Paradise Municipal Code Ch. 10.36 Trip Reduction Programs

The town council finds and determines that:

A. The town is projected to experience an increase in employment and population growth over the next twenty years, which will result in a significant increase in peak hour traffic volumes.

B. Home-to-work employee commuting generates a significant level of vehicle trips, thereby contributing to traffic congestion, air pollution and energy consumption problems.

C. The conventional response to relieving traffic congestion by expanding the capacity of the roadway system is no longer appropriate as the sole solution due to increasing construction and maintenance costs and decreasing revenues for such expenditures.

D. Ridesharing, transit and bicycle usage among home-to-work trips are simple, inexpensive alternative means of reducing peak-hour, single-occupant motor vehicle trips. An increase in such trips can be expected to result in a reduction in traffic congestion, air pollution and energy consumption related to employment in the town.

E. While employers have traditionally provided parking facilities to accommodate employee vehicles, such employers should also be required to provide programs and incentives to encourage and accommodate ridesharing, transit, bicycle and pedestrian commuting employees. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The purpose of this chapter is to establish requirements and procedures whereby major employers located in the town will develop and implement programs designed to reduce the number of employee vehicles commute trips as part of a broad areawide program to achieve the following objectives:

A. Reduce peak-hour traffic circulation and congestion by reducing the number of single occupant motor vehicle trips associated with home-to-work commuting;

B. Reduce or delay the need for major transportation facility improvements by making more efficient use of existing facilities;

C. Reduce future air pollution concentrations and strive towards meeting federal ambient air pollution standards by reducing the number of single-occupant motor vehicle trips associated with home-to-work commuting;

D. Reduce consumption of energy for transportation uses and thereby contribute to the national policy to increase energy self-sufficiency. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Unless the context indicates otherwise, the following definitions shall govern the meaning of those terms used in this chapter:

"Administrator" means the town of Paradise town manager or his/her designated representative.

"Common business location" means a single building, group of buildings, or work stations at a single site or contiguous site.

"Commuter matching service" means any system whether by computer, manual or mapping methods, which matches commuters residing in one common area, working in another common area, and having approximately the same work schedule.

"Employee transportation coordinator" means an employee, tenant, property manager, property owner, or other appropriate person who has been designated to perform various duties related to meeting the transportation needs of employees of a firm, common work location, or other geographic employment area.

"Employer" means a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association, cooperative, joint venture, agency, department, district or other individual entity, either public or private, carrying on an enterprise or conducting any other activity, whether or not for profit.

"Preferential parking" means a program of selecting, assigning or designating vehicle parking spaces in which priority in the selection, assignment or designation is given to specific classes of vehicles such that vehicles in that class may be parked in locations considered by the vehicle operator to be the best or most desirable location.

"Regular employee" means any employee who works for a business, firm, agency, or other person for three or more days per week and four or more hours per day. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Except as provided in Section 10.36.050, no employer shall employ one hundred or more persons at a common business location within the town without first applying for and obtaining a trip reduction permit. Said permit must be obtained within one hundred eighty days of notification, as described in Section 10.36.080.

When a particular employer has more than one common business location within the town with each location employing one hundred or more persons, that employer may apply for, and, subject to satisfactorily meeting requirements of Section 10.36.140, may be granted a single trip reduction permit applicable to all business locations described in the approved permit. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the following uses and activities shall be specifically exempt from provisions of this chapter.

A. Employers who employ fewer than one hundred persons in the town;

B. Temporary construction activities, including activities performed by engineers, architects, contractors, subcontractors and construction workers when such activities are related to the construction, development or other improvement of real property;

C. Emergency activities in which persons are employed to render aid or other services in the event of an emergency or natural disaster;

D. Other temporary activities which employ persons for a period of less than ninety days. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The administrator shall be authorized to issue a trip reduction permit based on satisfactory compliance with the requirements of Section 10.36.140. The administrator shall be authorized to establish reasonable administrative procedures to implement provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The town may, by resolution, and from time to time, prescribe fees for the issuance and renewal of trip reduction permits. Such fees shall be for the sole purpose of defraying costs incurred in the administration of this chapter.

