§ 2-472. Purpose and intent.

(a)

The city commission has determined and recognized through adoption of the Dade City Comprehensive Plan and amendments thereto that the growth rate which the city is experiencing will necessitate road network improvements, and continue to make it necessary to regulate new development activity generating traffic in order to maintain an acceptable level of road service and quality of life within the city. In order to finance the necessary new capital improvements and regulate traffic generation levels, several combined methods of financing will be necessary, one of which will require that new development activity generating traffic pay a multimodal transportation impact fee developed and adopted in compliance with F.S. § 163.31801.

(b)

Providing and regulating arterial, collector and other roads and related facilities including pedestrian and bicycle facilities within the city limits to make them safer and more efficient in coordination with a plan for the control of traffic, is the recognized responsibility of the city through F.S. ch. 166, and is in the best interest of the public health, safety and welfare.

(c)

Implementing a regulatory scheme that requires development activity generating new traffic to pay a multi-modal transportation impact fee is the responsibility of the city in order to carry out the goals, objectives and policies of its comprehensive plan under F.S. § 163.3161 et seq., and is in the best interest of the public health, safety and welfare.

(d)

It is the purpose of this subdivision to establish a regulatory fee to assist in providing increased capacity for the major road network system to accommodate the increased demand development activity generating new traffic will have on the area's road system. New development activity generating traffic will require the payment of a multi-modal transportation impact fee which has been calculated to meet the statutorily required dual rational nexus test and is reasonably attributable to the impact of the new development. This multi-modal transportation impact fee will for the exclusive purpose of providing increased capacity for the major road network system, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and the city shall account for the revenues and expenditures of such impact fee in a separate accounting fund.

(e)

The impact fee methodology included herein consists of establishing a transportation capacity that accounts for vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle travel as part of an overall multi-modal transportation system. The methodology also includes the construction cost associated with roadways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities. To provide a nexus for the expenditure of multi-modal transportation impact fees on stand-alone pedestrian and bicycle facilities, a capacity and associated cost have been included in the methodology to place vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle facilities on an equivalent level. This ensures that new development receives a capacity benefit for all three modes of travel since the construction cost includes vehicular travel lanes as well as pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Pedestrian facilities can include sidewalks, paths, and trails. Paths can be designed to also accommodate bicycle travel. Trails can support walking, bicycling, horseback riding, other non-motorized forms of travel and, in some instances, golf carts.

(f)

It is in the interest of the public health, safety, welfare, and convenience for the city to regulate land development, and other related facilities by requiring a multi-modal transportation impact fee as a condition of approval of any development activity generating new traffic.

(g)

The inclusion of capacity for pedestrian and bicycle facilities allows for the city to expend funds on stand-alone pedestrian and bicycle projects, as well as intersection and roadway improvements.

(h)

To encourage mixed-use development, the multi-modal transportation impact fee recognizes upfront the internal capture benefit of mixed-use developments and provides a lower fee than for stand-alone single use developments. A separate land use category and lower impact fee has been developed for conservation subdivisions to recognize the reduced impact of these types of development over a conventional single-family subdivision.

(i)

The purpose of this subdivision is to continue to enable the City of Dade City to allow new development consistent with the adopted comprehensive plan, and to regulate development activity generating new traffic so as to require it to share in the burdens of growth by paying its attributable share for the reasonably anticipated expansion costs of transportation facilities and road improvements. This growth will help pay for itself, and the existing residents of the city will not have the full financial burden of providing increased road and other transportation facility capacity at the outset.

(j)

The City has, in consultation with the Florida Department of Transportation and Pasco County, adopted levels of service for that portion of the state highway system lying within the city that is included in the comprehensive plan.

(k)

The technical data, findings, and conclusions herein are based on but not limited to the following documents: city's comprehensive plan; City of Dade City 2015 Multi-Modal Transportation Impact Fee Technical Report dated December 2015 prepared by Keith and Schnars, P.A. and NUE Urban Concepts, LLC; The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual dated 2012, as amended; Federal Highway Administration 2009 National Household Travel Survey; and the 2012 Florida Department of Transportation Roadway Capacity Tables.

(Ord. No. 2016-01, § 1, 2-23-2016)