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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMiscellaneous APPLICANT 6/8/2004 . . . FREQUENTLY ASKEP QUESTIONS ABOUT SECTION 0060 OF THE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING RULE Can you provide a short summary of this rule? Yes. . Section 0060 of the Transportation Planning Rule (TPR) requires local governments to assess whether proposed plan amendments and zone changes "significantly affect" planned transportation facilities. This means that local governments must determine whether existing transportation facilities f.3r planned improvements =#Jill provide adequate capacity to support the new development allowed by the proposed land use changes. If not, a 'significant effect Is found to exist". This finding triggers a requirement that local governments put planned land use and transportation in balance. Ways to do this include: adding planned transportation facilities, limiting land use or modifying performance standards to tolerate additional congestion. What is Section 0060 of the Transportation Planning Rule? Section .0060 requires that local governments evaluate whether the proposed plan amendment or zone change will "significantly affect" the planned transportation system. Where local governments determine there will be a significant effect, they must act to assure that planned land uses are in balance or adequately served by planned transportation facilities. . What is the legal basis for the requirement in Section.0060? State law CORS 197.646) requires that local governments comply with statewide planning goals and rules adopted to implement them when they consider plan amendments. The TPR .Implements Goal 12 (Transportation) which requires local governments to plan for a safe, convenient, and ade!juate transportation system. . . What decisions does TPR Section 0060 apply to? This portion of the TPR applies to local plan amendments and zone changes. These include plan and zoning map changes as well as changes to the list of allowed land uses in a zone or ottier provisions of a zoning district. Does Section 0060 of the TPR apply to building permits, subdivisions .or conditional use permits or similar authorizat.lons? . No. As noted above, Section 0060 only applies where a plan amendment or zone change of some sort Is involved. Approvals that are made under the terms of existing city and county plans and zoning ordinances are not subject to Section 0060. Section 0060 would only apply to pending proposals for new development that requires a plan amendment or zone change in addition to other approvals. Does Section 0060 of the TPR apply to all plan amendments? In practice, the TPR affects relatively few plan amendments. This is because most plan amendments don't affect expected traffic one way or another; and those that do are often adequately served by existing or planned Improvements. to ~-Dt Date Received: ::st> TPR Section 0060 F AQs page 1 June 8, 2004 loSf~ Planner: . . . ',," How is Section Q060 applied? Local governments considering plan amendments assess whether the proposed plan amendment would "significantly affect" the planned transportation system.. Typically, this responsibility is placed on the applicant. The required analysis involves reviewing applicable city, county or state transportation plans and assessing whether the proposed plan or zone change will have a significant effect on the transportation system. How do local governments_cLete[l11ine.wbetber_i!-proposed-plan_amendment "significantly affects" the planned transportation system? Section 0060(1) lists four situations in which a proposed plan amendment would cause a "significant effect".on the planned transportation facility: . . . Changes to the functional classification of an existing or planned transportation facility - changes to standards implementing a functional classification system . Allowing types or levels of uses which would result In levels of travel or access that are inconsistent with the functional classification of a transportation facility; or . reduce the performance standards of the facility below the minimum acceptable level identified In the relevant transportation system plan. . What happens when a local government concludes there is a "significant effect"? Is local government prevented from approving the plan amendment? A finding of "significant effect" does not prevent approval of a plan amendment. It does trigger the requirement fpr local governments to take steps to put land use and transportation "in balance", by assuring that planned land uses are consistent with the planned transportation system. . The TPR gives local governments four options for putting land use and transportation "in balance". They can do one or a combination of the following: . . add planned transportation facilities limit allowed land uses to fit available facilities change the transportation performance standards to accept lower performance adopt measures that reduce auto travel Are there some simple gUidelines for assessing whether a plan amendment is likely to trigger a significant effect? Yes. In most cases the key question is whether the proposed use will result in more traffic than is allowed by current zoning. If the proposed plan amendment or zone change would generate the same or less traffic than is allowed by the current pian and zone