City Code Chapter
17.88.001 Purpose.
(Added by Ordinance 177028; amended by Ordinance 182760, effective June 5, 2009.)
- The purpose of this chapter is to describe the requirements for a transportation impact study, to ensure an adequate level of street connections to serve land uses, and to ensure that improvements to these streets are made in conjunction with development consistent with fire, life safety, and access needs.
17.88.010 Definitions.
- As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the following definitions:
- A. "Exceptional Habitat Quality" for connectivity purposes:
- 1. Riparian-associated wetlands protected with environmental zones;
- 2. Locally or regionally rare or sensitive plant communities;
- 3. Important forest stands contributing multiple functions and values to the adjacent water feature habitats of sensitive, threatened or endangered wildlife species; or
- 4. Habitats that provide unusually important wildlife functions, such as (but not limited to) a major wildlife crossing/runway or a key migratory pathway.
- B. "Mixed-Use Area" is compact development that allows a mix of uses, either within buildings or among buildings, and includes residential development as one of the potential components. Mixed-use areas include all commercial/mixed-use zones (CR, CM1, CM2, CM3, CE, CX), the EX, Central Employment Zone, and the Campus Institutional Zones (CI1, CI2, and IR). All other employment zones, industrial zones, and the Open Space Zone are not included.
- C. "Significant alterations" are changes to property that are 35 percent or greater than the assessed value of all improvements on the site. Mandatory improvements for fire, life safety and accessibility do not count toward the threshold.
- D. “Single-family residential zone” means any of the Single-Dwelling Zones identified in Title 33 of the City Code.
- E. “Frontage” means the length of public right-of-way adjacent to a property, measured in feet, but does not apply to collectors, arterials, or alleyways.
- F. “Unimproved street” means any local street without a curb other than a local street that has been formally accepted by the Bureau of Transportation as having been fully built to an adopted Residential Shared or Residential Separated City street standard that does not require a curb.
- G. “Local street” means any street classified as a Local Service Street in the City’s adopted Transportation System Plan.
- H. “Subdivision” means a division of land into four or more lots.
- I. “Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge” is a charge collected to fund improvements to the City’s network of unimproved local streets and adjacent or related transportation facilities.
17.88.020 For Buildings and Planning Actions.
- All building permits and planning actions are subject to the following:
- A. No single family, multiple dwelling, industrial or commercial building shall be constructed, or altered so as to increase its number of occupants, or make significant alterations to a building without resulting in increased occupancy, on property that does not have direct access by frontage or recorded easement with not less than 10 feet width of right‑of‑way to a street used for vehicular traffic.
- B. If a street adjacent to a property described in Subsection A. above does not have a standard full-width improvement, including sidewalks, the owner, as a condition of obtaining a building permit, conditional use, zone change, land partition or adjustment, shall provide for such an improvement or a portion thereof as designated by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation in accordance with provisions elsewhere in this Title. The payment of a Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge will satisfy the requirements of this Subsection.
- C. Based on findings that a standard improvement is not feasible, the Director of the Bureau of Transportation may allow a temporary improvement appropriate for the circumstances, on the condition that the City will not maintain said temporary improvement and the owner will provide the City with a notarized document, approved as to form by the City Attorney, to be filed with the County in which property is located, stating that the present and future owners will be counted in favor of any proposed standard improvement of said street. Fee for said filing and any other expense of the City incidental to accomplishing the temporary improvement shall be paid by the owner.
17.88.030 Location of Multiple Dwellings.
(Replaced by Ordinance 177028; amended by Ordinance 182760, effective June 5, 2009.)
- Unless permitted as part of an approved Planned Development the Council permits by ordinance, no multiple dwellings or accessory building shall be so located on any lot, block, tract or area within the City that any portion of the dwelling or building will be more than 250 feet from a dedicated street abutting the lot or block or that portion of a tract or area on which the multiple dwelling or accessory building shall have direct access to such street by way of an approved roadway.
17.88.040 Through Streets.
(Replaced by Ordinance 177028; amended by Ordinance 184957, effective November 25, 2011.)
- Street connectivity provides access to adjacent properties and reduces out-of-direction travel. New or expanding development must include the following:
- A. Through streets as required by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation connecting existing dedicated streets, or at such locations as designated by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation, shall be provided for any development or redevelopment.
- B. Partial-width streets as required by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation where full-width streets could reasonably be provided in the future with the development or redevelopment of abutting property.
