Palo Alto Municipal Code Ch. 16.46 Approval of Projects with Impacts on Traffic in the San Antonio/West…

The goal and purpose of this chapter is to regulate new development in the San Antonio/West Bayshore Area so as to assure that such new development bears a proportionate share of the cost of capital expenditures needed to provide operational improvements at certain intersections. The San Antonio/West Bayshore Environmental Impact Report (EIR) showed that these improvements are necessary to mitigate the demonstrated significant traffic impacts of such new development.

(Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be in effect:

(a) "Area" means the San Antonio/West Bayshore Area, as shown in Exhibit A attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter, and as generally bounded by U.S. Highway 101, Middlefield Road, Fabian Way and the city limits.

(b) "Gross square feet" means the square feet of all floors of a building, measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls, and including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, service and mechanical equipment rooms, and basement, cellar or attic areas deemed usable by the building official. Parking facilities accessory to a permitted or conditional use and located on the same site are excluded from gross square foot calculations.

(c) "Operational improvement" means any increase in roadway capacity or other physical change designed to improve the level of service of an intersection or street segment.

(Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

(a) This chapter shall apply to the following development in the area:

(1) Any new development of two hundred fifty gross square feet or greater on a site;

(2) Any development of two hundred fifty gross square feet or greater on a site that is converted from an exempt use to a nonexempt use.

(b) The following uses shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter:

(1) An on-site cafeteria, recreational facility, and/or day care facility to be provided for employees and/or their children and not open to the general public;

(2) An accessory hazardous materials storage facility;

(3) Residential uses;

(4) Temporary uses of less than six months' duration;

(5) The replacement of existing square footage of a nonexempt use. "Replacement" shall mean that the new use receives architectural review approval pursuant to Chapter 18.76 (Permits and Approvals) within one year of the previous use being demolished;

(6) Uses that have received architectural review approval pursuant to Chapter 18.76 (Permits and Approvals) on or before the date this chapter becomes effective.

(Ord. 4826 § 17, 2004: Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

(a) Estimated Improvements and Costs. The following operational improvements and their estimated costs were identified in the San Antonio/West Bayshore EIR:

(b) Estimated Development. Approximately four hundred fifty thousand gross square feet of new nonexempt development is allowed under the zonings established for the area.

(c) Calculation of Fee. In order for all new projects to bear proportionately the cost of the operational improvements in the area, a project shall pay a traffic impact fee of one dollar and twenty cents (five hundred forty thousand dollars divided by four hundred fifty thousand square feet) per gross square foot of development. This per-square-foot fee shall be adjusted on July 1, 1986 and annually thereafter by an amount equal to the change in the construction cost index for the preceding year, as determined by the Engineering News Record, the McGraw Hill Construction Weekly.

(d) Payment. The fee shall be paid as set forth in Chapter 16.64 of this code.

(e) Special Fund. A special San Antonio/West Bayshore Fund shall be established by the city where all traffic impact fees, and any interest thereon, collected pursuant to this chapter shall be held separate from all other city funds.

(f) Use of Funds. The moneys in the San Antonio/West Bayshore Fund shall be eligible for expenditure only for the operational improvements described in subsection (a) of this section or for alternative improvements in the area as determined by the chief transportation official, subject to the approval of the city council. In no case shall any of the moneys be used for regular road maintenance.

(Ord. 5400 § 3, 2016: Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

If a project is fifty thousand gross square feet or greater, the city may require a traffic analysis to be prepared to more specifically identify direct adverse traffic impacts generated by such a project. If specific improvements are identified that would mitigate any such adverse impacts, then the chief transportation official may require specific mitigation measures to be funded and/or built by the applicant for the project. If such specific mitigation measures are required, the cost of such measures shall be credited against the required traffic impact fee. If such specific mitigation measures are more costly than the required traffic impact fee, the project shall nevertheless be responsible for the specific mitigation measures.

(Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

(a) All remedies provided for in this chapter shall be cumulative and not exclusive.

(b) Violation of any provision of this chapter, including, but not limited to, converting an exempt use to a nonexempt use without tendering the appropriate traffic impact fee to the city, is a misdemeanor punishable as provided in this code.

(c) Each person or entity is guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted by such person or entity, and shall be punished accordingly.

(d) Any person or entity violating any provision of this chapter, including, but not limited to, converting an exempt use to a nonexempt use without tendering the appropriate traffic impact fee to the city, may be liable civilly in a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars for each day in which such violation occurs.

(e) Persons employed in the following designated employee positions are authorized to exercise the authority provided in California Penal Code Section 836.5 and are authorized to issue citations for violations of this chapter: development services director, director of planning and development services and their designees.

(Ord. 5494 § 3, 2020: Ord. 5400 § 4, 2016: Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)

If any provision or clause of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect any other chapter provision, and clauses of this chapter are declared to be severable.

(Ord. 3665 § 1 (part), 1986)