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(a) General. New development in the Transit Center District Plan area will create substantial new burdens on existing streets and transportation systems and require the need for new and enhanced transportation services and improvements to rights-of-way for all modes of transportation. The downtown is a very dense urban environment with limited roadway capacity and is already substantially congested and impacted by existing patterns of movement. To accommodate the substantial growth anticipated in the Transit Center District Plan Area, public transit investments must be made, circulation patterns adjusted, and limited right-of-way space reallocated such that trips to and through the area are primarily made by public transit, walking, bicycling, and carpooling and such that these modes are enabled to maintain or improve efficiency and attractiveness in the face of increasing traffic congestion. The Transit Center District Plan identified necessary investments and improvements to achieve these modal objectives and ensure that growth in trips resulting from new development and population increase in the Plan area does not degrade existing services. The Transit Center District Plan Transportation Nexus Study, San Francisco Planning Department Case No. 2007.0558U on file with the Clerk of the Board in File No. _______, calculated the proportional share of the cost of these improvements attributable to new growth based on accepted professional standards. The investments and improvements identified in the Transit Center District Plan and allocated in the nexus study are distinct and in addition to improvements and services related to the Transit Impact Development Fee (TIDF) imposed by Section 411et seq. Whereas the TIDF funds improvements to SFMTA Municipal Railway public transit services and facilities to provide sufficient capacity required to serve new development, the Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Fee covers impacts of new development in the District on regional transit services and facilities that are distinct from and in addition to the need for SFMTA public transit services, and that will not funded by the TIDF, including necessary improvements to area streets to facilitate increases in all modes of transportation due to development, including walking, bicycling, and carpooling, and to regional transit facilities, including the Downtown Rail Extension and downtown BART stations. The Board finds that there is no duplication in these two fees. To provide the City and County of San Francisco and regional transit agencies with the financial resources to provide transportation facilities and street improvements necessary to serve the burgeoning population of downtown San Francisco, a Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Fund shall be established as set forth herein. The Board of Supervisors adopts the findings of the Downtown Open Space Nexus Study in accordance with the California Mitigation Fee Act, Government Code 66001(a) on file with the Clerk of the Board in File No. _______.
(b) Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Impact Fee. Development impact fees are an effective approach to mitigate impacts associated with growth in population. The proposed Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Impact Fee shall be dedicated to public transportation and public street improvements in the Transit Center District Plan Area and adjacent downtown areas that will provide direct benefits to the property developed by those who pay into the fund, by providing necessary transportation and street improvements needed to serve new development.
The fee rate has been calculated by the Planning Department based on accepted professional methods for the calculation of such fees, and described fully in the Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Nexus Study. San Francisco Planning Department. Case No. 2007.0558U on file with the Clerk of the Board in File No. _______.
The proposed fee established in Sections 424.7et seq., is less than the maximum justified fee amount as calculated by the Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Nexus Study necessary to provide transportation and street improvements to increasing population in the area. While no project sponsor would be required to pay more than the maximum amount justified for that project as calculated in the Nexus Study, the Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Fee is tiered such that denser projects are assessed higher fees because it is economically feasible for such projects to pay a higher proportion of the maximum justified amount. The proposed fee covers only the demand for transportation and street improvements created by new development and is not intended to remedy existing deficiencies. The cost to remedy existing deficiencies will be paid for by public, community, and other private sources as described in the Transit Center District Transportation and Street Improvement Nexus Study and the Transit Center District Plan Implementation Document. Impact fees are only one of many revenue sources necessary to provide transportation and street improvements in the Plan Area.