HomeMy WebLinkAbout62-85BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DANVILLE
In the Matter of:
An Ordinance Adding Chapter 42
(Transportation Improvement Program )
Fee) to Title 8 (Planning and Land )
Use) Imposing Transportation )
Improvement Program Fee For )
Circulation and Parking Improvements )
on Development in Danville )
)
ORDINANCE NO. 62-85
The City Council of the City of Danville does ordain
as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 42 is added to Title 8 (Planning
and Land Use) of the Danville Municipal Code to read as
follows:
"CHAPTER 42
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FEE
Section 8-4201
Section 8-4202
Section 8-4203
Section 8-4204
Section 8-4205
Section 8-4206
Section 8-4207
Intent and Purpose
Definitions
Fee Requirement
Time of Payment
Credit
Exemptions
Appeal
Section 8-4201. Intent and Purpose.
The City Council of the City of Danville declares that:
(1) Improvements to the circulation system, especially
in the downtown area, are needed to promote the health,
safety and general welfare of the citizens of Danville.
(The need for improvements is documented in the "County
Public Works' Department Road Deficiency Study, 1968", the
"Transportation and Parking Analysis, October 1984" prepared
'by JHK and Associates, and ~he 'Danville .General Plan.)
(2) New development within downtown Danville and within
the entire City will create an additional burden on the
existing circulation systems.
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(3) The General Plan includes goals and objectives
relating to minimizing congestion and maximizing safety
in the circulation system. Modifications within the
downtown area are needed to mitigate existing and
potential future circulation impacts.
(4) All development for the erection, construction
or alteration of non-residential buildings within the
City of Danville must be consistent with the General Plan.
In addition, the approval of such development must assure
that the General Plan and implementation of the goals and
objectives relating to circulation and parking are, or
will be, implemented.
(5) In order to implement the General Plan, and
promote the health, safety and general welfare it is
necessary (among other implementation methods) that new
development pay a fee in lieu of the installation of the
improvements necessary for implementation of the
Circulation Element of the General Paln, including new
streets, traffic signals, traffic signal interconnects and
parking facilities.
(6) Fees collected will be used throughout the down-
town area based upon a priority ranking determined by the
City Council. The projects selected as priorities may
not necessarily provide a direct benefit to a development
making a contribution.
(7) This ordinance is adopted under the police power
of the City, Article XI, Section 7 of the California
Constitution, and under the appropriate provisions of the
Planning and Zoning Law of the State of California, Govern-
ment Code ~65000 et seq.
Section 8-4202. Definitions.
A "downtown area" means the downtown Danville
study area identified on the map in Figure 1 of
the April, 1985, City of Danville, Development
Services Department report entitled "A Proposal
for a Transportation Improvement Program Fee"
and attached as Exhibit "A"
Section 8-4203. Fee Requirement.
A person who applies for a permit for the erection, con-
struction or alteration of a non-residential building shall
pay to the City a transportation improvement program fee for
circulation and parking improvements in an amount to be
determined by resolution of the City Council.
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Section 8-4204. Time of Payment.
The transportation improvement program fee shall be
paid to the City of Danville before issuance of a building
permit.
Section 8-4205. Credit.
The City Council may approve full or partial credit
against the transportation improvement program fee for a
person:
(1) who has made substantial off-site, traffic-
or parking-related improvements in the downtown area
in connection with a development project approved Within
the three years before the effective date of this chapter; or
(2) who dedicates land or makes substantial off-
site, traffic- or parking-related improvements in the
downtown area in connection with a current development
project. To qualify for credit under this subsection, the
dedication or improvement must exceed that required for
similar development projects;
(3) whose development project is located outside
the downtown area and if the City Council finds that
the proposed project will have little or no impact on
traffic or parking within the downtown area.
Section 8-4206. Exemptions.
The City Council may grant an exemption to the
transportation improvement program fee for a person doing
interior or exterior remodelling, rehabilitation or
renovations which do not create a change in use or building
size.
Section 8-4207. Appeal.
