Opinion ID: 6498548
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Redevelopment Project

Text: Bestgate redeveloped a 9.4-acre parcel located at 808–810 Bestgate Road in Annapolis. The redevelopment project included an addition to an existing veterinary clinic and the construction of a new four-story medical office building with an associated parking lot (“the Project”), which is accessible from Bestgate Road—a county road. Prior to the issuance of a building permit, Bestgate paid transportation impact fees to the County in the amount of $199,756 for the veterinary clinic and $590,775 for the medical office. As part of the Project, Bestgate hired a traffic engineer, Traffic Concepts, Inc. (“Traffic Concepts”). Traffic Concepts performed a traffic impact study to determine if the Project complied with the County’s APF road requirements, which mandate that road intersections at a development site will operate at a minimum “D” level of service and that the road sections will have a rating of 70 or higher. If a traffic impact study reveals that a development project will not meet these requirements, the County may mandate that the 3 developer construct mitigation improvements to bring the transportation facilities up to the standards in the Code. The Project was initially designed with a right-in/right-out intersection from Bestgate Road.4 The traffic impact study revealed that after development of the Project, with the right-in/right-out road network, the County road intersections would continue to operate at an acceptable level of service, and the road ratings would remain adequate. Accordingly, the traffic impact study concluded that no mitigation would be needed to satisfy the County’s APF road requirements. Based upon these conclusions, the County approved the Project with the right-in/right-out intersection, without requiring any mitigation. Even though mitigation was not required to satisfy the APF road requirements, Traffic Concepts recommended the construction of an off-site median break and traffic signal on Bestgate Road across from the entrance to the Project. In a May 2, 2017 letter to Larry Tom at the Office of Planning and Zoning, Kenneth Schmid, a Vice President of Traffic Concepts, explained that “[i]f the site were to retain the existing right-in/right-out access, vehicles wishing to enter the site from eastbound Bestgate Road would be forced to make a U-turn at the Medical Parkway intersection in order to enter the development,” 4 The traffic impact study concluded that a right-in/right-out road access from Bestgate Road would require “left turn inbound and left turn outbound trips to be U-turns at the upstream and downstream intersections at Gate Drive and Severn Grove Road/Medical Parkway.” In other words, for example, if a driver was approaching the development site traveling eastbound, the driver would have to make a U-turn at the Severn Grove Road/Medical Parkway intersection with Bestgate Road and then turn right into the Project site. 4 which would increase the “morning peak hour critical lane volume” at that intersection. With the median break and traffic signal, however, the critical lane volume would be reduced, which would both increase capacity and improve safety by eliminating the weaving requirement to attempt a U-turn movement.5 In that letter, Mr. Schmid requested approval of transportation impact fee credits for the “total cost of design and installation of the median break and traffic signal[,]” which was estimated to be $554,697.98. David Braun, the County’s Engineer Administrator for the County’s Department of Public Works, supervised the review of the traffic impact study and approved the plans and construction details for the median break and traffic signal on Bestgate Road as recommended by Traffic Concepts.6 Although the County’s Engineer Administrator approved the Bestgate Road improvements, in a letter dated October 26, 2017, the County’s Planning and Zoning Officer, Philip Hager, denied the request for transportation impact fee credits, on the basis 5 Specifically, in the May 2, 2017 letter from Mr. Schmid to the Planning and Zoning Officer, Bestgate explained how the additional improvements would provide additional safety and capacity beyond the APF requirements by stating the following: In addition to increasing capacity, the median break and traffic signal will improve safety over the existing right-in/right-out condition because it will eliminate the weaving movement required to attempt a U-turn movement. The distance between the access and the U-turn movement is less than 400ft in both directions. The U-turn movement is tight for larger cars, vans, and pick-up trucks. Some of these vehicles need to make multiple maneuvers to complete the U-turn movement. During peak times this could create safety issues. 6 Bestgate has since completed the Project and constructed the additional off-site improvements to Bestgate Road as recommended by Traffic Concepts and approved by the County. 5 that: (1) there was no benefit to the County since the intersection was already operating at an “A” level; (2) the additional improvements were not associated with any traffic mitigation required by the County to satisfy the APF road requirements; (3) there were no capital improvement plan projects in the corridor associated with the Project; and (4) there were no deficiencies in the traffic impact study area. Bestgate appealed to the Board, which reviewed the matter de novo.