Source: https://www.codepublishing.com/WA/MapleValley/html/MapleValley16/MapleValley1630.html
Timestamp: 2020-01-27 19:09:00
Document Index: 672405911

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1']

Chapter 16.30 CONCURRENCY MANAGEMENT*
CONCURRENCY MANAGEMENT*
16.30.030 Authority and general procedure.
16.30.040 Applicability.
16.30.050 Capacity evaluation required for new development.
16.30.060 Capacity evaluation required for change of use.
16.30.070 Capacity Reserve Certificate required.
16.30.080 Exempt development.
16.30.090 Level of service standards.
16.30.100 Road improvements required.
16.30.110 Application for a Capacity Reserve Certificate.
16.30.120 Amendments to Capacity Reserve Certificates.
16.30.130 Use of reserved capacity.
16.30.140 Transfer of reserved capacity.
16.30.150 Concurrency denial letter.
16.30.160 Appeals.
16.30.170 Concurrency administration – Purpose and procedure.
16.30.180 Annual report.
*Prior legislation: Ords. O-00-140, O-00-130 and O-99-108.
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 Public Works Director shall have the authority to resolve questions of interpretation or conflicts between definitions.
1. “Adopted LOS standards” means the level of service (LOS) standards described in MVMC 16.30.090.
2. “Affected intersection” means any intersection within the City for which an LOS has been identified in this chapter.
3. “Applicant” means a person who applies for a Capacity Reserve Certificate (CRC) under this chapter and who is the owner of the subject property or the authorized agent of the property owner.
4. “Available road facilities” means that the necessary road 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).
5. “Background traffic” means existing traffic levels and the anticipated traffic from all proposals for which capacity has been reserved under the provisions of this chapter.
6. “Built-out year conditions” means the volume of traffic that is projected to occur on the roadway system as of the anticipated date of occupancy of a proposal. Traffic conditions include regional traffic and the anticipated traffic from all proposals for which capacity has been reserved under the provisions of this chapter.
7. “Capacity” means the availability of an affected intersection to accommodate increased traffic resulting from a development without causing the LOS to fall below the standards established in this chapter.
8. “Capacity, available” means capacity which can be encumbered, reserved, or committed to future users, expressed in an appropriate unit of measure, such as p.m. peak hour trips.
9. “Capacity, reserved” means capacity which has been allocated to a particular property through issuance of a Capacity Reserve Certificate reserving capacity for a set period of time.
10. “Capacity Reserve Certificate (CRC)” means the certificate issued by the City pursuant to the terms and conditions of this chapter which constitutes the proof that adequate capacity for each affected intersection has been reserved to serve the densities and intensities of development within the time frame designated on the certificate.
11. “City” means the City of Maple Valley, Washington.
12. “Concurrency evaluation” means the evaluation by the Director based on adopted LOS standards to ensure that the road facilities needed to support development are concurrent, as defined by RCW 36.70A.040, and with the impacts of such development as defined in this chapter.
13. “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 Concurrency Reserve Certificate.
14. “Concurrency management” means the process local jurisdictions use to ensure that necessary roadway improvements are made concurrent with proposed development activity, pursuant to RCW 36.70A.070.
15. “Development activity” means any proposal or action for which a Development Permit is required, including short plats, preliminary plats, rezone/reclassifications, Zoning Permits, Shoreline Substantial Development Permits, Conditional Use Permits, design review, change in use, or any other permit or approval required under the City of Maple Valley development regulations. For the purposes of this chapter, development activity does not include legislative proposals which may increase the potential for development, unless the proposal is accompanied by an action which requires a Development Permit. Exempt permits are set forth in MVMC 16.30.080.
16. “Development approval” means written authorization from the City authorizing the commencement of development activity.
17. “Development Permit” means any document granting, or granting with conditions, an application for a land use designation or redesignation, zoning or rezoning, subdivision, site plan, building permit, variance or any other official action of the City having the effect of authorizing the development of land.
18. “Development trips” means the total number of new p.m. peak hour trips generated by the development.
19. “Direct traffic impact” means any net increase in vehicle traffic generated by a proposed development.
20. “Director” means the Director of the Department of Public Works of the City of Maple Valley or her/his designee.
