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A. The city may require the applicant to implement or pay for transportation improvements to address the adverse impacts of a project, including: (1) to meet development regulations or other applicable standards for transportation improvements; (2) to meet adopted level of service standards; and (3) to implement other reasonable measures to avoid or otherwise mitigate adverse impacts to public safety, human health and the environment based on the traffic analysis and project review process.

B. Nonduplication. An applicant shall not be required to implement or pay for a mitigation measure more than once to address the same specific environmental impact, as provided by EMC 19.51.120. This does not preclude the city from requiring a local traffic improvement and the payment of a fee for system improvements if the project impacts occur in a different time or place, or if the local improvement does not address the system impact. For example, if a project would cause congestion and degradation of level of service both locally and system wide, an applicant could be required to mitigate the local impact by providing a turning pocket at an access point, while also paying a fee to make improvements to address level of service impacts on other intersections not addressed by the turning pocket.

C. Level of Service Improvements. The applicant is required to mitigate the project’s transportation impacts to an acceptable level of service through the horizon year.

D. Acceptable Level of Service. The acceptability of levels of service is defined in subsections (D)(1), (2), and (3) of this section:

1. Level of service “A” through “D” is considered acceptable.

2. When the city engineer and the responsible official determine that it is practical to create or maintain a level of service of “D” or better, level of service “E” or “F” is considered not acceptable.

3. When the city engineer and the responsible official determine that it is not practical to create or maintain a level of service of “D” or better, then the applicant is required to use all practical measures to mitigate the impact on facilities, including all practical transportation improvements and TDM measures. The city will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the resulting level of service is acceptable. The city shall maintain a list of intersections where it has been determined that level of service “E” or “F” is considered acceptable, and will identify the lowest acceptable level of service for each of these intersections. If the adverse impact to level of service is likely to be significant, a detailed alternative analysis is required (see subsection (E) of this section). The city may recommend alternatives or modifications to the proposed project or may deny the project if the city determines that reasonable mitigation measures are insufficient to mitigate the project’s impacts.

E. Detailed Alternatives Analysis. When the responsible official finds that, despite the incorporation of reasonable mitigation measures, the proposal is likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact on level of service or other aspects of the transportation network, the responsible official shall issue a determination of significance. If the sole issue is traffic, the applicant shall prepare a limited scope EIS on traffic. If there are other probable significant adverse environment impacts, the EIS will be scoped accordingly.

The EIS scope with respect to transportation shall contain an analysis of all reasonable courses of action and mitigation measures, including TDM measures, that would avoid or otherwise mitigate the probable significant environmental impact related to transportation. On the basis of this analysis, the responsible official, upon review and analysis by the city engineer, shall determine whether reasonable mitigation measures are sufficient to mitigate the identified significant adverse transportation impact.

F. Applicant’s Options. At any time in the project review process, the applicant may:

1. Choose not to proceed with the project.

2. Implement measures identified by the city to address the adverse transportation impacts.

3. Propose revisions to the project to avoid or reduce the identified impacts and document the revisions in accordance with the city’s project review procedures (see Chapter 19.43 EMC) and EMC 19.51.130. The modifications must be approved by the city engineer and the responsible official. Possible measures include van/car pooling programs, pedestrian and bicycle improvements, incentives to encourage public transportation ridership, or other measures that, in the opinion of the city engineer and the responsible official, would adequately address the transportation impact.

G. Table 2 summarizes the requirements for payment of fees for transportation system improvements to mitigate impacts of proposed projects, as specified in EMC 19.51.100 and 19.51.110.

Table 2: General Requirements for Fees Related to System Improvements

Number of Trips Generated

Level of Service at Horizon Year

Fee Calculation

Fewer than 10 new vehicle trips per day

(not applicable; no traffic study)

0

10 or more new vehicle trips per day, and not more than 50 additional peak hour trips*

(not applicable; no traffic study)

Fee for each peak hour trip per EMC 19.51.100(D)

More than 50 additional peak hour trips*

1. Fee for fair share of planned system improvements (e.g., identified in the city’s six-year transportation improvement program)

Fee for each peak hour trip per EMC 19.51.100(D)

plus:

plus:

2. Fair share of additional improvements, if any, to maintain acceptable levels of service as a result of the proposed project, as follows:

If “D” or better at horizon year and no need for additional improvements (taking growth into account)

0

Project alone causes need for additional improvements at horizon year (no need if project did not occur, taking growth into account)

100% of cost of improvements

Additional improvements needed to maintain “D” or better at horizon year, due to project and growth

Project’s % of total peak hour trips at horizon year, minus existing peak hour volume

Additional improvements needed at horizon year due to project and growth, but current level of service is “E” or “F”

Project’s % of total peak hour trips at horizon year

*For proposed projects in core area, trip calculation at 75% of ITE Trip Generation Manual or as justified in a traffic analysis.

(Ord. 3774-20 § 5(Z) (Exh. 3), 2020.)