Section 10504-A - Transportation capital improvements plan(a) A transportation capital improvements plan shall be prepared and adopted by the governing body of the municipality prior to the enactment of any impact fee ordinance. The municipality shall provide qualified professionals to assist the transportation impact fee advisory committee or the planning commission in the preparation of the transportation capital improvements plan and calculation of the impact fees to be imposed to implement the plan in accordance with the procedures, provisions and standards set forth in this act.(b)(1) An impact fee advisory committee shall be created by resolution of a municipality intending to adopt a transportation impact fee ordinance. The resolution shall describe the geographical area or areas of the municipality for which the advisory committee shall develop the land use assumptions and conduct the roadway sufficiency analysis studies.(2) The advisory committee shall consist of no fewer than 7 nor more than 15 members, all of whom shall serve without compensation. The governing body of the municipality shall appoint as members of the advisory committee persons who are either residents of the municipality or conduct business within the municipality and are not employees or officials of the municipality. Not less than 40% of the members of the advisory committee shall be representatives of the real estate, commercial and residential development, and building industries. The municipality may also appoint traffic or transportation engineers or planners to serve on the advisory committee provided the appointment is made after consultation with the advisory committee members. The traffic or transportation engineers or planners appointed to the advisory committee may not be employed by the municipality for the development of or consultation on the roadways sufficiency analysis which may lead to the adoption of the transportation capital improvements plan.(3) The governing body of the municipality may elect to designate the municipal planning commission appointed pursuant to Article II as the impact fee advisory committee. If the existing planning commission does not include members representative of the real estate, commercial and residential development, and building industries at no less than 40% of the membership, the governing body of the municipality shall appoint the sufficient number of representatives of the aforementioned industries who reside in the municipality or conduct business within the municipality to serve as ad hoc voting members of the planning commission whenever such commission functions as the impact fee advisory committee.(4) No impact fee ordinance may be invalidated as a result of any legal action challenging the composition of the advisory committee which is not brought within 90 days following the first public meeting of said advisory committee.(5) The advisory committee shall serve in an advisory capacity and shall have the following duties: (i) To make recommendations with respect to land use assumptions, the development of comprehensive road improvements and impact fees.(ii) To make recommendations to approve, disapprove or modify a capital improvement program by preparing a written report containing these recommendations to the municipality.(iii) To monitor and evaluate the implementation of a capital improvement program and the assessment of impact fees, and report annually to the municipality with respect to the same.(iv) To advise the municipality of the need to revise or update the land use assumptions, capital improvement program or impact fees.(c)(1) As a prerequisite to the development of the transportation capital improvements plan, the advisory committee shall develop land use assumptions for the determination of future growth and development within the designated area or areas as described by the municipal resolution and recommend its findings to the governing body. Prior to the issuance and presentation of a written report to the municipality on the recommendations for proposed land use assumptions upon which to base the development of the transportation capital improvements plan, the advisory committee shall conduct a public hearing, following the providing of proper notice in accordance with section 107, for the consideration of the land use assumption proposals. Following receipt of the advisory committee report, which shall include the findings of the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality shall by resolution approve, disapprove or modify the land use assumptions recommended by the advisory committee.(2) The land use assumptions report shall: (i) Describe the existing land uses within the designated area or areas and the highways, roads or streets incorporated therein.(ii) To the extent possible, reflect projected changes in land uses, densities of residential development, intensities of nonresidential development and population growth rates which may affect the level of traffic within the designated area or areas over a period of at least the next five years. These projections shall be based on an analysis of population growth rates during the prior five-year period, current zoning regulations, approved subdivision and land developments, and the future land use plan contained in the adopted municipal comprehensive plan. It may also refer to all professionally produced studies and reports pertaining to the municipality regarding such items as demographics, parks and recreation, economic development and any other study deemed appropriate by the municipality.(3) If the municipality is located in a county which has created a county planning agency, the advisory committee shall forward a copy of their proposed land use assumptions to the county planning agency for its comments at least 30 days prior to the public hearing. At the same time, the advisory committee shall also forward copies of the proposed assumptions to all contiguous municipalities and to the local school district for their review and comments.(d)(1) Upon adoption of the land use assumptions by the municipality, the advisory committee shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a roadway sufficiency analysis which shall establish the existing level of infrastructure sufficiency and preferred levels of service within any designated area or areas of the municipality as described by the resolution adopted pursuant to the creation of the advisory committee. The roadway sufficiency analysis shall be prepared for any highway, road or street within the designated area or areas on which the need for road improvements attributable to projected future new development is anticipated. The municipality shall commission a traffic or transportation engineer or planner to assist the advisory committee in the preparation of the roadway sufficiency analysis. Municipalities may jointly commission such engineer or planner to assist in the preparation of multiple municipality roadway sufficiency analyses. In preparing the roadway sufficiency analysis report, the engineer may consider and refer to previously produced professional studies and reports relevant to the production of the roadway sufficiency analysis as required by this section. It shall be deemed that the roads, streets and highways not on the roadway sufficiency analysis report are not impacted by future development. The roadway sufficiency analysis shall include the following components: (i) The establishment of existing volumes of traffic and existing levels of service.(ii) The identification of a preferred level of service established pursuant to the following: (A) The level of service shall be one of the categories of road service as defined by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences or the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The municipality may choose to select a level of service on a transportation service area basis as the preferred level of service. The preferred levels of service shall be designated by the governing body of the municipality following determination of the existing level of service as established by the roadway sufficiency analysis. If the preferred level of service is designated as greater than the existing level of service, the municipality shall be required to identify road improvements needed to correct the existing deficiencies.