6.11.02 Proportionality of Requirement.
There must be a rough proportionality between the traffic impacts created by a new development and requirements placed on the property owner or applicant for new development to dedicate and improve off-site, abutting and internal street rights-of-way to City standards. The City desires to assure both that development impacts are mitigated through contributions of street rights-of-way and transportation system improvements and that new development contribute their fair share of the costs of transportation improvements. It is the City’s intent to institute a procedure to assure that mandatory dedications of street rights-of-way and street construction requirements are proportional to the traffic demands created by a new development.
6.11.03 Administration.
A. The City Administrator or his designee shall be the primary point of contact with the landowner or developer or his agents and has considerable authority and responsibility for administering the provisions of this section of the Code. However, all final decisions concerning participation in costs and completion of improvements that may be specified in a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA), capital improvements plan, or mitigation plan as required in this section shall be made by the City Council.
B. The Planning and Zoning Commission shall have the authority to determine if a TIA should be required in cases where existing conditions warrant a TIA or when needed to address public concerns expressed in a public meeting.
6.11.04 Applicability.
The requirement for assessment of and improvements to the transportation network applies to existing and future transportation networks associated with land development activities, within the City limits and within the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. Any application for subdivision approval or subdivision improvements, zoning or zoning change, or site development in accordance with this Code must comply with these standards. The City Engineer may at his professional discretion (and approval by City Council) issue a waiver to this requirement.
6.11.05 Threshold of Requirement.
A. The threshold requirement for a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) shall be a development that would result in trip generation of more than an average of one thousand (1,000) trips per day based upon the latest edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual. If the proposed development does not exceed the threshold, a TIA waiver shall be noted on the TIA Determination Worksheet. If the TIA threshold is exceeded, the applicant shall be advised on the TIA Determination Worksheet and referred to the City Manager or his designee for consultation concerning the preparation of a TIA.
TIAs shall be required if the threshold is met for an individual project or projects on abutting parcels under common ownership or a common plan of development. Where property is part of a common plan of development or common ownership, the completed TIA shall incorporate any existing, approved TIAs within the common plan area. The Planning and Zoning Commission by a majority vote shall have the authority to require a TIA where existing conditions would warrant a TIA or when needed to address public concerns expressed in a public meeting.
A TIA scoping meeting with City staff, as well as TxDOT or Williamson County if required, shall be required prior to initiation of the traffic study.
B. The threshold requirement for a TIA for properties located in the downtown area, bounded by the approved Downtown Map, shall be a development that would result in a trip generation of more than an average of five hundred (500) trips per day based upon the latest edition of the ITE Trip Generation Manual.
C. A Neighborhood Traffic Analysis (NTA) shall be required for developments taking access from residential public streets that would result in a trip generation of more than an average of five hundred (500) trips per day, on any combination of streets, based upon the latest edition of the ITE Trip Generation Manual or if the application is for a public or private primary, intermediate, or secondary educational facility. If the development is related to the construction of new campus or facility, or the updating of existing public or private primary, intermediate, or secondary educational facilities and the expected increase in student population is expected to be fifteen percent (15%) or more of the current student population on said campus or facility, it is assumed that the development will result in a trip generation on [of] more than an average of five hundred (500) trips and a TIA is required.
6.11.06 Traffic Impact Analysis.
When a TIA is required, the type and scope of the study shall be determined during a scoping meeting with the City Manager or his designee. The scoping meeting may occur during any required preapplication conference, but may also be scheduled after an initial preapplication meeting. No application requiring a TIA may be made until the scope of the required study has been determined. The City Manager or his designee may involve representatives of or request assessments from other agencies and departments and consultants. The TIA will follow the criteria outlined in the City of Round Rock Transportation Criteria Manual, Section 2, as amended.
6.11.07 Dedication and Improvement of Internal and Adjacent Thoroughfares.
For thoroughfares that currently are or will in the future be located alongside a property boundary, the property owner shall dedicate and improve, as a minimum, one-half of the right-of-way necessary to meet the specification of future thoroughfares contained in the Comprehensive Plan or the City or County Thoroughfare Plan as adopted or amended by the City Council from time to time. The City may require additional land and improvements for rights-of-way for adjacent thoroughfares where necessary to achieve adequacy of the road network and where such additional land and improvements are proportional to the traffic impacts generated by the proposed development, depending on factors such as the impact of the development on the thoroughfare, the timing of development in relation to need for the thoroughfare, and the likelihood that adjoining property will develop in a timely manner. In the case of adjacent frontage or service roads for state and federally designated highways, the property owner shall dedicate sufficient right-of-way and make authorized improvements in order to provide an adequate road network to serve the development.
6.11.08 Substandard Street Improvements.
Where an existing thoroughfare that does not meet the City’s right-of-way or design standards abuts a proposed new development, the City may require the property owner to dedicate the right-of-way for a standard thoroughfare width, and to improve the street according to the dimensions and specifications in this Code, depending on factors such as the impact of the development on the thoroughfare, the timing of development in relation to need for the thoroughfare, and the likelihood that adjoining property will develop in a timely manner.
6.11.09 Capital Improvements Plan for Roads.
A road improvement may be considered adequate for an application if the City Manager determines that the required improvement is included, funded, and approved in the City’s, County’s or State’s capital improvements plan for roads, provided that the applicant agrees to phase development to conform to the date of completion of such scheduled improvement. This section shall not be construed to prevent the City from requiring dedication of rights-of-way for such roads, or from assigning trips to such roads in a TIA in order to determine a development project’s proportionate costs of improvements.
6.11.10 Participation in Costs and Completion of Improvements.
The City may participate in the costs of improvements required by this section in order to achieve proportionality between the traffic impacts created by the proposed development and the obligation to provide adequate roadways. In such cases, the property owner shall be responsible for the entire initial costs of road improvements, including design costs. Reimbursement of the City’s agreed share of the costs shall be made as funds become available. The construction of improvements and the provisions for participation in costs by the City shall be included in a subdivision improvement agreement.
During the course of providing for improvements, the City shall cooperate with the developer in the use of its governmental powers to assist in the timely and cost effective implementation of improvements. Assistance shall not mean financial aid in actual easement acquisition, construction or engineering costs.
If the landowners determine to either fund in advance or fund more than their pro-rata share, the City shall credit the developer’s future fiscal posting. For those contributions and improvements beyond the developer’s pro-rata participation, the City may either credit the developer’s future fiscal posting or reimburse the developer out of City funds or funds allocated from other area landowners’ contributions for those specific improvements.
