the level of service of a concurrency facility or service to decline below adopted levels of service standards, unless the improvement or strategies to accommodate the new development are made concurrent with the development, subject to the provisions of Section 15.56.070(C) of this chapter.
B. All development approvals shall include a finding as to the application of this chapter, and those approvals for which concurrency improvements or strategies are required under this chapter shall be expressly conditioned thereon. If a proposed development would cause the level of service to decline below adopted level of service standards of an affected facility or service, the proposed development may nonetheless be approved if the administrative official finds that an improvement will be completed or a strategy will be implemented that will result in meeting adopted level of service standards of all affected concurrency facilities or services at the time of development, or that a financial commitment is in place to complete the improvement or implement the strategy within six years. The finding required under this subsection shall be valid for a period equal to the duration of the approval for which it was made, but in no case longer than five years, except pursuant to Section 15.56.070(C). Such finding may be appealed as established in this chapter and Chapter 2.90 of the SWMC.
C. When a development is proposed in phases, or construction is proposed to occur over a period greater than three years, concurrency facilities or service impacts shall be reviewed as part of environmental review. In such cases, the city, service providers and the proponent shall enter into an agreement identifying the improvements or strategies that will be required with each phase or time period of the development to meet the concurrency facilities and service requirements. All implementing permits, including but not limited to subdivision and building permits, shall be conditioned that the improvements or strategies identified in the agreement are made concurrent with construction during such phase or time period or that a financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years of construction. (Ord. 1313-98 § 3, 1998)
15.56.040 Transportation concurrency.
A traffic impact analysis shall be prepared by the applicant, regardless of whether an environmental impact statement is required; provided, this requirement may be waived by the administrative official upon a written finding that the proposed development would be within the established level of service for the affected transportation facilities, as demonstrated by prior traffic analysis for other development or addressed by a transportation impact fee. Such waivers shall be accounted for in monitoring available capacity utilizing standardized traffic generation factors. The traffic impact analysis shall demonstrate that the traffic forecast to be generated by the development will not cause the level of service on affected traffic facilities to decline below adopted level of service standards.
At the discretion of the city engineer, any development project producing less than twenty vehicle trips per day may be exempt from the concurrency requirements. Such projects shall not be exempt from providing appropriate transportation improvements or impact fees or from mitigation for traffic impacts in the immediate vicinity of the project. (Ord. 1313-98 § 4, 1998)
15.56.050 Exemptions.
A. No Impact. Development permits which create no additional impacts on concurrency facilities and services are exempt from the requirements of this chapter. Such development includes, but is not limited to:
1. Any addition or accessory structure to a residence with no change in use or increase in the number of dwelling units;
2. Interior renovations with no change in use or increase in number of dwelling units;
3. Interior completion of a structure for use(s) with the same or less intensity as the existing use or a previously approved use;
4. Replacement structure with no change in use or increase in number of dwelling units;
5. Temporary construction trailers;
6. Driveway, resurfacing or parking lot paving;
7. Reroofing of structures;
8. Demolitions.
B. Exempt Permits. The following development permits are exempt from the requirements of this chapter:
1. Boundary line adjustments;
2. Final plats (if a concurrency test was conducted for the corresponding preliminary plat permit);
3. Temporary use permit;
4. Variance;
5. Waiver;
6. Shoreline substantial development permit/variance.
C. Application. Complete development permit applications that have been submitted before the effective date of this chapter are exempt from the requirements.
D. Pre-existing Use Rights. Development permits that were issued before adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be considered to have capacity as long as the accompanying development permit is valid. If the accompanying development permit does not expire, capacity shall be considered to exist for three years after the effective date of this chapter, unless the approval of the capacity is extended by the administrative official. For purposes of this chapter, the burden of proving that a development permit has not expired shall be on the holder of the permit. Unless an express expiration date is provided, it shall be presumed that a development permit expires three years from the date of final development approval.
E. Single-Family Homes and Duplexes. Building permits for single-family homes and duplexes on existing lots are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
F. Interior Renovations. Interior renovations that add only one dwelling unit are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
G. Accessory Dwelling Units. All accessory dwelling units as defined in the SWMC are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
H. Dependent Relative Cottages. All dependent relative cottages as defined in the SWMC are exempt from the requirements of this chapter.
I. Accounting for Capacity. The capacity for development permits exempted under subsections C, D, E, F and G of this section shall be taken into account. (Ord. 1313-98 § 5, 1998)
15.56.060 Administration.
A. The administrative official shall be responsible for administration of the provisions of this chapter, and all staff reports to the hearing examiner, planning commission and the city council on development proposals shall include an analysis of the application of the requirements of this chapter.
B. The administrative official shall by administrative order establish a facilities and services concurrency review program, which shall provide for monitoring capacity of facilities and services within the city, and assess the cumulative impact of forecasts of approved development upon capacity and anticipated levels of service. (Ord. 1313-98 § 6, 1998)
15.56.070 Concurrency test.
A. Application. All development permit applications are subject to a concurrency test except that exempted in Section 15.56.050. If a concurrency test is conducted for the preliminary plat or PUD application, no concurrency test shall be required for the final plat or PUD application.
B. Procedures. The concurrency test will be performed in the processing of the development permit and conducted by the planning department and the facility and service providers.
1. The planning department will provide the overall coordination of the concurrency test by notifying the facility and service providers of all exempted applications which use capacity as set forth in Section 15.56.050, notifying the facility and service providers of applications which use capacity requiring a concurrency test as set forth in the respective capital facilities, transportation, and parks and recreation elements of the comprehensive plan; notifying the applicants of the test results; notifying the facility and service providers of the final action of the development permit; and notifying the facility and service providers of any expired development permits or discontinued certificates of capacity.
