(A) (1) A transportation analysis is generally required for:
(a) Any development which proposes to take direct access to any collector or arterial road.
(b) Any residential development which will exceed 20 dwelling units.
(c) Any use which will generate in excess of either 250 trips per acre per day or 100 trips per day.
(2) The Planning Commission may waive the requirements for a transportation analysis or any specific element of a transportation analysis should the Planning Commission determine the project will not have the scope to warrant the analysis.
(B) The transportation analysis must include the minimum information:
(1) An estimate of the average daily number of automobile and truck trips generated by the project when completed and fully occupied.
(2) An explanation of the current traffic volume and capacity of the roadway for which the use is proposed to access as well as the impact of the proposed development on the current traffic volume and capacity of the roadway which the development is proposed to access. Such analysis must describe the level of service impact on any roadway.
(3) An explanation of the impact of the development on all intersections of public and private roadways within one-half mile of the proposed development. Such analysis shall clearly describe the level of service impact on any intersection.
(4) A plan which describes all existing roadway features including traffic signs, pavement markings, road way width, traffic signals as well as all proposed new access points and their design features and an on-site circulation and parking plan including on-site traffic control signs and pavement markings. Such plan also must include existing and proposed pedestrian traffic patterns and improvements.
(C) All baseline assumptions and data sources must be approved by the City Engineer.
(D) The transportation analysis must assess and provide average daily and peak hour impacts and level of service impacts of new development. Such assessment must include the cumulative impact of the new use, existing uses and possible future uses and traffic volumes. Such information must be source documented.
(E) The city hereby establishes a level of service (LOS) “C” as the minimum acceptable level of service for all signalized and unsignalized intersections and street segments within the traffic study area. Definition of the various levels of service shall be as defined in the most recent addition of the Highway Capacity Manual, published by the Transportation Research Board.
(1) No development project shall cause a LOS to decrease by more than one grade.
(2) For intersections and street segments currently operation at or below LOS “C”, the existing baseline LOS must be maintained or improved after development.
(F) The following general policies should be demonstrated through the transportation analysis when appropriate:
(1) Commercial traffic should avoid the use of local residential streets;
(2) Entrance and exit drives should be arranged to be located on streets that are least congested or hazardous and designed to have sufficient capacity to prevent queuing of vehicles on any street and with proper grades alignments and site distances for safe, convenient and efficient traffic movement;
(3) Provision of driveway connections to adjoining lots when such driveways would allow cars to travel between two existing uses without going back into a public street;
(4) Minimize the number of driveway connections to the street to further facilitate traffic flow on the street; and
(5) Demonstrate compliance with the city Comprehensive Plan.
(G) The Planning Commission may, upon the advice of the City Engineer, require on and/or off-site improvements or the payment of a portion of the cost of improvements, necessary to accommodate the amount and type of traffic generated by the proposed use, and to maintain the LOS standards. Typical traffic improvements may included, but are not limited to, turning lanes, traffic directional islands, frontage roads, and other driveway and traffic control mechanisms designed to reduce traffic hazards. Upon advice of the City Engineer, the Planning Commission shall also have the discretion to determine the proportionate costs to be charged to the development project for future traffic improvements that are required to mitigate the cumulative effects of proposed and future development on the transportation system, even though the proposed development may not, by itself, cause the LOS to degrade below the established LOS standards.
(H) When the Planning Commission deems it necessary to cause special studies to be made, they may call upon the appropriate technical expertise and the applicant shall bear all direct and related costs.
('65 Code, § 1323.35) (Am. Ord. 97-064, passed 8-19-97; Am. Ord. 99-133, passed 12-21-99)