21. “Financial commitment” means 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.
22. “Frontage” means that boundary of private property abutting the City street or right-of-way.
23. “Frontage improvement” means those improvements required to be constructed within existing or dedicated street right-of-way according to permit conditions established by the City for project development. Generally, frontage improvements may include, but not be limited to: clearing, grading, subgrade preparation, pavements, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, landscaping, signage, lighting, mailboxes, storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water, electrical, gas, telephone and cable television utilities. Additional improvements to be located within adjacent easements may be required in addition to frontage improvements.
24. “Impact fee” or “transportation impact fee” means a payment of money imposed upon development approval to pay for public streets and roads needed to serve new growth and development and that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public streets and roads, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the public streets and roads, and that is used for public streets and roads that reasonably benefit the new development. “Impact fee” does not include a reasonable permit or application fee otherwise established by City Council ordinance.
25. “Inadequate road condition” means any road condition, whether existing on the road system or created by a new development’s access, that jeopardizes the safety of road users, including nonautomotive users, due to substandard sight distance, substandard geometric alignment, substandard roadway cross-section or insufficient traffic control as determined by applicable City design standards and specifications as defined in the Maple Valley Road Standards. Appropriate mitigation shall be required when a Capacity Reserve Certificate is issued.
26. “Level of service (LOS)” means a qualitative measure describing operational conditions within a traffic stream, described with alphabetical representations of “A” through “F” as defined in the Highway Capacity Manual prepared by the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council, to indicate the amount of congestion and delay at particular locations. Level of service “A” represents little or no congestion and delay, while level of service “F” represents over-capacity conditions with long delays.
27. “Maple Valley Road Standards” means those standards included in Chapter 12.10 MVMC.
28. “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.
29. “Off-site road improvement” means an improvement, except a frontage improvement, to an existing or proposed City road outside the boundaries of a development, which improvement is required or recommended in accordance with this title.
30. “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.
31. “Peak hour” means the highest volume of traffic for a continuous hour between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
32. “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.
33. “Proportionate share” means that portion of the cost of public facility improvements that is reasonably related to the service demands and needs of new development.
34. “Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)” means the annually updated transportation improvement program which identifies all the City’s transportation needs over the next six years and beyond, including the total project costs.
35. “Standards” means the adopted Maple Valley Road Standards.
36. “Total project cost” means the total cost for the transportation projects, as defined in the current TIP. This cost includes, but is not limited to, studies, design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, grading, and construction.
37. “Traffic study” means a study prepared by a competent professional according to the format and content established by the City of Maple Valley Public Works Department.
38. “Transportation impact fee” means those fees authorized in Chapter 16.20 MVMC.
39. “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.
40. “Trip generation credit” means a reduction in the number of new p.m. peak hour trips attributed to an application, equal to the number of p.m. peak hour trips currently being generated on the site from uses that will not continue if the development permit is granted. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
The purpose of this chapter is 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. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
The Director shall be responsible for implementing and enforcing this chapter, including making determinations regarding concurrency and issuing Capacity Reserve Certificates according to the procedures in this chapter.
The Director’s determination of concurrency and the issuance or nonissuance of a Capacity Reserve Certificate 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 evaluation and the requirement for a Capacity Reserve Certificate, the Director shall determine how the review can be best integrated with the decision making process.
A. Applicant applies for a Capacity Reserve Certificate in conjunction with a Development Permit application. See MVMC 16.30.110 for application procedure.
B. Capacity Reserve Certificates shall be processed in the order in which the applications for concurrency evaluation are received.
C. Upon issuance of a Capacity Reserve Certificate, the capacity becomes reserved, unless the Development Permit lapses. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. This chapter shall apply to all applications for Development Permits, except for development exempt under MVMC 16.30.080, if the proposal or use will generate 15 or more net new trips in the peak hour, including rezoning applications and Comprehensive Plan amendments.
B. All construction or change in use initiated pursuant to a Development Permit for which a Capacity Reserve Certificate 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 CRC was issued has lapsed or expired, pursuant to the applicable development regulations, then no subsequent Development Permit shall be issued except in accordance with this chapter. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. In cases where LOS standards do not apply, the Director shall utilize other factors in preparing concurrency evaluations to include, but not be limited to, Maple Valley Road Standards and the Washington Department of Transportation Design Guidelines.
