§ 66-171. Purpose.

(a)

The Board of Supervisors finds and declares that the purpose of this chapter is to promote and carry out the following polices of the Sacramento County General Plan:

(1)

On Urbanization:

Expand the urban area in a manner supportive of other major polices;

Areas chosen for urban expansion shall be capable of being provided within a reasonable period of time with an adequate level of roads, transit or other transportation facilities;

Continue to provide quality public services at the most efficient level with costs spread among those who benefit, and work toward viable solutions to current public service financing problems, and ensure that a relatively high level of services continues to be available in the urban area;

(2)

On Air Quality:

Develop land use plans and regulations which will reduce travel distances (particularly commute distances), facilitate increased transit use, and reduce reliance on the automobile;

Continue to support the development of a light rail transit system oriented toward providing trunk service between major employment centers and residential areas;

Actively support the efforts of the Sacramento Regional Transit District to expand and upgrade service, to provide feeder service to the light rail transit system, and to attract an increasing percentage of local travel;

Maximize the use of transit service to major shopping centers, office complexes, and industrial areas. For such uses proposed to be located outside the existing transit service area, contribute to the provision of transit service;

(3)

On Housing:

Encourage increased residential densities near employment centers and along major transportation corridors within the urban area, in conjunction with improved transit systems and service, as a means of increasing the housing supply and reducing potential commute distances;

(4)

On Industrial Development:

Encourage private sector involvement in efforts to minimize problems created by rapid growth of employment opportunities;

(5)

On Transportation:

Mitigate adverse environmental impacts of roadway use and development;

Secure adequate and stable financing for the development and maintenance of the road system for all urban travel modes;

Support and develop alternatives to single-occupant automobile use, including light rail, bus, high occupancy vehicle, and non-motorized travel modes, and alternative land use patterns which relate to the distribution of employment and housing opportunities;

Develop all transportation facilities and services in accord with the overall community planning program consistent with the multiple goals and objectives of the General Plan;

(6)

On Roadway Circulation:

To consider alternative funding sources only if traditional sources continue to be insufficient to meet the County's construction and maintenance needs;

To design and implement a system of major arterial streets in a grid pattern at approximately one mile intervals;

(7)

On Transit Circulation:

Incorporate transit access into the design of land uses for new development;

Require dedications of land for public transit improvements;

Identify park-and-ride site locations to serve transit transfer and strategic pick-up stops, and develop methods to acquire and develop these sites;

Encourage participation in commute vanpool, bus pool and carpool activity).

(b)

Conditions on approval of rezones, maps, use permits and other entitlements for certain projects in the unincorporated territory of the County of Sacramento require landowners and applicants to mitigate the project's impacts upon public facilities, including roadway and transit facilities identified in the project's environmental impact report or any mitigation required to achieve a negative declaration. Other conditions require compliance with this fee program, when adopted, or a similar transportation funding mechanism.

(c)

An additional purpose of this chapter is to use the authority in Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution by imposing fees to fund the cost of roadway and transit facilities the need for which is generated by the type and level of development designated in the General Plan in effect in the unincorporated territory of the County of Sacramento.

(d)

It is the further purpose of this chapter to implement subdivision (b) to assure that adequate roadway and transit facilities are financed and provided to serve new development in the unincorporated territory of the County of Sacramento.

(e)

The Board hereby determines that payment of roadway and transit fees for additional residential, commercial and industrial development prior to issuance of a building permit or certain improvement plans is appropriate because the fees will be collected for facilities for which accounts have been established pursuant to Sections 16.87.030 [66-173] and 16.87.040 [66-174] and funds have been appropriated by the County of Sacramento and for which the Board has adopted a proposed construction schedule or plan pursuant to Section 16.87.120 [66-188].

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(16.87.010), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)