(A) In lieu of either providing the public facility improvements or waiting for public facilities to become adequate as provided in § 1-20-11, the developer of a limited impact development shall have the option of contributing money to an escrow account as set forth in this section, provided the Planning Commission determines that the developer has fulfilled each of the requirements of this section for such contribution.
(B) The amount of money the developer shall be required to place in the escrow account (whether the escrow account is established or to be established) for its limited impact development shall be the proportionate share of the costs attributable to that limited impact development of making the road improvements required to satisfy the roads adequacy requirements in § 1-20-31 for that limited impact development. This proportionate share shall be based on an equitable allocation of traffic trips in the peak hour, and in the critical direction or movement, that the proposed limited impact development is estimated to cause, when measured against and accounting for the additional capacity that the proposed road improvement will create. In arriving at the equitable allocation for that limited impact development, the Planning Commission shall consider the traffic impact of the limited impact development as it relates to the entire road improvement being proposed. The Planning Commission shall determine the equitable allocation based on the procedures outlined in the Guidelines.
(C) The limited impact development applicant may request that the proposed road improvement be designed or re-designed to create more new capacity than that which is required for that limited impact development to satisfy the adequacy requirements in § 1-20-31, if the Planning Commission determines that the road link or intersection to be improved by the road improvement will require greater improvement to accommodate other additional future development in the area consistent with the County Comprehensive Plan.
(D) Once a road improvement is approved for a particular road link or intersection and an escrow account is established, subsequent development applications for limited impact developments shall either: (i) contribute its equitable allocation of the approved road improvement to that escrow account, until such time that the account is closed by the county; or (ii) build the approved road improvement.
(E) The Planning Commission shall approve the escrow account contribution request for a limited impact development if the Planning Commission determines (based on the approved TIA and the Guidelines) that it would not be equitable to impose the entire cost of the required road improvements on that limited impact development because it would not have a substantial adverse impact on traffic.
(F) The Planning Commission may approve a fee-in-lieu escrow account contribution request, as determined by the state or county, which shall not be subject to proportionate share requirements, if the constructed improvements necessary to establish adequacy are practically infeasible due to circumstances beyond the control of the applicant but which may be feasible if constructed as a public or a public-developer partnership project. The applicant shall provide justification for the request and the proposed fee-in-lieu payment shall be consistent with the scope of the project, but not less than 5 percent of the estimated cost of the improvements.
(G) The Planning Commission may disapprove the escrow account contribution request for a limited impact development which will impact a roadway by between 15% and 30% of one level of service, if the Planning Commission determines that 50% or more of the escrow account funds, including the limited impact development applicant's proportionate share, have been accumulated in an escrow account for that road improvement. In determining whether a development has a limited impact, the Planning Commission shall consider the general requirement in § 1-20-6(B) that the developer not avoid the intent of this chapter by submitting piecemeal applications and may deny an escrow request for a piecemeal application.
(H) Once an escrow account is established, any non-exempt developer generating more than 5 trips during the peak hour of the adjacent street, as defined in § 1-20-5, having an impact on the road improvement project shall be required to pay its proportionate share into the escrow account or, if applicable, make the road improvements as provided in § 1-20-11 to gain adequate public facilities approval to allow development to proceed.
(I) The escrow account shall be maintained by the county in an interest bearing account and shall be used solely for road improvements benefitting the property as determined by the county. While in most cases the escrow payments will be explicitly allocated to specific improvements at certain locations, escrow funds may be reallocated for any transportation improvements within the same link or intersection, as outlined in the Guidelines, so long as the transportation improvements provide an identifiable benefit to the roadway links or intersections affected by that development. If, after 10 years from the date of the first escrow account contribution, the county determines that there is no reasonable probability of implementing the transportation improvements described above in the next 6 years, the escrow account may be closed. The funds in the escrow account may be transferred to another escrow account within the same planning region, at the discretion of the Planning Commission, for the purpose of constructing other unbuilt escrow account projects. If the money paid into an escrow account for road improvements exceeds actual costs, the applicant may seek a refund. Any application for refund must be filed with the Director of Finance within 1 year of the time at which the funds become available for refund.
(J) If the Planning Commission approves an escrow fund for road improvements under this section and the development meets all other requirements under this chapter, then the Planning Commission shall grant APFO approval to the development.
(K) If a developer constructs road improvements for which an escrow account has been established pursuant to this section, the funds in the escrow account shall not be transferred to any other improvement and shall be made available to the developer to defray the construction costs of the improvements minus that developer's proportionate share of the improvement in a manner outlined in the Guidelines.
(L) A county, state or municipal government agency may participate in the construction of or reimbursement for road improvements for which an escrow account has been established.
(Ord. 95-06-130, 5-16-1995; Ord. 98-03-205, 3-17-1998; Ord. 08-03-479, 1-8-2008; Ord. 09-20-524, 7-7-2009; Ord. 10-26-561, 11-9-2010; Ord. 11-21-587, 9-6-2011; Ord. 11-25-591, 10-27-2011; Ord. 14-23-678, 11-13-2014; Bill No. 22-17, 10-25-2022)