2. All facility and service providers shall be responsible for maintaining and monitoring their available and planned capacity by conducting the concurrency test, for their individual facility and service, for all applications requiring a concurrency test as set forth in subsection (B)(1) above; reserving the capacity needed for each application; accounting for the capacity for each exempted application which uses capacity as set forth in Section 15.56.050; notifying the planning department of the results of the tests; and reinstating any capacity for an expired development permit, discontinued certificate of capacity, or other action resulting in an applicant no longer needing capacity which has been reserved.
3. The facility and service providers shall be responsible for annually reporting to the city the total available and planned capacity of their facility or service. Such reporting shall be made available for inclusion in the amendment process of the capital facilities plan and any subsequent amendments to the capital facilities, transportation, and parks and recreation elements.
C. Test. Development applications that would result in a reduction of a level of service below the established minimum level of service standard cannot be approved. For potable water, electric utilities, sanitary sewer, solid waste and stormwater management only available capacity, or that capacity that can be provided prior to the actual use of the facility will be used in conducting the concurrency test.
1. If the capacity of concurrency facilities or services is equal to or greater than the capacity required to maintain the level of service standard for the impact from the development application, the concurrency test is passed. A certificate of capacity will be issued according to the provisions of this chapter.
2. If the capacity of concurrency facilities is less than the capacity required to maintain the level of service standard for the impact from the development application, the concurrency test is not passed. The applicant may:
a. Accept ninety-day reservation of concurrency facilities that exist and modify the application to reduce the need of concurrency facilities that do not exist;
b. Accept ninety-day reservation of concurrency facilities that exist and demonstrate to the service provider’s satisfaction that the development will have a lower need for capacity than usual and, therefore, capacity is adequate;
c. Accept ninety-day reservation of concurrency facilities that exist and arrange with the service provider for the provision of the additional capacity of concurrency facilities required;
d. Accept ninety-day reservation of concurrency and demonstrate to the service provider’s satisfaction, that improvements and infrastructure required to provide the necessary level of service in conformance with the requirements of this chapter in place or identified in the capital facilities plan are fully funded;
e. Appeal the results of the concurrency test to the planning commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 15.56.110 of this chapter and Chapter 2.90 of the Sedro-Woolley Municipal Code.
D. Concurrency Inquiry Application. An applicant may inquire whether or not concurrency facilities and services are available or planned without an accompanying request for a development permit. Any available capacity cannot be reserved. A certificate of capacity will only be issued in conjunction with a development permit approval as outlined in Section 15.56.090. (Ord. 1313-98 § 7, 1998)
15.56.080 Development within unincorporated urban growth areas.
A. Development in the UGA shall not proceed without concurrent provisions for urban infrastructure and transformance of governance at the time of development. The primary means of accomplishing concurrency and transformance is through annexation of the property and construction of infrastructure at the time of development, or providing for financing of the appropriate share of infrastructure costs necessary to mitigate the impacts of the development.
B. Sanitary sewer shall not be extended or expanded outside the city limits without the express consent of the city council. Nothing in this Title 15 shall require the city to provide sanitary sewer outside the city limits.
C. If development is within the unincorporated portion of the city’s urban growth area, the applicant shall enter into a contractual agreement with the jurisdiction with standing with the following conditions:
1. The property owner shall, at such time as may be directed by the city, sign, give, consent, and not object to annexation of the development, provided the requirements of Chapter 35A.14 RCW are complied with in any further annexation proceeding.
2. The development shall be pursued in accordance with the conditions that the owner shall install such facilities as required unless those requirements are waived or subject to other requirements.
3. Until such time as the property is annexed to the city, the property owner shall formally obtain permits from Skagit County but shall coordinate with the city to ensure the conditions outlined in this chapter are met. The property owner shall allow inspection and engineering review by the city.
4. The city shall enforce this agreement through any means available, including specific performance standards.
5. This agreement shall be recorded and shall be binding on heirs, successors and assigns of the property owner, including purchasers of individual lots in the development. (Ord. 1486-04 § 6, 2004: Ord. 1313-98 § 8, 1998)
15.56.090 Certificate of capacity.
A. Issuance. A certificate of capacity shall be issued at the same time the development permit is issued and upon payment of any fee and/or performance of any condition required by a service provider.
B. A certificate of capacity shall be issued only to the specific land uses, densities, intensities and development project described in the application and development permit.
C. A certificate of capacity is not transferable to other land, but may be transferred to new owners of the original land.
D. Life Span of Certificate. A certificate of capacity shall expire if the accompanying development permit expires or is revoked. A certificate of capacity may be extended according to the same terms and conditions as the accompanying development permit. If the development permit is granted an extension, so shall the certificate of capacity. If the accompanying development permit does not expire, the certificate of capacity shall be valid for three years from issuance of the certificates.
E. Unused Capacity. Any capacity that is not used because the developer decides not to develop or the accompanying permit expires shall be returned to the pool of available capacity. (Ord. 1313-98 § 9, 1998)
15.56.100 Facility and service capacity fees.
Facility and service providers may charge fees based on their adopted fee schedules. All such fees are to be paid in full upon approval of and prior to issuance of the certificate of capacity. (Ord. 1313-98 § 10, 1998)
15.56.110 Appeals.
The applicant, city, service provider or a citizen may appeal the results of the concurrency test based on three grounds: (A) a technical error; (B) the applicant provided alternative data or a mitigation plan that was rejected by the city; or (C) unwarranted delay in review that allowed capacity to be given to another applicant. The applicant must file a notice of appeal with the planning department within fifteen days of the notification of the test results pursuant to Chapter 2.90 of the Sedro-Woolley Municipal Code. Upon filing of such appeal, the planning department shall notify the appropriate facility and service provider(s). (Ord. 1313-98 § 11, 1998)