designations, it generally is considered not to have a "significant effect" on the transportation system. In essence, the rule applies only where a plan amendment or zone change would yield more traffic than is allowed by current zoning. For many plan amendments and zone changes this evaluation is easy to do . It involves comparing the amount of traffic allowed by existing zoning with that allowed by the plan amendment or zone change. '".1 TPR Section 0060 FAQs page 2 June 8, 2004 ; . . Does a significant effect occur ifthe applicant is proposing to build a less intense use, butthe proposed plan/zone change would allow a more intense use? Generally yes. The evaluation of whether there is a significant affect must consider the range. uses allowed by the proposed plan and zoning changes, not just the particular use proposed by the appliCant. This Is because the resulting plan amendment or zone change would allow more intense uses in the future. Typically; plan amendments and zone changes do not prevent an applicant (or subsequent property owners) from pursuing more intense development than is oontemplated in the original application. If a plan amendment would result in more traffic being allowed is it automatically considered to have a "significant affect" under the TPR? No. The local government would need to evaluate whether planned transportation facilities will be adequate to handle the additional traffic. If they are adequate, then there would not be a significant effect. Can local governments avoid triggering a significant effects determination by limiting the uses allowed by a proposed plan amendment or zone change? Yes. In. practlce, applicants or local governments have done this by calculating either the capacity of the planned transportation system or the intensity of use allowed by existing plans and zoning, and then including zoning restrictions that cap allowed development to avoid a "significant effect". This can be done by adopting trip caps or limits on the allowed uses. Currently, thoughtful applicants, with assistance from their traffic consultants, will carefully calculate the capacity of the planned transportation system and adjUst their plan amendment proposal to fit within the available the capacity. This may include proposing roadway improvements or other measures to make the proposal fit the available capacity. How do local governments assess whether there Is adequate planned transportation capacity to support proposed uses? Evaluation Is based on applicable adopted transportation plans. These include adopted city and county plans, and for most communities plan adopted by OOOT, most notably the 1999 Oregon - Highway Plan.. . Basically, local governments compare expected traffic under existing plans with additional traffic that would be allowed under the proposed plan amendment. They then assess whether improvements included in adopted plans will adequately serve the additional traffic. If the increased volume of traffic would cause a performance standard not to be bet, there is a significant effect on the transportation system. This assessment is usually based on a traffic impact analysis prepared by a traffic engineer for the applicant. Does the TPR require traffic impact studies? Not directly. The need for a traffic impact study is usually decided by local government when it receives an application for a plan amendment. What qualifies as a "planned transportation facility" that local governments may rely upon in determining whether there are adequate facilities to support the planned land use? ... . Planned facilities are those that are included as planned facilities or improvements In an adopted transportation system plan. TPR Section 0060 F AOs page 3 June 8, 2004 . . . .1'" Does funding have to be In place for an Improvement or facility to be considered a planned transportation facility under the Transportation Planning Rule? Generally no. However, some local governments may have adopted stricter requirements as part of local plans that do require funding to be in place before development will be authorized. For example, some cities have adopted either public facility ordinances or "concurrency requirements" that require needed capacity to be built. While the TPR creates the framework for applying these requirements, it does not specifically require that funding be in place to consider a project a planned transportation facility. Does a state highway improvement project have to be included for funding in the State Transportation Improvement Program to be considered a "planned . transportation facility"? Generally no. As described above, the list of planned facilities includes those that are included In the relevant transportation system plans. OOOT's STIP covers projects that OOOT has scheduled for construction over the next 1 to 4 years. In some situations, transportation system plans (TSPs) have adopted proviSions which indicate that certain facilities are not considered . "planned transportation facilities" for purposes of Section 0060 until some additional planning or funding decision has been made. In short, the fact that a proposed improvement is discussed or mentioned in a TSP does not necessarily make it a "planned transportation improvement" under the TPR. Who sets the standards for deciding whether there Is "adequate" transportation capacity and what are they? . Standards for