All fees for the issuance and renewal of permits shall be paid at the time of and with the filing of the application with the administrator. No application shall be deemed valid or complete until all prescribed fees have been paid. Unless otherwise prescribed, fees shall not be refundable in whole or part whether or not a permit is issued or approval granted. Nor shall any fees be refundable in whole or part if a permittee ceases to operate under the permit in advance of the expiration date. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The administrator shall notify, in writing, all employers required by this chapter to obtain a trip reduction permit. Such notification shall be made in a timely manner based on the compliance schedule contained in Section 10.36.150 and shall contain at least the following information:

A. A statement that the recipient is required by this chapter to obtain a trip reduction permit.

B. A description of the requirements which the applicant must satisfy to obtain the permit.

C. A description of the procedures to apply for and obtain the permit. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

All applications for a trip reduction permit shall be filed with the community development department. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The application for a trip reduction permit shall be filed on a form and contain such information as prescribed by the administrator. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The administrator shall examine the application to determine whether the applicant complies with the requirements contained in Section 10.36.140. Inspection of the business location shall be conducted as necessary to determine compliance with said requirements. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The administrator shall act upon the application not later than twenty days after the date it is validly filed, unless the applicant has filed a written request with the administrator to extend the time in order that the applicant may submit additional information prior to action by the administrator.

The administrator shall issue the permit unless he/she finds, in writing, that the requirements contained in Section 10.36.140 have not been met. The administrator shall notify the applicant, in writing, of his/her decision to issue or not issue the permit. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Except as provided herein, all trip reduction permits shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance by the administrator. The administrator may issue a trip reduction permit which is valid for three years to any employer who has continuously maintained a valid trip reduction permit for two years or more. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

A. The granting of the trip reduction permit shall be based on satisfactory compliance with the following:

1. All employers employing one hundred to two hundred fifty people shall choose from Table 1, one item from Row A and one item from either Rows B, C or D.

2. All employers employing two hundred fifty to five hundred people shall choose from Table 1, two items from Row A, one item from Row B and one item from Row C or D.

3. All employers employing five hundred to one thousand five hundred people shall choose from Table 1, two items from Row A, two items from Row B and two items from Row C or D.

B. Those items chosen should be implemented within the compliance schedule ordained in Section 10.36.150.

Table 1 Trip Reduction Permit Options

(Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

The requirements of this chapter shall be implemented according to the following schedule:

A. Any person who files an application within the town for a general business license on or after January 1, 1996 shall be required to comply with provisions of this chapter.

B. Any employer who, on or after January 1, 1997 employs five hundred or more persons at a common business location, shall be required to comply with provisions of this chapter.

C. Any employer who, on or after January 1, 1996 employs two hundred fifty or more persons at a common business location, shall be required to comply with provisions of this chapter.

D. Any employer who, on or after January 1, 1996 employs one hundred or more persons at a common business location, shall be required to comply with provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Any employer or person may appeal the decision of the administrator regarding the issuance of a trip reduction permit directly to the Paradise town council. Such appeal must be made in writing no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of written notification by the administrator of his/her decision to issue or not to issue the permit pursuant to Section 10.36.120. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Any employer who, after proper notification as required in this chapter, fails to apply for a trip reduction permit, and any employer who, after making application for a trip reduction permit, employs one hundred or more persons without obtaining a trip reduction permit, as required in Section 10.36.040, shall be in violation of this chapter. The administrator shall notify such employer, in writing, that it is in violation of the chapter. The administrator shall also notify the town attorney and request appropriate legal action be taken. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)

Any person, firm, corporation or partnership, whether as a principal, agent, employee or otherwise, violating any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction. (Ord. 253 §1(part), 1995)