Mobility Improvement Fee

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In 2017, the City started the Travel Demand Forecast Model (TDFM) project to provide new and updated regulations, tools, and fees to comply with Senate Bill 743 (SB 743). The TDFM project is an inter-departmental effort between the Community Development, Public Works, and Transportation Departments. For background on the TDFM project, including other deliverables and prior meetings where the mobility fee was discussed, please see the Travel Demand Forecast Model (TDFM) project webpage and the Transportation Study Information webpage

Adopting the Mobility Improvement Fees Ordinance is the last step to complete the TDFM project. The draft Ordinance would establish Mobility Improvement Fees, a Mobility Improvement Fund, an Interim Mobility Improvement Project List, and related regulations. Establishing new development Mobility Improvement Fees is consistent with the City Council’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan priority to improve circulation by providing alternative modes of transportation. It is also a recommendation of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Visioning Study and Recommendations.

If adopted, the Mobility Improvement Fee would be applied to new residential and nonresidential at rates calculated according to land use.  The resulting revenues would be used to partially fund mobility improvement projects and programs to support forecasted growth related to new development.

A nexus study and economic analysis were prepared to evaluate the proposed fees, as included below. The nexus study, economic analysis, and proposed fees will be presented to the City Council for consideration at the June 14, 2021 meeting. Further details can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions below. 

Please contact Ashley Hefner Hoang, Advance Planning Manager at ashley.hefner@culvercity.org or (310) 253-5744 for any further questions or concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mobility Improvement Fees, also known as mobility/transportation impact fees, are a type of impact fee that is charged to developers of new residential and nonresidential development projects to help support mobility improvements in the city. 

The purpose is to have new development resulting in added vehicle miles traveled (VMT) pay its fair share towards funding citywide mobility projects that support the growth in employees and residents resulting from development. New development that does not contribute to the cost of new mobility infrastructure and programs will exacerbate the adverse effects of increased VMT.

The development of the transportation component of the fee program consists of producing a list of transportation improvements to be funded, partly by the impact fees collected from new development and then calculating the fair share portion of the funding that is the responsibility of new development. Funds collected are often used to augment other funding sources that can be secured by the City, such as the County’s sales tax for transportation improvements (Measures R and M) or State and local grant opportunities. 

As of 2019, 77.5% of Culver City residents drive alone to work; 96.9% of residents work outside of Culver City and have to commute; only 10.5% of Culver City workers live in Culver City; Culver City has a jobs/housing imbalance (3.5 jobs to housing units where 1.0 to 1.5 is considered healthy) that contributes to local congestion. Also, Culver City experiences high vehicle volumes and speeds from passthrough vehicle traffic on arterial and some neighborhood streets.

New development increases the number of residents, employees, and visitors that need to move around in and have access to and from Culver City and new development that does not contribute to the cost of new mobility infrastructure and programs will exacerbate the adverse effects of increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Thus, there is a reasonable relationship between the purpose for which the fees are to be used and the type of development projects on which the fees are imposed and between the amount of the fees and the cost of the Project List or portion thereof attributable to the development on which the fees are imposed. 

The Community Development, Public Works, and Transportation Departments identified a list of VMT-reducing mobility infrastructure improvements and programs (“Project List”), which Mobility Improvement Fees will partially fund, needed to support new development based on the 2045 jobs and housing growth forecasts. Assessing an impact fee based on an established nexus is allowed under the State of California’s Mitigation Fee Act, also known as Assembly Bill 1600 or California Government Code sections 66000 et seq.

 

Implementing these improvements and programs will benefit the city as a whole since new development that contributes to funding mobility improvements increases mobility alternatives to single-occupancy vehicle driving, reduces transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, and moves more people through and around the city, supporting a balanced community which is beneficial to the public health, safety, and welfare of the city.

Currently, the City collects $1.00 per square foot for nonresidential projects under its New Development Impact Fees (DIF) for transportation improvements (Culver City Municipal Code [CCMC] § 15.06.005-15.06.055). The City currently does not collect transportation improvement fees for residential projects. The fees collected for nonresidential projects fund street, traffic control, and traffic management improvements limited to the area from which the fees were collected, within the project’s impact zone, or found to benefit the project and mitigate its traffic impact (§ 15.06.035).

