Farmersville Municipal Code Ch. 10.84 Transportation Demand Management Program

A. The purpose of this chapter is to promote the development of transportation demand management (TDM) programs at new employer worksites with fifty or more employees in order to reduce traffic impacts and improve air quality within the city. In order to accomplish that purpose, this chapter establishes certain reporting requirements to enable the city to evaluate the effectiveness of existing TDM programs and to chart progress citywide toward achieving the average vehicle ridership goals established in this chapter. It is also the purpose of this chapter to require certain employers to designate specified individuals to ensure the proper coordination of such reporting and implementation programs.

B. This chapter is intended to meet the requirements of Assembly Bills 1791 and 471, which mandate the development of a trip reduction and travel demand element of the Congestion Management Program adopted by the Tulare County Association of Governments/Transportation Planning Agency (TCAG/TPA). Further, the legislation requires all local agencies to prepare and adopt a TDM ordinance.

C. New office, commercial, industrial and multiuse development, including employment centers which employ the minimum number of persons set by this chapter may adversely impact existing transportation and parking facilities, resulting in increased motor vehicle emissions, deteriorating levels of service, and possibly significant additional capital expenditures to augment and improve the existing transportation system.

(Ord. 358 § 1(1)(part), 1992)

A. Traffic counts and engineering evaluations indicate that traffic congestion on regional streets and highways has risen, particularly during peak periods, and is projected to increase;

B. Federal and state air quality standards have been and continue to be exceeded in the region;

C. Increases in traffic cause increased air pollution and noise, fuel waste, vehicle wear, time losses and inconvenience, and thus negatively affect the quality of life and the economic health of the community;

D. The use of alternative work hours and alternatives to single-occupant vehicle travel, especially at peak periods, will reduce traffic congestion, parking demand and related air pollution, noise, fuel use, vehicle wear, time loss and inconvenience, thus making the city a more desirable and healthful place to live, work, visit and do business;

E. Transportation demand management (TDM) programs conducted by employers, and transportation management associations (TMAs), are reasonable, flexible and effective ways of increasing employee use of commute alternatives, thereby reducing the number of peak period single-occupant commuter trips;

F. To ensure that employer TDM programs reduce the number of peak period commuter trips and single-occupant vehicles, it is necessary to require all employers who employ or will likely employ fifty or more daytime employees at a worksite to achieve and maintain certain employee participation and vehicle occupancy rates;

G. State law establishing requirements for development of a countywide Congestion Management Program (AB 471 and 1791) mandates the inclusion of a trip reduction and travel demand element/ordinance;

H. Various efforts underway including the Congestion Management Program (CMP) recognize and encourage the use of transportation demand management (TDM) strategies to increase mobility and improve the general efficiency of the transportation system by enhancing vehicle flow and shifting demand on existing transportation facilities; and

I. Other trip reduction program requirements have been adopted for the region and are included in the 1992 SJVUAPCD AQAP.

(Ord. 358 § 1(1)(part), 1992)

As used in this chapter:

"Alternative transportation modes" means any mode of travel that serves as an alternative to the single-occupant vehicle. This can include all forms of ridesharing such as carpooling or vanpooling, as well as public transit, bicycling or walking.

"APCD" means the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District.

"Application project" means any development project that is determined to meet or exceed the fifty-employee threshold.

"Average vehicle ridership (AVR)" means the total number of employees assigned to a worksite, Monday through Friday, divided by the number of vehicles they drive from home to work. Credit may be given for employee work trips eliminated during a biweekly period due to the use of compressed workweek or telecommuting.

"Carpool" means two or more persons traveling together in a single vehicle.

"Commute" means a home-to-work or work-to-home trip.

"Commute alternatives" means any form of commute transportation except by single-occupancy vehicle.

"Commute coordinator" means an employee or contractor of an employer whose responsibility is the day-to-day management of any TDM program.