A decision by the Director of Development Services
regarding a t~ansportation improvement program fee imposed
under this chapter may be appealed in accordance with the
appeal provisions of Chapter 26-2 of the OrdinanCe Code of
~"!Contra Costa County, adopted by the City by reference."
SECTION 2. Certain development projects in the City
have previously been approved subject to a condition which
provides substantially as follows: "Applicant and City shall
enter into an Agreement under the terms of which applicant will
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agree to pay the applicable improvements fee imposed by the
City. It is understood that the City is presently studying
the composition of a fee structure for the funding of Capital
Improvements in the downtown area and will establish a fee
before May 31, 1985 .... "
By the adoption of this ordinance, the City Council
establishes the fee referred to in that condition.
SECTION 3. Effective Date.
This ordinance becomes effective thirty (30) days
after adoption.
SECTION 4. Publication.
The City Clerk shall either a) have this ordinance
published once within 15 days after adoption in a newspaper
of general circulation or b) have a summary of this ordinance
published twice in a newspaper of general circulation, once
five days before its adoption and again within 15 days
after adoption.
The foregoing ordinance was introduced at a meeting
of the City Council of the City of Danville held on
May 6 , 1985, and was adopted and ordered
published at a meeting of the Council held on May 20
1985, by the following vote:
AYES: Lane, May, McNeely, Schlendorf
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN: 0ffenhart z
MAYOR
ATTEST:
'///
CITY CLERK
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A PROPOSAL FOR
A TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FEE
Prepared by:
Development Services Dept.
City of Danville
April, 1985
Table of Contents
Ae
Introduction and Summary
Findings
· Development Potential
· Required Transportation Improvements
. Financing
1
1
5
5
Establishing a Development Fee
· What is an appropriate structure and amount?
What Have Other Cities Done?
What is Equitable?
Will A Fee Have Economic Effects?
· Row Much Revenue would a Fee Produce?
. Should Credits and/or Exemptions Be Granted?
· Row to Establish a TIP Fee
8
8
10
11
11
11
13
Appendix A - Development Potential Analysis
Appendix B - Description of Public Improvement Projects
Appendix C - Summary of Financing Sources
14
19
21
A. Introduction and Summary
This report presents an analysis and proposal for requiring a
Transportation Improvement Program Fee for commercial
development in Danville. Danville will require several major
improvements to its transportation system to accomodate both
existing needs and future development in the downtown area.
Current financing sources are not adequate to finance these
improvements.
This report addresses the need for a fee, the amount of revenue
a fee would produce, and the procedures for establishing a fee.
The report focuses primarily on (1) the improvements required,
(2) existing conditions and a development potential analysis,
(3) a survey of development fees implemented by other cities,
and (3) an analysis of potential revenue for Danville..
B. Findings
A study area consisting of land currently designated for
commercial use (office and retail) in the downtown area was
established for the purpose of this analysis (see Figure 1, page
2). Figure 1 is a map of the downtown Danville area, showing
the Study Area boundary and the location of the historic area,
Charlotte Wood School, and currently vacant land. The majority
of the commercial property in Danville is concentrated in this
downtown area. The findings of the study effort are presented in
the following report section.
Development Potential
Downtown'Danville is a 170 acre area (including streets) which
presently contains approximately 900,000 square feet of
commercial floorspace. The area is largely builtout, containing
only six acres of vacant land. In addition to development on
this vacant land, other future development may occur upon
currently built upon parcels that could be assembled and reused
at a higher density.
The total amount of net new construction that is permissable
under the current General Plan and zoning regulations in the
downtown area varies between 523,000 and 781,000 square feet,
depending upon assumptions that are made regarding the reuse of
existing commercial property. When combined with existing
floorspace that would remain, the maximum commercial floorspace
that could occur in the downtown "without revisions to the
current General Plan or zoningw is estimated to be between 1.4
and 1.8 million square feet.
SCIq~
FIGURE t
DOWNTOWN DANVILLE
, STUDY AREA
Land Supply Items
VACANT PARCELS
~ HISTORIC AREA
~ CHARLOTTE WOOD SCHOOL
OTHER
/
,/
Table 1, page 4 is a summary of the development potential of the
downtown Danville area. Definitions and assumptions supporting
Table 1 are included in Appendix A.
