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Department of Transportation recommending the Board:
1) Discuss the Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee zones, provide staff and their consultants with input and direction; and
2) Receive information on the existing Community Regions job data from the County’s consultant, BAE Urban Economics, Inc. (Est. Time: 1 Hr.)
FUNDING: Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee Program.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On September 17, 2019 (Item 32), the Board of Supervisors (Board) directed Department of Transportation (Transportation) to accelerate the 2020 Major Update to the Traffic Impact Mitigation (TIM) Fee Program. This is the third workshop to discuss policy items related to the TIM Fee Program.
Daily vs. Peak Hour Trip Rates
The County’s TIM Fee Program allocates the cost of roadway improvements by land use type based on “equivalent dwelling units” (EDU) - that is the demand placed on the transportation network relative to one single family dwelling unit. EDUs are currently calculated based on the number of new vehicle trips generated by that land use in the PM peak hour. Because infrastructure needs are typically governed by roadway capacity during the PM peak hour, this approach is defensible and typical of most TIM fee programs.
Members of the development community had asked the County to consider basing the TIM Fee Program on Average Daily Traffic (ADT) instead of Peak Hour volumes. However, the County’s General Plan has the following policies that directly address the use of peak hour periods:
· General Plan Policy TC-Xa(1) states, “Traffic from residential development projects of five or more units or parcels of land shall not result in, or worsen, Level of Service F (gridlock, stop-and-go) traffic congestion during weekday, peak-hour periods on any highway, road, interchange or intersection in the unincorporated areas of the county.” (emphasis added)
This policy was placed into the General Plan via voter initiative known as Measure Y. A new initiative to chan...
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