"Compressed workweek" means a work schedule for an employee which eliminates at least one round-trip commute biweekly. For example, forty hours of work in four ten-hour days, or a work plan that allows one day off every other week, known as the "nine-eighty plan."

"City engineer" means the chief engineer of the city or his/her duly authorized designee.

"Designee(s)" means any private entity or governmental agency designated by the city to administer all or any of the provisions of this chapter except those related to the bringing of enforcement actions under this chapter.

"Development project" means any nonresidential or mixed-use program which requires discretionary approval by the city.

"Director" means the director of the city community development department, or the designee of the director of the city community development department.

"Employee" means one who is assigned to the designated worksite. An employee who works in the service of an employer for either wages or salary, as a contract employee under the direction of the worksite employer or through a temporary service agency during a period of more than ninety days.

"Employer" means any public or private employer, including the city, which has a worksite in the city. For purposes of this chapter, the maximum number of employees on the day shift at the designated worksite shall determine the size of the employer.

"Flexible work hours" means a variation of an employee's work hours to provide an incentive for the employer to use commute alternatives.

"Improvement plans" means plans submitted to the city as part of an application for a building permit for the enlargement or expansion of new, existing or change of use (as defined by the Uniform Building Code) or any nonresidential building or use.

"Mixed-use development" means the development of a parcel(s) or structure(s) with two or more different land uses such as, but not limited to, a combination of limited residential, office, commercial retail, public or entertainment in a single or physically integrated group of structures.

"Peak period" means the hours from seven a.m. to nine a.m. and four p.m. to six p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. "Peak period trips" shall mean employees' commute trips to a worksite where the employees' work day begins.

"Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, partnership, association or other business entity, city, county, district, the state, any department or agency thereof, or the United States, to the extent authorized by law.

"Property owner" means the legal owner of the applicable development project who serves as lessor to an employee or tenant. The property owner shall be responsible for complying with the provisions of this chapter either directly or by delegating such responsibility as appropriate to an employer or tenant.

"Single-occupancy vehicle" means a motor vehicle occupied by one employee for commute purposes.

"Site development plan" means a plan of development that is subject to public hearing before the planning commission, zoning administrator or city engineer.

"Telecommuting" means a system of either working at home or at an off-site work station with computer facilities that link to the worksite.

"Transportation demand management (TDM)" means the provision of information, assistance, incentives or other measures designed to meet an average vehicle ridership (AVR) and which is intended to reduce the number of motorized vehicles driven to the worksite.

"Transportation facility design" means a plan implemented by an employer designed to carry out TDM.

"Transportation Management Association (TMA)" means an organization through which developers, employers and/or local governments cooperate in designing, implementing and evaluating a TDM program.

"Transportation system management (TSM)" means low-cost improvements to the transportation system (roads and transit) which increase the operational efficiency and/or capacity of the system.

"Trip reduction" means reducing the number of work-related trips taken during workweek hours in single-occupancy vehicles.

"Vanpool" means a van occupied by five or more persons traveling together.

"Worksite" means a building or group of buildings which are in actual physical contact or separated solely by a private roadway or easement and which are owned and operated by an employer.

"Zoning administrator" means the zoning administrator of the city as appointed by the city manager of the city.

(Ord. 358 § 1(13), 1992)

In order to more efficiently utilize the existing and planned transportation system and to reduce vehicle emissions, it is the intent of this chapter to:

A. Reduce the number of peak-period vehicle trips generated in association with additional development;

B. Promote and encourage the use of alternative transportation modes such as ridesharing, carpools, vanpools, public bus and rail transit, bicycles and walking, as well as those facilities which support such modes;

C. Achieve related reductions in vehicle trips, traffic congestion and public expenditure and achieve air quality improvements through utilization of existing local mechanisms and procedures for project review and permit processing;

D. Promote coordinated implementation of strategies on a citywide basis to reduce transportation demand; and

E. Achieve the most efficient use of local resources through coordinated and consistent regional and/or local transportation demand management programs.

