SILVER SPRING – Part of the cost of new development in Montgomery County goes toward transportation improvements, a formula set in place by the County Council to ensure that builders pay to offset the impact of new residents or anyone traveling to or from a new development.
Transportation fees may change under a new test – the proposed Transportation Policy Area Review (TPAR) – that is intended to ensure that transportation infrastructure – transit and roads – are adequate. TPAR is part of the draft 2012-2016 Subdivision Staging Policy (SSP), which planners will present to the Planning Board in a second work session on Thursday.
Under what’s proposed, transportation fees would generally decrease from what builders now pay to mitigate trips. With TPAR, a different formula from what planners used previously, fees will be dependent on where a project is proposed and the transportation needs for that area. Fees in some areas may go up, while those in other areas may go down.
The SSP, formerly called the Growth Policy, manages growth over the next four years by setting policies and establishing tests to measure the impact of development.
The 2012-2016 SSP differs from previous growth policies by introducing TPAR, which calculates the effects of new development over different time periods on transit and roads. The traffic test analyzes roadway congestion and transit service and provides tools to match funding of improvements where transit service and/or traffic congestion need to be improved in advance of development. Road and transit improvement funding would come from a mix of public funds and contributions from developers. A portion of the funds is proposed to be used to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
On Thursday, planners will present a new fee structure that covers proposed payments for both roadway and transit (including bicycle and pedestrian) improvements. The fees, based on the number of estimated trips occurring from new development, run on a sliding scale among 21 policy areas. Many areas, such as Bethesda/Chevy Chase and Damascus, are proposed at $585 per trip for road improvements. Others, such as Germantown East and Cloverly, where mobility has received a failing grade, are proposed at $8,102 and $12,000 per trip, respectively. Fees are based on county Department of Transportation (DOT) transit and road improvement costs.
Transit costs range from $36 per trip in Damascus to $31,448 per trip in Cloverly. These proposed fees cover local bus service improvements and are estimated based on 10-year capital and operating costs from the county DOT. The proposed fees include 10 percent additional funding for a commuter services program and bicycle and pedestrian improvements. The proposal asks that half of this funding come from private development. The per-trip fee will also be adjusted so that there is a minimum ($585) and maximum fee ($12,000). The maximum will be no greater per trip than the maximum fee under the current test (as adjusted for inflation), known as the Policy Area Mobility Review(PAMR).
The Board will deliver the draft SSP to the County Council for review by August 1.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Board
WHAT:
2012-2016 Subdivision Staging Policy worksession
WHEN/WHERE:
10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 19, 2012 (time approximate)
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring
LEARN MORE: www.montgomeryplanning.org/research/growth_policy/subdivision_staging_policy/2012/
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