Development potential has been analyzed under two scenarios.
Scenario A is based on current trends of development in the
downtown area. Recent projects and applications are used to
demonstrate the current trends. Scenario B represents the
maximum growth potential with the existing General Plan and
Zoning. Scenario B is the highest level of potential commercial
development.
Development in the downtown area, or any area of Danville,
cannot be precisely predicted using only the General Plan and
zoning. A master plan for downtown Danville is currently
prepared~ this plan, when accepted, will more precisely fix the
downtown area~s long term development potential. However, a
master plan cannot predict the erate of new developments any
more precisley than a general plan.
Other findings of the development potential analysis includez
Achieving the maximum commercial floorspace (Scenario B)
will require substantial lot assembly and reconstruction
of existing commercial buildings that are outside the
historic area.
The market for commercial space will be a major
determining factor, both of the total amount of
commercial development and the rate at which it occurs.
The San Ramon Valley area is experiencing major
population and economic growth which can be expected to
continue near current rates over the next 15to 20 years.
This growth will support continuing demand for local
serving and regional serving commercial space in the
area. This consideration would affect Scenarios A & B in
similar ways.
Charlotte Wood is a significant part of future
development projections under both scenarios. The
projections for the site include private development
only. Scenario A assumes current trends and the
anticipated level of development required to pay the
School Districtgs current asking price for the land.
Scenario B assumes more intensive development which may
be required to meet the School District~s asking price,
and reserve some land for public use.
A land use policy issue is the proposed General Plan
(Master Plan) update for the downtown area. This update
could result in lower (or higher) densities of
development, depending upon the policies ultimately
approved by the City Council.
It is significant that applications for 15-20% (about
119,000 square feet) of the total projected growth
potential for the downtown area have been received in the
last year. This fact makes the growth projections all
the more realistic given current policies and trends.
See-Appendix A, page 14, for a summary of downtown
development applications.
City staff is aware of several other projects which they believe
will be submitted within the next several months. These projects
could represent as much as 100,000 square feet of new commercial
floorspace.
Re~. { tea Tran~port~t~ on T~provement.
The recent (October 1984) Transportation and Parking Analysis,
prepared for the City by JHK & Associates found that without any
further development in the downtown some improvements to
circulation and parking are needed. With the exception of these
isolated problems, traffic access and capacity are adequate.
However, the study concluded that current traffic facilities in
the downtown area are inadequate to accomodate future traffic
increases. Following review of the JHK study, City staff
identified four projects need to meet transportation
requirements. These projects and their estimated costs arez
o Railroad Avenue Improvements
$4,000,000
o Parking Garage, or Lots
2,000,000
o Traffic Signal - Front and Diablo
230,000
Traffic Signal Interconnect
Total
100,000
$6,330,000
A description of these projects is included in Appendix B,
beginning on page 19.
Financing
Financing these traffic improvements is not possible given
current financial resources and fiscal policies, either from
general revenues or special revenues (such as Highway Users Tax
Subventions). Present financial reserves and future general
fund revenues are required for operating expenses, or are
otherwise cos~itted. Dedicated revenues, such as Highway Users
Tax subventions or federal grants may be available, but also
will not provide adequate funding. These findings lead to the
conclusion that new, locally generated, funding sources must be
developed, if these improvements are to occur.
Table 2, page 6, presents a s~mmary of Danville*s financial
resources and committments over the next five years. Table 2
shows that of total available funds ($13 million) for major
capital projects over the next five years, only $3.8 million is
currently unallocated to specific projects. It is estimated
that $500,000 (gas tax revenue) of the unallocated $3.8 million
could be spent on downtown traffic improvements. The balance
should be allocated to general capital improvement needs
throughout the community.
