(A) If a development application meets or exceeds the thresholds outlined in § 1-20-30, a traffic impact analysis (TIA) shall be prepared, and the Planning Commission shall determine if the road adequacy requirements of this chapter have been or will be met. The portion of existing road(s) required to be adequate shall be determined by the Division, based on the completed and signed Notice of Intent to Develop (NID), as required in the guidelines, and either a pre-study conference or documented correspondence between the county and the developer. The Division shall use the guidelines to adopt a reasonable study area based on sound traffic engineering knowledge of the site and the surrounding area. Upon finalization of the study area or scope, the Division shall make this documentation available to the public on the county website. Any disputes regarding study area or scope, whether raised prior to or after the adoption of a study area, shall be resolved by the Planning Commission.
(1) All freeway and expressway mainlines and the uninterrupted flow portion of ramps shall be exempt from the requirements herein.
(2) All other roads and intersections in the county shall be subject to the requirements herein.
(B) Review of the TIA shall be the responsibility of the Division or its designee. The Division will determine if the TIA adequately and accurately examines the existing roads and intersections within the identified study area or scope and determine if the TIA meets the provisions of this chapter, the Guidelines, and the policies of the Division. Upon acceptance of the TIA, the Division shall provide the completed documentation to the Planning Commission and make a copy available to the public on the county website.
(C) The TIA shall be prepared for the design hours, which are defined as the peak hours which will be most affected by the proposed development; i.e., any combination of a.m., mid-day, p.m., evening, weekend peak hour of the adjacent street, or peak hour of the generation by the land use as determined by the Division. The TIA shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Vehicle trip generation by the proposed development and traffic expected to be generated by approved development in the study area as outlined in the guidelines and as determined by the Division. The latest edition of the ITE "Trip Generation Manual" shall be used unless specifically applicable rates are identified in or permitted by the guidelines;
(2) LOS capacity analysis of all required roadway corridors, intersections and links for existing conditions and specified intermediate and future conditions with and without the proposed development as delineated in the guidelines;
(3) In cases where traffic safety is identified as an issue by the County, Sheriff's Office, or Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), reported traffic crashes for the last 3 years for which data is available;
(4) Transportation improvements currently fully funded for construction in the most recent CIP or CTP by or before the year of expected completion of the project or project phase, assuming the project buildout criteria in § 1-20-8;
(5) Other improvements approved and permitted by the county, state or a municipality, or under construction, with a certification by that agency that construction is likely to be completed concurrent with the opening of the development project; and
(6) Any other information that may reasonably be required by the Division to effectively evaluate the road network or application.
(D) All TIAs shall use the analysis procedures and methodologies set forth in the guidelines.
(E) Using methodologies specified in the guidelines, the following level of service criteria shall be met to determine road adequacy.
(1) For developments which are expected to generate greater than 100 total vehicle trips during the highest daily peak hour of the adjacent street traffic, then:
(a) Signalized intersections and roundabouts will be considered adequate if a LOS "D" or better is maintained.
(b) All other roadway links, unsignalized intersections and corridors, when required by the Division, based on sound traffic engineering principles, will be considered adequate if a LOS "D" or better is maintained, or mitigation is provided in accordance with the guidelines.
(2) For developments which are expected to generate 100 or fewer total vehicle trips during the highest daily peak hour of the adjacent street traffic, then:
(a) Signalized intersections and roundabouts located within designated growth boundaries in the County Comprehensive Plan will be considered adequate if a LOS "E" or better is maintained.
(b) Signalized Intersections and roundabouts located outside of these growth areas shall be considered adequate if a LOS "D" or better is maintained.
(c) All other roadway and ramp links, unsignalized intersections and corridors when required by the Division, based on sound traffic engineering principles, shall be determined to be acceptable if a LOS "D" or better is maintained or mitigation is provided in accordance with the guidelines.
(3) Upon sufficient justification by the applicant, the Planning Commission may modify the mitigation standard specified in paragraph (1) above, and apply the standard specified in paragraph (2). In making such decision, the Planning Commission must determine that the following criteria have been met:
(a) Regularly scheduled public transportation is available in the immediate area impacted by the proposed development; and
(b) The proposed location of the development is within designated growth boundaries in the County Comprehensive Plan.
(4) For land uses resulting in seasonal or irregularly scheduled special events or activities, which will generate relatively large amounts of traffic, generally not impacting the peak hour of the adjacent streets, adequacy may be determined by review of a traffic management plan (TMP), if required by the Division. The projected number of vehicle trips for each special event, the classification and character of the roads which will be utilized to transport vehicles to and from the event, and the number of days per year the event will be held, shall be considered. The TMP shall be in accordance with the guidelines and supplement the specific standards set forth in subsections (B) and (C) above, as determined by the Planning Commission. In the event the facility would also contain permanent regular uses, in addition to special events, the regular peak period uses of the facility must be reviewed and comply with all parts of this article.
(F) Master plan bicycle and/or pedestrian facilities, as well as any sidewalks, shall be constructed or improved if these facilities are either non-existent or deemed inadequate by the Division. The Planning Commission may approve a fee-in-lieu of an improvement if justified by the Developer.
(G) If the road facilities are determined to be inadequate to accommodate the traffic flow projected by the TIA, the preliminary plan or site plan approval shall be denied, except as provided for in § 1-20-10.
(H) Transportation facilities necessary to mitigate inadequacies shall be determined by the Planning Commission after reviewing the entire record, including the TIA, TMP, safety considerations, sight distance, horizontal curvature, vertical grades, roadway section, structural adequacy of roads and bridges, bike and pedestrian needs, and MDOT SHA comments; and improvements, when justified to support or complement the development, or mitigate its impacts, may be provided by the developer as prescribed in § 1-20-12.
(I) A development shall be responsible only for the construction of roadway improvements that mitigate those trips that will be generated by the development.
(J) If the development provides full mitigation (construction or fair share contribution to escrow accounts as required under the LOU or DRRA) of APFO road improvements for a development within the APFO approval period, the APFO road approval shall be vested for the capacity created by the improvements and shall not be subject to further APFO roadway testing unless there is an increase in site trips or a significant redistribution of site traffic because of a change in land use or increase in site density, as defined in the guidelines.
(Ord. 98-03-205, 3-17-1998; Ord. 01-13-287, 6, 6-12-2001; Ord. 06-04-400, 1-17-2006; Ord. 08-03-479, 1-8-2008; Ord. 09-20-524, 7-7-2009; Ord. 11-21-587, 9-6-2011; Ord. 14-23-678, 11-13-2014; Bill No. 22-17, 10-25-2022)