(Ord. 358 § 1(1)(part), 1992)

The following AVR goals are established in order to achieve and measure progress toward a net increase in the use of commute alternatives and a reduction in vehicle trips to the worksite:

A. By July 1, 1994, AVR goal shall be 1.3;

B. By July 1, 1997, AVR goal shall be 1.4;

C. By July 1, 2000, AVR goal shall be 1.5.

(Ord. 358 § 1(2), 1992)

This chapter shall apply to all new development projects within the city with fifty or more employees that are estimated to generate, either in the project itself or as a result of adding the project to an existing development, the employment of the minimum number of persons, as determined by using the methodology set forth in subsection A of this section.

A. For purposes of determining whether a new development project is subject to this chapter, the total number of employees which the project is estimated to generate will be determined by the city as follows:

1. Employment projections developed by the project applicant, subject to approval by the city engineer or responsible staff;

2. Employment projections developed by the city engineer or responsible staff using the following generation factor by type of use:

3. The employment projection for a multiuse development shall be calculated on a case-by-case basis based upon the proportion of development devoted to each type of use;

4. The employment projections for land uses not identified in this section shall be determined pursuant to subsection A(1), above.

B. The legal owner of the property on which the new development project is planned shall be responsible for complying with the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 358 § 1(3), 1992)

As a condition of approval of any development project covered by the provisions of this chapter, the approving authority shall require the preparation, adoption and compliance with a TDM facility design program which will encourage increased ridesharing and alternative transportation modes, applicable to the specific development project. The components of a TDM facility design program may include any of the following standards and such other TDM facility strategies as may be appropriate to encourage and facilitate TDM opportunities or related air quality requirements:

A. Carpool/Vanpool Parking. A percentage of parking spaces, located as close as is practical to each entrance of the use such spaces are intended to serve or at other preferential locations within the employee parking area, may be reserved for use by carpool and vanpool vehicles, as determined by the approving authority. These spaces may be reserved and designated for carpool/vanpool parking by marking such spaces "Carpool Only."

B. Bicycle Parking. An area where bicycle racks shall be provided for use by employees and tenants who commute to the site by bicycle may be designated. The bicycle parking area may be established in a secure location and be in close proximity to employee entrances.

C. Transit Waiting Shelters. Transit waiting shelters, including bus pullouts, bus pads and right-of-way for bus shelters, may be required by the city for development projects located along high traffic volume streets and established or proposed bus routes. The applicability of this provision shall be determined in conformance with standard traffic engineering principles including, but not limited to, the frequency and relative impact of blocked traffic due to stopped buses and the level of transit ridership at the location.

D. Pedestrian Access. Sidewalks and other paved pathways may be provided on site to connect off-site external pedestrian circulation systems (planned or existing) to the building site. Sidewalk locations may integrate existing and planned waiting shelters with building entrance(s).

E. Bicycle Access. Implementation of the city's Bikeway Master Plan, if any, may be integrated with project review, to provision continuity and transition to existing and planned on-street and off-street bike trails.

F. Joint Access and Shared Parking. For applicable developments designed as a worksite, provision of joint access and shared parking across multiple parcels may be incorporated into project design to facilitate integration of TDM facility strategies.

G. Miscellaneous Optional Requirements. The following additional TDM mechanisms may be incorporated into the project design, taking into consideration project use(s), size and building size layout:

1. A commuter information area, located within the central building, to provide employees with information on alternative transportation modes. This area shall be centrally located and accessible to all employees or tenants and shall be of sufficient size to provide and display information on alternative transportation modes, such as current maps, routes and schedules for public transit;

2. Shower and locker facilities on site for use by employees or tenants who commute to the site by bicycling or walking;

3. Rideshare vehicle passenger loading and unloading areas to provide employees who vanpool or carpool to embark or disembark from rideshare vehicles, to and from the building site. The design and location of such loading areas shall consider on-site circulation characteristics, pedestrian access and building site entrances to provide for employee access;

4. On-site daycare facilities;

5. On-site lunch rooms/cafeterias;

6. On-site commercial services such as banks, restaurants and small retail uses;

7. Parking spaces designated for park-and-ride users.

(Ord. 358 § 1(4), 1992)

A. This chapter shall be implemented and enforced in accordance with customary methods and procedures of the city regarding developments.