The Mobility Improvement Fees would be collected for both residential and nonresidential projects to partially fund the City’s proposed list of citywide and regional serving mobility projects specifically identified to reduce vehicle miles traveled.

 

Mobility Improvement Fees and similar transportation impact fees have been established for decades. In recent years, many communities throughout California are increasingly relying on transportation-specific impact fees to ensure that the costs of transportation infrastructure and services necessary to support new development are not borne disproportionately by existing residents, businesses, and/or property-owners.

The Economic Analysis prepared for the Mobility Improvement Fees compares the proposed fees with neighboring jurisdictions.

 

Fehr & Peers, the City's consultant engaged in 2017, completed a nexus study to analyze the relationship between vehicle miles traveled created by new development projects and the need to implement the Project List to support jobs and housing growth mobility needs. The study quantifies the fees related to new development projects based on land use to pay fair share fees towards the Project List in compliance with the Mitigation Fee Act (California Government Code Section 66000 et seq.). The nexus study found that: 

  • The proposed Mobility Improvement Fees are directly related and roughly proportional to the impacts of new development; 
  • The Project List to be funded in part through the Mobility Improvement Fees consists of improvements that have been identified in previous City planning efforts needed to accommodate planned growth; and
  • The baseline cost fair share contribution is set to be 30% for the proposed fee levels to provide funding for the proposed VMT-reducing mobility projects.

Economics & Planning Systems, the City’s consultant engaged in 2020, prepared an economic analysis to compare the proposed Mobility Improvement Fees and overall development fees to seven neighboring jurisdictions to understand relative development burden. The economic analysis found that:

  • The proposed Mobility Improvement Fees would be aligned with, and in some cases, still be lower than, transportation impact fees charged in several neighboring cities; and
  • Culver City’s total development impact fees amount would be in the middle range of impact fee levels charged in neighboring jurisdictions for most land uses; and
  • Culver City’s total development impact fees as a percent of development value would be lower than most of its neighbors on residential uses and in the middle range of fee burdens on nonresidential uses.

 

The impact fees were computed as follows: 

  • Anticipated growth in Culver City was input into the Culver City travel demand forecast model. 
  • The number of new PM Peak Hour vehicle trips generated by the aforementioned growth was calculated. 
  • A portion of total costs (approximately 30%) of the Culver City mobility fee project lists were divided by the total number of new trips to determine the cost per PM peak hour trip. 
  • The percent of new trips generated by various land use types and trip length characteristics by land use were used to calculate the fees to account for vehicle miles traveled.

While the study will calculate the maximum justifiable fee, the City is not required to charge the fee at that level. Through the study process, the City will consider the implications of charging the maximum fee level and whether a lower fee might be charged to ensure that other policy objectives are being met.

The City Council is pleased to invite your participation in a Public Hearing concerning the following:

WHAT: City-initiated Ordinance Adding a new Mobility Improvement Fees Ordinance Affecting Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC), Title 15: Land Usage; Section 17.06.500, et seq. - Mobility Improvement Fees.

WHEN:  Monday, June 14, 2021 at 7:00 PM – City Council Public Hearing – First Reading

Persons who are unable to attend the meeting but wish to submit written comments may do so before 4:00 PM on Monday, June 14, 2021.

Monday, June 28, 2021 at 7:00 PM – City Council – Second Reading

Persons who are unable to attend the meeting but wish to submit written comments may do so before 4:00 PM on Monday, June 28, 2021.

CEQA: The proposed ordinance is not a project and not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), 15060(c)(3), and 15378(b)(4) in that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed amendment to the Culver City Municipal Code will have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378 in that the activity includes a government funding mechanism that does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEETING PARTICIPATION:

The City Council/Planning Commission agenda item reports are available for viewing online no later than 72 hours prior to the meeting date and time.  Persons may submit comments BEFORE 4:00 PM on the day of the hearing following the instructions below.

The City Council Meeting will take place via video conference. To combat the spread of COVID-19, the City proclaimed a local emergency on March 14, 2020 and issued subsequent public orders beginning March 16, 2020  In accordance with such orders, in-person meetings have been discontinued until further notice.

How to Submit a Written Public Comment Prior to a Meeting: Find the active eComment link to the right of the agenda date, then add your comment to the agenda item you choose. Watch a video tutorial on How to make an eComment. Email your comments to public.comment@culvercity.org. Mail your comments to the attention of the City Clerk’s Office at 9770 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.

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