Spokane Municipal Code

Title 17D City-wide Standards

Chapter 17D.075 Transportation Impact Fees

As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise. Terms otherwise not defined herein shall be defined pursuant to RCW 82.02.090, or given their usual and customary meaning.

1. “Accessory dwelling unit” means a dwelling unit that has been added onto, created within, or separated from a single-family detached dwelling for use as a complete independent living unit with provisions for cooking, eating, sanitation, and sleeping.

2. “Act” means the Growth Management Act, as codified in chapter 36.70A RCW, as now in existence or as hereafter amended.

3. “Applicant” means the owner of real property according to the records of the Spokane County, or the applicant’s authorized agent.

4. “Baseline study” means the 2008 transportation baseline study that has been developed by HDR Engineering and Planning, City Project No. 2005155.

5. “Building permit” means the official document or certification that is issued by the building department and that authorizes the construction, alteration, enlargement, conversion, reconstruction, remodeling, rehabilitation, erection, tenant improvement, demolition, moving or repair of a building or structure.

6. “Capital facilities” means the facilities or improvements included in the capital facilities plan.

7. “Capital facilities plan” means the capital facilities plan element of the City’s comprehensive plan adopted pursuant to chapter 36.70A RCW, as amended from time to time.

8. “Certificate of occupancy” means the term as defined in the International Building Code. In the case of a change in use or occupancy of an existing building or structure which may not require a building permit, the term shall specifically include certificate of occupancy and for residential development the final inspection, as those permits are defined or required by this code.

1. “City” means the City of Spokane.

10. “City council” means the city council of the City of Spokane.

11. “Comprehensive plan” means the City of Spokane comprehensive plan adopted pursuant to chapter 46.70A RCW, as amended from time to time.

12. “Complete street” means a landscaped, tree-lined street corridor designed for multiple modes of transportation, consistent with SMC 17C.124.035. Complete streets balance the various needs of pedestrian and vehicular use. Some include bicycle and transit improvements as well. Pedestrian amenities on Complete streets may include street furniture, decorative lighting, wide sidewalks with curb extensions (bulb-outs) at street corners, decorative crosswalks, public art, outdoor restaurants, plazas, and improved sidewalk-building interfaces (e.g., awnings, street-oriented retail activity).

13. “Concurrent” or “concurrency” means that the public facilities are in place at the time the impacts of development occur, or that the necessary financial commitments are in place, which shall include the impacts fees anticipated to be generated by the development, to complete the public facilities necessary to meet the specified standards of service defined in the comprehensive plan within six years of the time the impacts of development occur.

14. “Department” means the department of engineering services.

15. "Development activity" means any construction or expansion of a building, structure, or use, or any change in use of a building or structure, or any changes in the use of land, that creates additional demand and need for public facilities.

16. “Development approval” means any written authorization from the City that authorizes the commencement of development activity.

17. “Director” means the director of engineering services, or the director’s designee.

18. “Dwelling unit” means a single unit providing complete and independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent facilities for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation needs.

19. “Encumbered” means to have reserved, set aside or otherwise earmarked the impact fees in order to pay for commitments, contractual obligations, or other liabilities incurred for public facilities.

20. “Feepayer” is a person, corporation, partnership, an incorporated association, or any other similar entity, or department or bureau of any governmental entity or municipal corporation commencing a land development activity that creates the demand for additional public facilities, and which requires the issuance of a building permit. “Feepayer” includes an applicant for an impact fee credit.

21. “Gross floor area” is the total square footage of all floors in a structure as defined in chapter 17A.020 SMC.

5. “Hearing examiner” means the person who exercises the authority of chapter 17G.050 SMC.

23. ”Impact fee” means a payment of money imposed upon development as a condition of development approval to pay for public facilities needed to serve new growth and development, and that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public facilities, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the public facilities, and that is used for facilities that reasonably benefit the new development. “Impact fee” does not include a reasonable permit fee, an application fee, or the cost for reviewing independent fee calculations.

10. “Impact fee account” or “account” means the account(s) established for each service area for the system improvements for which impact fees are collected. The accounts shall be established pursuant to this chapter, and shall comply with the requirements of RCW 82.02.070.

25. “Independent fee calculation” means the impact fee calculation and or economic documentation prepared by a feepayer to support the assessment of an impact fee other than by the use of schedule set forth in SMC 17D.075.180, or the calculations prepared by the Director where none of the fee categories or fee amounts in the schedules in this chapter accurately describe or capture the impacts of the new development on public facilities.

26. “Interest” means the interest rate earned by local jurisdictions in the State of Washington local government investment pool, if not otherwise defined.

27. “Interlocal agreement” or “agreement” means a transportation interlocal agreement, authorized in this chapter, by and between the City and other government agencies concerning the collection and expenditure of impact fees, or any other interlocal agreement entered by and between the City and another municipality, public agency or governmental body to implement the provisions of this chapter.

54. “ITE manual” means Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (7^th Edition), as amended from time to time.

81. “Owner” means the owner of real property according to the records of the Spokane County department of records and elections, provided that if the real property is being purchased under a recorded real estate contract, the purchaser shall be considered the owner of the real property.

108. “Pass-by trip rates” means those rate study pass-by rates set forth in SMC 17D.075.200.

135. “Proportionate share” means that portion of the cost of public facility improvements that are reasonably related to the service demands and needs of new development.

162. “Project improvements” means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development and that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements. No improvement or facility included in the City’s capital facilities plan shall be considered a project improvement.

189. "Public facilities" means publicly owned streets and roads, including related sidewalk and streetscape improvements required by the City’s comprehensive plan and related development regulations.

216. “Rate study” means the 2007 transportation impact fee rate study, dated October 26, 2007, as updated and amended from time to time.

243. “Residential” means housing, such as single-family dwellings, accessory dwelling units, apartments, condominiums, mobile homes, and/or manufactured homes, intended for occupancy by one or more persons and not offering other services.

270. “Square footage” means the square footage of the gross floor area of the development as defined chapter 17A.020 SMC.

297. “Service area” means one of the five geographic areas defined by the City in which a defined set of public facilities provide service to development within each of the identified areas. The City has identified the service areas, based on sound planning and engineering principles. These service areas are generally referred to as the downtown service area, the northwest service area, the northeast service area, and the south service area. Maps depicting the service areas are set forth in SMC 17D.075.190 and shall also be maintained by the director in the offices of the engineering services department and shall be available for public inspection during regular business hours.

324. “System improvements” means public facilities included in the capital facilities plan and are designed to provide service to service areas within the community at large, in contrast to project improvements.

351. “Trip length adjustment factor” means the trip length adjustment factors identified in SMC 17D.075.200.

Date Passed: Monday, September 16, 2019

Effective Date: Saturday, November 2, 2019

ORD C35811 Section 1