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Home My WebLink About1787 - Traffic Phasing OrdinanceORDINANCE NO. 1787 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH AMENDING CHAPTER 15.40 OF THE NEWPORT BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE TO CLARIFY THE PURPOSE OF THE ORDINANCE IN SECTION 15.40.020, AND ADDING OR CHANGING WORDING IN SECTIONS 15.40.030, 15.40.050 and 15.40.070 The City Council of the City of Newport Beach DOES ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 15.40 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code is amended to read: "CHAPTER 15.40 TRAFFIC PHASING ORDINANCE Sections: 15.40.010 Finding. 15.40.020 Purpose. 15.40.030 Traffic Impact Limitation. 15.40.040 Definitions. 15.40.050 Procedure. 15.40.060 Fees. 15.40.070 Appeal. 15.40.080 Severability. 15.40.010 Finding. The City Council of the City of Newport Beach finds that congestion of streets and inter- sections, traffic accidents, interference with emergency vehicles, and general overcrowding of existing neighborhoods have resulted, or will soon result, from inadequate phasing of commercial, industrial, and residential growth, in rela- tion to traffic capacity, which is harmful to the public health, safety and general welfare. 15.40.020 Purpose. The City Council of the City of Newport Beach declares that aggravation of these conditions can be avoided, eliminated or alleviated by enacting the following, designed to permit major development only in those areas of the City of Newport Beach where adequate transportation facilities exist, are being implemented, or will be installed in conjunction with the development which will accommodate the traffic generated by such development, or where other trip generation reductions are adopted which will alleviate traffic impacts. 15.40.030 Traffic Impact Limitation. (A) Limitation. No building or grading permit shall be issued, and no construction shall be commenced, for any project not exempt from this Chapter until the Planning Commission of the City of Newport Beach shall make a written finding that the pro- posed project (i) will neither cause nor make worse an unsatisfactory level of traffic service on any 'major,' 'primary- modified,' or 'primary' street; or (ii) shall be excepted pursuant to subsection (D) of this section; provided, however, that such finding shall state the exception granted and the facts which justify the exception. (B) Hearing. The Planning Commission shall hold a public hearing, noticed in the manner provided in Section 20.80.050(B) of the Newport Beach Municipal Code, and shall make its written findings supported by the weight of the. evidence. (C) Exemption. Any commercial or industrial project which has a gross floor area equal to or less than 10,000 square feet, or any residential project of 10 dwelling units or less shall be exempt from the requirement of this Chapter. -2- M • • (D) Exceptions. The Planning Commission shall except any project from the requirements of this Chapter: (i) if it shall find that the City has issued a building or grading permit for the project prior to the effective date of this Chapter and that the person to whom such permit was issued has in good faith and in reliance upon such permit diligently commenced construc- tion and performed and incurred substantial liabilities for work and materials necessary therefor. No change causing a substantial increase in traffic volumes may be made in such project, except in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter; (ii) if it shall find that traffic during any 2.5 hour peak traffic period on each leg of each critical intersection will be increased by less than 1% by traffic generated from the project during that 2.5 hour period; (iii) if, by a vote of four - fifths (4 /5ths), of the members eligible to vote, it shall make a decision, supported-by a written finding setting forth its reasons therefor, that the benefits of.the project, including trip generation reductions, outweigh the project's anticipated negative impact on transportation facilities. The City Council shall not grant the exception under this subsection (iii) on appeal or review until it shall have first made the findings required by this subsection supported by an affirmative vote of four - fifths (4 /5ths) of its members eligible to vote. (E) Action. The application for any building, grading, or other permit on a project, which is not exempt from this Chapter, shall be approved, conditionally approved, or denied within one year from the date on which said appli- -3- f cation has been received and accepted as complete by the City. Any appeal to the City Council from an . action by the Planning Commission on an application shall be made within the time periods set out in Sections 20.80.070 and 20.80.075 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code. In the event action is not taken on an application within the time limits hereof, such failure shall be deemed approval of the project which otherwise is consistent with the ordinances and General Plan of the City of Newport Beach. 15.40.040 Definitions. The following terms used in this Chapter shall have the meanings indicated below: UNSATISFACTORY LEVEL OF TRAFFIC SERVICE means peak period traffic service which is worse than Level of Service 'D' for one hour determined according to standard traffic engineering practices. PROJECT shall be determined by reference to the California Environmental Quality Act-[California Public Resources Code §21000 et seq.] and the administrative guidelines established thereunder. LEVEL OF SERVICE 'D' shall mean that level of traffic service set forth as 'Level of Service 'D'' in the Highway Capacity Manual (1965) or any subsequent edition thereof; provided, however, that such level of service shall not exceed the most appropriate of the following criteria, as applicable: (i) intersection capacity utilization of 0.90; (ii) other criteria selected by the City Traffic Engineer which are consistent with subsection (i), and 0 which have been reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission. -4- 0 • CRITICAL INTERSECTION shall mean any intersection operating at an unsatisfactory level of traffic service, either prior to or as a result of a project, on any 'major,' 'primary- modified,' or 'primary' street. 'MAJOR,' 'PRIMARY- MODIFIED,' or 'PRIMARY' street shall be defined by the General Plan of the City of Newport Beach Circulation Element. ELIGIBLE TO VOTE shall mean all members lawfully holding office except those disqualified from voting due to a confict of interest. 15.40.050 Procedure. Subject to review by the Planning Commission, the City Traffic Engineer, exercising professional discretion, shall: (A) Determine traffic periods, streets and inter- sections which will be significantly affected by the proposed project, taking into account the type, character, and location of the proposed project, as well as the character of the streets which will serve the project; (B) Determine if the project, when complete, will cause or make worse an unsatisfactory level of traffic services at any such street or intersection; (C) 1. Establish standard trip generation figures of project; 2. Establish criteria for calculating trip generation reductions which may result from specific measures proposed by the applicant. The Planning Commission shall specifically find that any such measures can be adequately quantified and guaranteed to assure the long -term validity of such reductions prior to their inclusion in the traffic analysis 3. Establish the bases for performing the traffic analysis at project completion; -5- (D) Transmit these determinations to the Planning Commission with recommendations. 15.40.060 Fees. The application shall be accompanied by a fee as established by resolution of the City Council to defray the expense of administering this Chapter. 15.40.070 Appeal. (A) Any determination of the Planning Commission shall be final unless there shall be an appeal by the applicant or any other person pursuant to the procedure set forth in Section 20.80.070 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code. Such appeal shall be limited to evidence presented before, and the findings of, the Planning Commission. (B) The City Council shall have a Right of Review _ as set forth in Section 20.80.075 of the Newport Beach Municipal Code, as limited above. (C) The City Council shall make its written finding in the same manner as set forth in Section 15.40.030 of this Chapter. 15.40.080 Severability. If any section or portion of this Chapter is declared invalid, the remaining sections or portions are to be considered valid." SECTION 2. This ordinance.shall be published once in the official newspaper of the City and shall be effective thirty days after the date of its adoption This ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Newport Beach held on the 22nd day of January , 1979, and was adopted on the a. 12th day of the following vote, to Fit: • ATTEST: y City Clerk CERTIFIED AS THE OMCINAL AND CERTIFIED AS TO PUBLICATION DATE ... 1. -_aC i i `F ...... ...... ...a ...... .__ ............. ........ CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEA E February , 1979, by AYES, COUNCILMEN Hart, Hummel, Ryckoff, Strauss, Williams NOES, COUNCILMEN McInnis ABSENT COUNCILMEN ABSTAIN Heather None 7/ / FAW ,�. -7- DDO /kb 2/13/79