B. The Director may, at his/her discretion, require completion of a traffic study prior to issuance of a CRC.
C. Mitigation shall be sought from any development activity where one or more affected legs of an intersection would fall below the City’s adopted LOS as a result of a proposed development activity, privately initiated Comprehensive Plan amendment, or Zoning Map amendment, or would be projected to fall below the adopted LOS because of background traffic growth in the six-year traffic projection calculated for the proposal. Where the existing LOS falls below the City’s adopted LOS, mitigation as determined by the City shall be required of the applicant to avoid further degradation. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. Any change, redevelopment, relocation, or modification of use that will generate 15 or more net new trips in the peak hour shall require a Capacity Reserve Certificate.
B. 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 within two years of the date of issuance of a Development Permit for such contiguous property.
C. Increased impact on affected intersections. If a change of use shall have a greater impact on affected intersections than the previous use, then a Capacity Reserve Certificate 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 five-year period prior to the date of application, or since the previous use was permitted, if that period is less than five years, for the concurrency evaluation.
D. Decreased impact on affected intersections. If the Director determines that a change of use shall have a lesser impact on affected intersections than the previous use, then no concurrency evaluation shall be required. For the purpose of this paragraph, “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.
E. If no use existed on the site for a one-year period prior to the date of application, no trip generation credit shall be granted pursuant to this chapter.
F. Demolition or Termination of Use. In the case of a demolition or termination of an existing structure or use, a trip generation credit shall apply to the calculated trip generation for the use prior to the demolition or termination for a period of one year from the date of demolition or termination of use. The number of trips allowed in the credit shall be as estimated using the ITE Trip Generation Manual. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. Prior to the issuance of any permit for a nonexempt development activity, the Director shall determine if the proposal is covered by an existing CRC or if capacity exists on the road facilities to permit the proposed development activity. Permits for the development activity shall be issued only if the Director finds that the activity is covered by an existing CRC or capacity exists in accordance with level of service standards contained in this chapter. Where such capacity exists, the Director shall issue a CRC to the applicant for the development activity.
B. A CRC will be issued only after a capacity evaluation indicating that capacity is available on all applicable road facilities is performed.
C. In no event shall the Director determine concurrency for a greater amount of capacity than is needed for the development proposed in the underlying Development Permit application. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. Any development activity or Development Permit may be exempted from this chapter if the development activity or Development Permit is deemed by the Director to generate fewer than 15 net new trips in the peak hour, including rezoning applications and privately initiated Comprehensive Plan amendments.
B. The following types of Development Permits are typically exempt from the Concurrency Management Ordinance and the requirements of this chapter because they do not create additional long-term impacts on road facilities. However, if any Development Permit from the list below generates 15 or more net new trips in the peak period, it shall not be exempt from concurrency evaluation.
1. Access Permit;
2. Demolition Permit;
3. Driveway or Street Permit;
4. Excavation/Clearing Permit;
5. Excavation Permit;
6. Fire Code Permit;
7. Grading Permit;
8. Interior alterations with no change of use;
9. Mechanical Permit;
10. Plumbing Permit;
11. Right-of-Way Permit;
12. Sign Permit;
13. Single-family remodeling with no change of use;
14. Street Use Permit;
15. Street Vacation Permit;
16. Utility Permit (waste, sewer, storm).
C. The portion of any project used for any of the following purposes is exempt from the requirements of this chapter:
1. Public transportation facilities;
2. Public parks and recreational facilities;
D. Exemption from Concurrency Review Fees. City-owned facilities will be exempted from the concurrency review fees provided in MVMC 16.10.070; City-owned facilities will not be exempted from concurrency review.
Notwithstanding the exemptions provided herein, the trip generation resulting from an exempt use shall nonetheless be included in computing background traffic for any nonexempt project, and any exemptions provided herein shall not be construed as an exemption to applicable transportation impact fee requirements. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
The Director shall use the LOS standards set forth in this chapter to make concurrency evaluations as part of the review of any application for a CRC issued pursuant to this chapter.
