§ 54-131. Legislative findings applicable to road impact fees.

The city commission of the City of Palatka, Florida, hereby finds, determines and declares that:

(a)

The city street system benefits all residents of the city and, therefore, the road impact fee shall be imposed throughout the city.

(b)

The city has the statutory responsibility to provide and maintain roads in the city street system. Road impact construction occurring within the city impacts upon the city street system; therefore, such road impact construction should pay its fair share of the cost of maintaining the city's existing standard of service.

(c)

Development necessitated by growth contemplated in the comprehensive plan and the road impact fee study will require improvements and additions to the city street system to accommodate the traffic generated by such growth and maintain the standards of service adopted by the city.

(d)

Future growth, as represented by road impact construction, should contribute its fair share to the cost of improvements and additions to the city street system that are required to accommodate the traffic generated by such growth.

(e)

Implementation of a road impact fee to require future road impact construction to contribute its fair share to the cost of required improvements and additions is an integral and vital element of the regulatory plan of growth management of the city.

(f)

The imposition of a road impact fee is to provide a source of revenue to fund the growth-necessitated construction or improvement of the city street system.

(g)

The city commission expressly finds that the improvements and additions to the city street system funded by the road impact fee provide a benefit to all road impact construction within the city in excess of the amount of the road impact fee.

(h)

The purpose of this article is to require payment of road impact fees by those who engage in road impact construction and to provide for the cost of capital improvements to the city street system which are required to accommodate such growth. This article shall not be construed to permit the collection of road impact fees in excess of the amount reasonably anticipated to offset the demand on the city street system generated by such applicable road impact construction.

(i)

The required improvements and additions to the city street system needed to eliminate any deficiencies shall be financed by revenue sources of the city other than road impact fees.

(j)

Transportation planning is an evolving process and the capital improvements and additions to the city road system identified upon the date of the adoption of this article constitute projections of growth patterns and transportation improvements and additions based upon present knowledge and judgment. Therefore, in recognition of changing growth patterns and the dynamic nature of population growth, it is the intent of the commission that the identified improvements and additions to the city street system be reviewed and adjusted periodically, pursuant to section 54-160.8, to ensure that road impact fees are imposed equitably and lawfully and are utilized effectively based upon actual and anticipated traffic conditions at the time of their imposition.

(k)

The data set forth in the road impact fee study which was employed in the calculation of the road impact fee rates imposed herein is the most recent and localized data available for the city street system.

(l)

The administrative fee set forth in subsection 54-136(f) hereof constitutes the city's actual costs for collection of the road impact fee including the actual costs related to the administration and the collection process.

(Ord. No. 07-23, § 4.02, 12-17-2007)