capacity and transportation system performance are set by local governments and OOOT through their adopted transportation system plans. For state highways, mobility standards are expressed as acceptable "volume-to-capaclty" ratios for traffic. Most local governments use a comparable system that uses letter grades to define acceptable "level of service"; The system rates service from "A", light traffic and free flow conditions to "F" heavily congested, with significant delays at traffic lights or to make turn movements. Most set "0" or "E" as the acceptable standard. Does 0060 effectively set a "concurrency requirement", i.e. that adequate facilities have to be built or funded before development can be allowed? No. The rue does not create the kind of "concurrency" requirement that has been adopted In other states, where transportation facilities must be built before new development is approved. The TPR is a planning requirement: a determination that there Is a "significant effect" triggers additional planning by local governments to balance land use and transportation. As noted above the decision by local government may be to tolerate additional congestion, add to the list of planned facilities or limit land use, or some combination of these measures. There Is a iot of talk about a recent LUBA decision, Jaaua v. SDrinafield. that interprets the TPR. What's at Issue? LUBA's decision, currently on appeal to the Court of Appeals, held that a significant effect under the TPR occurs if a plan amendment would cause a failure to meet adopted standards at any point over the applicable planning period. The City of Springfield's findings concluded that the relevant local and state standards would be met at the end of the planning period, but did not assess whether there would be "temporary failures" over the next lS years. LUBA remanded the TPR Section 0060 FADs page 4 June 8, 2004 iJ." .. . . case to the city to conduct a more detailed evaluation of the match between planned land use and transportation system performance over the planning period. The city appealed LUBA's decision to the Court of Appeals, and a number of other interested groups have intervened. What is LCOC's position on this case? LCDC has not taken a formal position on this case. In January, LCDC considered but decided not to file a state agency brief with the Court of Appeals. The Commission will likely evaluate the results of the Court of Appeals decision and determine whether the Courts decision is reasonable and workable. What is OLCO's advice to local governments if the Court of Appeals upholds LUBAs opinion? As noted above, the key pari: of LUBAs decision says a "significant effect" occurs if there Is a . failure to meet operating standards at any point during the planning period, not just at the end of the planning period - 15 to 20 years out. If the decision is upheld, we think its effect would be to direct local governments to look closely at the match between planned land use and the planned transportation system throughout the planning period - not just at an end state 15-20 years out. TSPs typically include a scheduling of planned improvements over the planning period, with specific projects scheduled for short, medium and long term. These are often expressed as general intervals - 0-5 years, 5-10 years, 10-20 years. One approach would be to provide an analysis that addresses the match between planned facilities and planned land uses at 5 year Intervals over the planning period. This would involve estimating expected traffic and planned facilities at each interval and then assessing whether there is a failure to meet performance standards. Are there other ways that local governments might address the Jaaua case? Yes. It's important to remember that the TPR applies through and in combination with standards that are adopted in applicable transportation system plans. We understand LUBA to be saying that when OOOT or local government adopt a performance standard and Is otherwise silent about its application, it Is presumed to apply throughout the planning period. Under the TPR, OOOT and local governments have discretion to set and change performance standards. This could include setting standards that are more specific about the time period or interval over which performance standards are to apply. In addition, OOOT and local governments could adopt more specific procedures to guide how their standards will be applied when plan amendments are considered, such as requiring analysis at 5:year Intervals as suggested above. Where can I get more information about Section 0060 of the TPR? A copy of the text of Section 0060 is included as an attachment to this document. The full text of the Transportation Planning Rule is available on OLCO's website at www.lcd.state.or.us The text of LUBA opinions and headnotes summarizing LUBA decisions are available on LUBA's website at www.orluba.state.or.us In addition, a useful written summary of the rule and relevant case law has been prepared by attorney Andrew Stamp, entitled "Can't Get There From Here" A Survey of Section 0060 of the Transportation Planning Rule and Applicable Case Law". December 2001. Copies of this 50- page summary are available from the Department or by contacting Mr. Stamp at Martin, Bischoff Templeton, Langslet & Hoffman, in Portland at 503.224.3113. TPR Section 0060 FAQs page 5 June 8, 2004