A. The City’s adopted LOS standard shall be LOS D, for all signalized intersections, and for all unsignalized intersections on Maple Valley Highway, Kent-Kangley Road, and Witte Road. This LOS shall be applied in the review of development activity (located both in City jurisdiction and outside the City limits to the extent road capacity within the City is affected by such proposals and the City has been asked by an agency with jurisdiction to conduct a review of such proposals).
B. Generally, level of service for signalized intersections shall be measured as the performance of each leg of an intersection.
C. In the City’s two commercial areas (encompassing the intersections of Maple Valley Highway and SE 231st Street, Wax Road, Witte Road, SE 240th and Maple Valley Highway and SE Kent-Kangley Road), LOS shall be measured as the average of the performance of all legs of each of these named intersections.
D. Level of service for unsignalized intersections on Maple Valley Highway, Kent-Kangley Road, and Witte Road shall be measured as the performance of the major arterial legs and at no lower than LOS E for each access leg.
E. Mitigation shall be required of any proposal for development activity where the affected leg or entire intersection would fall below the adopted LOS as a result of the development activity, or would be projected to fall below the adopted LOS due to background traffic growth in the six-year traffic projection calculated for the proposal. Where the existing LOS falls below the adopted LOS, mitigation shall be required to avoid further degradation. Required mitigation will be identified in the CRC.
F. With the applicant’s agreement, mitigation may include the applicant paying a proportionate share of an unfunded portion of a project included in the transportation improvement program, if the project has funding commitments equal to, or exceeding 75 percent of the project’s total estimated cost. Such an agreement would result in the project being included in the capacity evaluation for the purposes of this application as if it were a financially committed project. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
Even where a Capacity Reserve Certificate may be issued using the LOS standards established in MVMC 16.30.090, the Director shall examine the impact of the proposal on other City roadways to determine if off-site road improvements other than those contained in the financially committed Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program and the project’s frontage improvements are warranted to address inadequate road conditions.
To the extent such improvements are warranted as a result of an increase in the number of p.m. peak hour trips of 10 percent or more over the number of existing trips at the time of application, the Director shall identify such improvements, including off-site improvements and improvements needed to correct inadequate road conditions. Required mitigation to address inadequate road conditions will be enumerated in the CRC.
Where improvements needed by the proposal are all contained in the Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan and have full financial commitments, the proposal may rely on the improvements scheduled, and are required only to meet the transportation impact fee requirements. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
An application for a Capacity Reserve Certificate shall be on a form provided by the Director. The application shall be submitted and accompanied by the requisite fee, as determined by City Council resolution. The application shall include all of the information requested for a concurrency finding including the allocation of capacity, by legal description, if applicable. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
Even if the Capacity Reserve Certificate is based on an estimation of impact, the applicant shall be bound by its estimation of impact, and any upward deviation from the estimated traffic impact shall require at least one of the following:
A. A finding that the additional capacity sought by the developer through a revised application is available to be reserved by the project or can be made available through mitigation of the additional impact; or
B. A finding that the CRC must be revoked unless a revised proposal is submitted limiting the trip generation to the number reserved in the Capacity Reserve Certificate. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
When a valid Development Permit is issued for a project possessing a CRC, the CRC shall continue to reserve the capacity unless the Development Permit expires, is withdrawn, or is cancelled without the issuance of a final plat approval or similar action by the City. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
Reserved capacity shall not be sold or transferred to property not included in the legal description provided by the applicant in the application for a CRC. The applicant may, as part of a Development Permit application, designate the amount of capacity to be allocated to portions of the property, such as lots, blocks, parcels, or tracts included in the application if the property is to be subdivided. Capacity may be reassigned or allocated within the boundaries of the original Capacity Reserve Certificate by application to and decision by the Director. At no time may capacity or any CRC be sold or transferred to another party or entity to apply to a site other than that described in the original application. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
If the Director determines that one or more road facilities are not concurrent, the Director shall issue a concurrency denial letter to the applicant advising that available capacity does not exist. If the applicant is not the property owner, the concurrency denial letter shall also be sent to the property owner. The concurrency denial letter shall identify the application and include the following information:
A. The level of service prior to the proposed development activity;
B. The level of service including the proposed development activity;
C. An estimate of the level of the deficiency of the road facilities; and
D. The options available to the applicant, such as the applicant’s agreement to construct the necessary facilities at the applicant’s cost. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. Appeals of the concurrency denial letter shall include an appeal of the denial of the underlying Development Permit application and first be made to the Director of Public Works. If there is no underlying Development Permit, the appeal shall follow the process for an appeal of a Process 2 Review detailed in MVMC 18.100.040.
