Sec. 126-38. Traffic signals and control devices.
(a) Payment for signals. The owner or owners of property being subdivided for development or property being redeveloped shall be responsible for the proportional share of the traffic signalization cost necessitated by the associated development or redevelopment as determined by an approved traffic impact analysis or by the city traffic engineer. The traffic signalization cost shall include 100 percent of the design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, signal installation, and construction costs for the entire street intersection, as determined by the traffic engineer.
(1) Anticipated signals. The owner(s) shall pay the proportional share of the traffic signalization cost for any anticipated signals necessitated by the associated development or redevelopment.
(2) Existing signals. If the first building permit for an associated development or redevelopment is issued within five years of the date that an existing signal was put into operation, the owner(s) shall also be required to pay the proportional share of the actual cost of those signal(s).
(b) Signal modification. In the event that an existing signal requires modification due to development or redevelopment, the owner shall pay the cost of the modification regardless of when the signal was installed. Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the proportional share or cost of modification, as determined by the traffic engineer, for the development or redevelopment shall be paid prior to the issuance of any building permit in the associated development.
(c) Large residential development payment phasing. In residential developments of 100 or more planned residential units and where the traffic impact analysis identifies the need for two or more future traffic signals, the city traffic engineer may allow payment phasing for traffic signals as follows:
The proportional share of the cost for the first signal shall be paid prior to the issuance of the first building permit as required in subsection (a) of this section.
Payment of the proportional share of the second and all subsequent signals anticipated to be required by the traffic impact analysis in the development will be phased by using a formula wherein the total number of residential units to be built in the development is divided by the total number of anticipated traffic signals, including the first signal, with the quotient, rounded to the nearest whole number, representing the number of building permits for the development that the city may issue prior to the city receiving the payment for the next signal. In developments where the owner's level of funding obligation varies among the anticipated traffic signals, payments for the signals shall be made in descending order of the dollar amount of the owner's obligation. However, if at any time the city traffic engineer determines that an anticipated signal has reached 80 percent of the traffic signal warrants, payment for the proportional share of that traffic signal shall be required prior to issuance of any additional building permit in that payment phase and the order of the remaining signals and payments shall be adjusted accordingly.
(d) Escrow. If it is determined at time of construction that installation of the signal(s) is not warranted or feasible with the construction, the owner shall then place funds in escrow with the city for the future installation of the signal at the identified intersection. The escrow amount will be equal to the proportional share of the entire signalization cost attributable to that development or redevelopment as determined by an approved traffic impact analysis or by the city traffic engineer. The escrow shall be paid prior to the issuance of a building permit, or prior to the issuance of any building permits for the next group of permits as provided for in subsection (c) of this section. At his or her sole discretion, the city manager or designee may defer payment until issuance of certificate(s) of occupancy.
(e) Term of escrow, refund. If either the anticipated need for signalization no longer exists, or if 15 years after the first escrow deposit for a specific intersection signal is received by the city the signal has not been installed, funds escrowed for signalization of an intersection pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be returned with interest to the payer. The payer may assign the potential refund to another party by submitting an assignment in writing to the city. It shall be the responsibility of the payer to notify the city of any change to its contact information and refund address. If the city is unsuccessful in its attempts to issue a refund, the funds shall be administered pursuant to article VII of chapter 2 concerning disposition of unclaimed property. If the payer of escrowed funds undertakes the installation of the signal to be accepted by the city, that payer's escrowed funds, as well as funds that have been assigned to that payer by other payers for the same signal, may be released to the payer to offset the cost of the signal.
(f) Deposit. Escrowed funds shall be deposited in an interest-bearing account which clearly identifies the specific intersection the funds are to be used to signalize, and each intersection and deposit received shall be accounted for separately. The determination as to whether the accounting requirement shall be by category, account, or fund and by aggregate or individual land development shall be within the discretion of the city manager. Any interest or other income earned on moneys deposited in said interest-bearing account shall be credited to the account.
(g) Private agreements. Nothing in this section is intended to discourage or prohibit owners and developers from entering into private cost sharing or reimbursement agreements for intersection signalization. (Ord. No. 2022-14, § 1, 3-28-2022)