B. The provisions of this chapter shall be administered by the city, or by any designee authorized by the city council to administer the provisions of this chapter on behalf of the city for enforcement of any provision of this chapter.

(Ord. 358 § 1(5), 1992)

A. For the purpose of meeting its obligations under this chapter, the city may impose on the subject property owner(s) the following fee:

1. A trip reduction/TDM plan review fee of one hundred dollars at the time of initial project application.

B. This shall be a fixed fee charged to all applicable developments for the purpose of defraying the costs of processing and reviewing the trip reduction (TDM) program. Fees shall be reviewed annually and may be adjusted from time to time as per the city's comprehensive fee schedule.

(Ord. 358 § 1(6), 1992)

An appeal may be made by the owner of any property on which an applicable development is planned of any decision made by the city pursuant to this chapter. Such an appeal shall be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in this code, as applicable .

(Ord. 358 § 1(7), 1992)

A. All projects which are determined to be subject to this chapter shall comply with any and all facility standards imposed by the city engineer pursuant to this chapter.

B. To the extent that any provision(s) of this chapter would otherwise apply to the development of property and the provision(s) ("new regulations") contain restrictions or limitations on the development of property greater than the provisions which existed immediately prior to the time the ordinance codified in this chapter became effective ("prior regulations"), the prior regulations shall continue to apply (and the new regulations shall not apply) to the construction, development or establishment of the following projects:

1. Any project:

a. Not otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter for which building plans were initially submitted to the city for plan check (the "initial plan check") prior to July 1, 1992, for purposes of obtaining building permit approval, and

b. For which a building permit is (was) subsequently issued pursuant to either the initial plan check or any subsequent plan check for any substantially similar building plans, and

c. For which construction is commenced within one year following the date of issuance of said building permit; or

2. Any project:

a. For which specific plans for development were finally approved by the zoning administrator, planning commission or city council pursuant to a zone reclassification, conditional use permit or zone variance ("discretionary approval") prior to July 1, 1992, and

b. For which a building permit is issued pursuant to and in accordance with such discretionary approval, and

c. For which construction is thereafter commenced and completed pursuant to and in accordance with the discretionary approval.

(Ord. 358 § 1(8), 1992)

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, the following uses and activities shall be specifically exempt from the provisions of this article:

A. Development projects expected to employ fewer than fifty persons;

B. Temporary construction activities on any affected project, including activities performed by engineers, architects, contract subcontractors and construction workers;

C. Other temporary activities as defined in the City Development Code, or as authorized by the city when such temporary activities shall discontinue at the end of the designated time period.

(Ord. 358 § 1(11), 1992)

Purpose. To waive the requirements of this chapter for those employers which participate in a TMA. The established TMA must meet the intent of this chapter. Should an employer no longer participate in a TMA, this chapter shall be applicable to his/her development immediately. As a result, the affected employer must comply with all sections of the chapter.

(Ord. 358 § 1(12), 1992)

A. For purposes of ensuring that applicable developments comply with the provisions of this chapter, the city shall, following written notice to subject property owner(s), initiate enforcement action(s) against such property owner(s) or designee(s) which may include, but not be limited to, the following to enforce compliance with the facilities standards under Section 10.84.060:

1. Withholding issuance of a building permit or certificate of use and occupancy;

2. Issuance of a stop work order.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to violate any provision or to fail to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter or failing to comply with any of its requirements shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each such person, firm or corporation shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each day during any portion of which any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted by such person, firm or corporation, and shall be punishable therefore as provided for in this chapter.

(Ord. 358 § 1(10), 1992)