B. Subsequent appeals of determinations made by the Director pursuant to this chapter shall be heard by the City’s Hearing Examiner, under the procedures set forth in MVMC Title 18.
C. Any appeal of a concurrency denial letter and the underlying development application shall be brought within 14 days of the Notice of Decision pursuant to MVMC 18.100.230. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
A. The concurrency management traffic impact analysis shall be prepared by the Director and shall follow the procedure outlined below. Each Development Permit subject to this procedure shall be analyzed in the order the completed project application is received by the Director. Concurrency traffic impact analyses will be completed sequentially in the order of project application. The most recent concurrency management traffic impact analysis will be the beginning point for each succeeding concurrency management traffic impact analysis.
B. In performing the concurrency evaluation, the Director shall determine the impact of the traffic generated by the proposed development activity on the City’s road system. The evaluation shall be based on data generated by the City, by professional associations, by the applicant, and if needed, by independent analysis. The City shall examine the data to verify that:
1. The density assumptions for the proposed project are consistent with the underlying zoning.
2. Existing and projected trip generation is consistent with the latest version of the ITE Trip Generation Manual or documented generation for uses not typical of uses in the Manual.
C. Level of service calculations for all arterial intersections affected by the development are accurate and based upon build-out year conditions with and without the proposed development. The City shall determine if the capacity on the City’s road facilities, plus the capacity that is or shall be generated by all existing, reserved, and approved development, can be provided while meeting the LOS standards set forth in this chapter.
D. Technical provisions for each concurrency evaluation shall be prepared in the following format:
1. Project description will be provided by the applicant in enough detail to accurately determine the scope of analysis required.
2. Analysis scope will be provided by City after consultation with affected departments.
3. The City, based on the information supplied by the applicant, will determine project trip generation. If the applicant provides a detailed trip generation study, that data will be used for concurrency management traffic impact analysis at the discretion of the City Public Works Department.
4. Project traffic distribution will be provided by the City, consistent with the most current and updated traffic-forecasting model.
5. Traffic volumes at existing intersections that include background traffic will be provided by the City.
6. The City will include appropriate through traffic to each affected intersection to obtain a revised traffic assignment for affected roadways and intersections.
7. The City, in compliance with the latest version of the Highway Capacity Manual, will complete capacity analysis, using its chosen software.
8. After verification of the capacity analysis, the City shall prepare the final report. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).
The Director shall annually determine whether this chapter remains consistent with the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The Director shall report her/his findings to the City Council and make recommendation for any Maple Valley Municipal Code revisions that may be appropriate.
The Director is responsible for completion of an annual capacity report. This report shall summarize reserved capacity and permitted development activity for the previous 12-month period. The evaluation shall report forecasted LOS for all intersections identified in MVMC 16.30.090. Forecasts shall be based on the most recently updated schedule of capital improvements, growth projections, public road facility inventories, and revenue projections, and recommendations on amendments to the CIP and annual budget,* to LOS standards, or other amendments to the Transportation Element or to the Comprehensive Plan.
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 capacity evaluations during the next period.
Based upon the analysis included in the annual capacity availability report, the Director shall recommend to the City Council each year any necessary amendments to the CIP, TIP and Comprehensive Plan. The Director shall also report on the status of intersection LOS when public hearings for Comprehensive Plan amendments are heard.
The City shall monitor LOS standards through an annual update of the Six-Year Transportation Impact Program, which will add data reflecting Development Permits issued and trip allocations reserved. The City’s traffic demand model will be recalibrated at least annually based on traffic count information, obtained from, at a minimum, the City’s Public Works Department. (Ord. O-03-248 § 1).