(B) Following adoption of the preferred level of service, such level of service may be waived for a particular road segment or intersection if the municipality finds that one or more of the following effectively precludes provision of road improvements necessary to meet the level of service: geometric design limitations, topographic limitations or the unavailability of necessary right-of-way.(iii) The identification of existing deficiencies which need to be remedied to accommodate existing traffic at the preferred level of service.(iv) The specification of the required road improvements needed to bring the existing level of service to the preferred level of service.(v) A projection of anticipated traffic volumes, with a separate determination of pass-through trips, for a period of not less than five years from the date of the preparation of the roadway sufficiency analysis based upon the land use assumptions adopted under this section.(vi) The identification of forecasted deficiencies which will be created by "pass-through" trips.(2) The advisory committee shall provide the governing body with the findings of the roadway sufficiency analysis. Following receipt of the advisory committee report, the governing body shall by resolution approve, disapprove or modify the roadway sufficiency analysis recommended by the advisory committee.(e)(1) Utilizing the information provided by the land use assumption and the roadway sufficiency analysis as the basis for determination of the need for road improvements to remedy existing deficiencies and accommodate future projected traffic volumes, the advisory committee shall identify those capital projects which the municipality should consider for adoption in its transportation capital improvements plan and shall recommend the delineation of the transportation service area or areas. The capital improvement plan shall be developed in accordance with generally accepted engineering and planning practices. The capital improvement program shall include projections of all designated road improvements in the capital improvement program. The total cost of the road improvements shall be based upon estimated costs, using standard traffic engineering standards, with a 10% maximum contingency which may be added to said estimate. These costs shall include improvements to correct existing deficiencies with identified anticipated sources of funding and timetables for implementation. The transportation capital improvements plan shall include the following components:(i) A description of the existing highways, roads and streets within the transportation service area and the road improvements required to update, improve, expand or replace such highways, roads and streets in order to meet the preferred level of service and usage and stricter safety, efficiency, environmental or regulatory standards not attributable to new development.(ii) A plan specifying the road improvements within the transportation service area attributable to forecasted pass-through traffic so as to maintain the preferred level of service after existing deficiencies identified by the roadway sufficiency analysis have been remedied.(iii) A plan specifying the road improvements or portions thereof within the transportation service area attributable to the projected future development, consistent with the adopted land use assumptions, in order to maintain the preferred level of service after accommodation for pass-through traffic and after existing deficiencies identified in the roadway sufficiency analysis have been remedied.(iv) The projected costs of the road improvements to be included in the transportation capital improvements plan, calculating separately for each project by the following categories:(A) The costs or portion thereof associated with correcting existing deficiencies as specified in subparagraph (i).(B) The costs or portions thereof attributable to providing road improvements to accommodate forecasted pass-through trips as specified in subparagraph (ii).(C) The costs of providing necessary road improvements or portions thereof attributable to projected future development as specified in subparagraph (iii), provided that no more than 50% of the cost of the improvements to any highway, road or street which qualifies as a State highway or portion of the rural State highway system as provided in section 102 of the act of June 1, 1945 (P.L. 1242, No. 428), known as the "State Highway Law," may be included.(v) A projected timetable and proposed budget for constructing each road improvement contained in the plan.(vi) The proposed source of funding for each capital improvement included in the road plan. This shall include anticipated revenue from the Federal Government, State government, municipality, impact fees and any other source. The estimated revenue for each capital improvement in the plan which is to be provided by impact fees shall be identified separately for each project.(2) The source of funding required for projects to remedy existing deficiencies as set forth in paragraph (1)(i) and the road improvements attributable to forecasted pass-through traffic as set forth in paragraph (1)(ii) shall be exclusive of funds generated from the assessment of impact fees.(3) Upon the completion of the transportation capital improvements plan and prior to its adoption by the governing body of the municipality and the enactment of a municipal impact fee ordinance, the advisory committee shall hold at least one public hearing for consideration of the plan. Notification of the public hearing shall comply with the requirement of section 107. The plan shall be available for public inspection at least ten working days prior to the date of the public hearing. After presentation of the recommendation by the advisory committee or its representatives at a public meeting of the governing body, the governing body may make such changes to the plan prior to its adoption as the governing body deems appropriate following review of the public comments made at the public hearing.(4) The governing body may periodically, but no more frequently than annually, request the impact fee advisory committee to review the capital improvements plan and impact fee charges and make recommendations for revisions for subsequent consideration and adoption by the governing body based only on the following: (i) New subsequent development which has occurred in the municipality.(ii) Capital improvements contained in the capital improvements plan, the construction of which has been completed.(iii) Unavoidable delays beyond the responsibility or control of the municipality in the construction of capital improvements contained in the plan.(iv) Significant changes in the land use assumptions.(v) Changes in the estimated costs of the proposed transportation capital improvements, which may be recalculated by applying the construction cost index as published in the American City/County magazine or the Engineering News Record.(vi) Significant changes in the projected revenue from all sources listed needed for the construction of the transportation capital improvements.(f) Any improvements to Federal-aid or State highways to be funded in part by impact fees shall require the approval of the Department of Transportation and, if necessary, the United States Department of Transportation. Nothing in this act shall be deemed to alter or diminish the powers, duties or jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation with respect to State highways or the rural State highway system.(g) Two or more municipalities may, upon agreement, appoint a joint impact fee advisory committee which may develop roadway sufficiency analyses and transportation capital improvements plans for the participating municipalities. The members of the advisory committee must be either residents of or conduct business within one of the participating municipalities.1968, July 31, P.L. 805, No. 247, art. V-A, § 504-A, added 1990, Dec. 19, P.L. 1343, No. 209, § 1, imd. effective. Amended 2000, June 23, P.L. 495, No. 68, § 13, effective in 60 days.