- C. New residential development or development in existing or future mixed-use areas that will require construction of new street(s) must:
- 1. Respond to and expand on the adopted street plans, applicable to the site or area, or in the absence of such plan, as directed by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation;
- 2. Provide for street connections no further apart than 530 feet, except where prevented by barriers such as topography, railroads, freeways, pre-existing development, or natural features where regulations do not allow construction of or prescribe different standards for streets;
- 3. Provide bicycle and/or pedestrian connections when full street connections are not possible, no further apart than 330 feet except where prevented by barriers as noted above;
- 4. Limit the use of cul-de-sac or closed street systems; and
- 5. Include street cross section(s), as directed by the Director of the Bureau of Transportation.
- D. Street and pedestrian/bicycle spacing standards may be modified in areas of exceptional habitat quality to the following standards:
- 1. Where streets must cross over protected water features, provide crossings at an average spacing of 800 to 1,200 feet, unless exceptional habitat quality or length of crossing prevents a full street connection.
- 2. Pedestrian and bicycle connections that cross protected water features should have an average spacing of no more than 530 feet, unless exceptional habitat quality or length of crossing prevents a connection.
17.88.050 Transportation Impact Study.
(Replaced by Ordinance 177028, effective December 14, 2002.)
- The traffic impacts of dividing or developing land may warrant a transportation impact study. The purpose of a transportation impact study is to assess the effects of development in the vicinity of a site on traffic conditions and operations; transit, pedestrians, and bicycle movement; and neighborhood livability. A transportation impact study may be required under the following situations:
- A. Where approval criteria for a land use review include a requirement of adequacy of transportation services and the development proposed through the review meets or exceeds the following thresholds:
- 1. Trip generation threshold. More than 100 new vehicle trips will be generated in the peak direction (inbound or outbound) during the site's peak traffic hour; or
- 2. Neighborhood traffic threshold. More than 250 new trips will be generated per day that are likely to use predominately residential Local Service Traffic Streets.
- B. Safety or operational impacts. Where the City Engineer has identified potential safety or operational concerns that may be impacted by the layout of a site or the location or size of driveways for a proposed development.
17.88.060 Dedication Prior to Permit Approval.
(Added by Ordinance 177028; amended by Ordinance 182760, effective June 5, 2009.)
- No permit shall be issued for the construction of any dwellings or buildings upon any lot, block, tract or area within the City until required dedications, as outlined in this Chapter, are complete.
17.88.070 Routes of Travel in Park Areas.
(Added by Ordinance 177028; amended by Ordinance 182760, effective June 5, 2009.)
- The Bureau of Transportation, may, upon the request of the Commissioner In Charge of the Bureau of Parks and Recreation, take over and perform the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of any boulevards, roadways, drives, paths, trails, walks or other routes of travel in park areas of the City. The transfer of such responsibility to the Bureau of Transportation shall not operate to remove the routes of travel from the jurisdiction and control of the Bureau of Parks and Recreation, and the planning and location of new routes shall remain the responsibility of, and in the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Parks and Recreation.
17.88.080 Special Requirements for East Corridor Plan District.
(Repealed by Ordinance 189651, effective September 6, 2019.)
17.88.090 Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge Required.
- A. Project applicability. Applicants for the following projects within a single-family residential zone must pay the Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge, except as exempted by this Code or associated administrative rule:
- 1. Building permit. An applicant for a building permit to construct a new, single family building; a new building with up to six units; or another type of construction project that will increase the number of units to six on the site.
- 2. Land division. An applicant for approval to create multiple lots other than as part of a subdivision on real property.
- B. The Bureau of Transportation will assess a Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge according to the total number of linear feet of unimproved street frontage. The charge will be based on the average, location-specific, actual cost to the City to build local street improvements to City standards at the time of application. The City may establish zone-specific, per-lot maximum numbers of linear feet of unimproved street frontage subject to the Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge.
- C. Payment of a Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge will exempt the property subject to the application from future Local Transportation Infrastructure Charges.
- D. Local Transportation Infrastructure Charges will be collected and administered by the Bureau of Transportation. The Director of the Bureau of Transportation may establish rules and procedures for the Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge.
- E. An applicant may not appeal under Chapter 17.06 of this Code the City’s assessment of a Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge except as provided by administrative rule.
- F. Affordable housing is exempt from Local Transportation Infrastructure Charges to the same extent and in the same manner that it is exempt from system development charges under this Code.