Table 2
FIVE YEAR TOTAL RESERVES PROJECTION
GENERAL FUND
$750,000.excess revenue per year
at close of fiscal 1990:
GAS TAX
$350,000 per year
at close of fiscal 1990:
PARK FUND
at close of fiscal 1998:
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND
CIVIC FACILITIES FUND
cash available now:
REVENUE SHARING FUND
$ 3,750,000
1,750,000
335,000
3,000,000
3,850,000
340,000
TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE
LESS KNOWN REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL RESERVES
(for unforeseen operating
expenses, economy downturns,
etc.)
CIVIC FACILITIES
PARKS
STREET REPAIRS
TOTAL UNCOMMITTED
$13, 025,000
[ 4,000,000 ]
[ 3,800,000 ]
[ 335,000 ]
[ 1,000,000 ]
$ 3,890,000
A development fee is a logical choice for financing at least a
portion of the required improvements. Development fees have
been imposed by many other cities and have become an integral
part of capital improvement financing in California.
Development fees and programs are known by many names, including
off-site street improvement program (OSlP), in-lieu fees,
construction taxes, and (the nomenclature recommended for
Danville) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
Table 3, below, presents a financing plan for the traffic
improvements required. A description of the individual
financing sources is provided in Appendix C.
Table 3
Financing for Transportation Improvement Program
Unallocated Gas Tax
Potential FAU Grant(s)
Developer Dedications/Improvements
Sub-total
$500,000
$2,000,000
$500,000
$3,000,000
Estimated Transportation Improvement
Program Cost
<$6,330,000>
Estimated Deficitz
<$3,330,000>
R.t~hli.h{ng m Trmn~portmtto- T~provement Progrmm Fee
Establishment of a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) fee
requires a policy decision by the City Council to require new
development to pay their fair share of new public improvement
costs. This decision requires consideration of several issues
includingz chosing an appropriate structure and rate for the
fee, calculating the amount of revenue a fee would produce, and
determining the procedures for establishing the fee. The
following paragraphs address these issues.
7
What iv an -~.~ro~r~ate str~ct,,re ~n8 ~mo,,nt?
Deciding on the appropriate structure and rate for a TIP fee
depends upon the specific objectives and circumstances of the
City. TIP fees can be levied on the basis of a variety of
criteria including "square feet of new constuction", "trips
generated", etc. The fee can also be levied city-wide or
restricted to a limited area. The decision regarding the
appropriate structure and amount can be helped by considering
what other cities have done, the equity issue, and potential
economic effects.
What Have Other Cities Done?
As a part of this analysis, a survey of other cities was
conducted. The results of this survey are presented below:
Walnut Creek
o In downtown (Core Area) only.
o Fees are based on growth which can be generated (which
is more that the amount the existing General Plan would
permit).
o Fees may change after Core Area Plan is revised.
o A policy exists to give fee credits for improvements
financed by the developer which are in the capital
improvement plan for the Core Area.
o Fees set by resolution (recently raised).
Office $3.00 per gross square foot
Retail 1.30 per gross square foot
Residential no development fee
Concord
O
O
Fees collected city-wide, but 80% of the funds are
distributed to the district from which they were
collected.
Collected fees are accumulated to finance improvements
needed to alleviate traffic impacts.
A few exemptions are covered in the ordinance and the
policy.
Fee-is set by Council resolution
Office
Commercial
Industrial
Residential
$1.66 per gross square foot
2.13 per gross square foot
1.40 per gross square foot
$458 per single-family dwelling unit
390 per multi-family dwelling unit
Fremont
No specific fees established that are tied to building
construction. All impacts and improvements are handled
on a case by case basis.
Traffic study is required (generally through EIR) to
determine generating share of traffic impacts, and
developer pays a pro rata share.
o Large developments are required to pay for the entire
amount of improvements.
o Development on a corner generally pays one-fourth the
cost of signalization.
An informal district may be established with
proportionate fees collected, based on the traffic
generation for a specific project (used infrequently).
San Jose
Transportation Level of Service policy: traffic study is
required to determine trip generation of a development.
If development contributes to more than 1% of the
traffic (at an intersection that becomes conjected),
developer pays 100% of the improvement costs.
Improvements may be signals, turn lanes, restriping,
etc.
Construction "tax" is collected for building permits.
Fees are put into road fund of capital improvements
program. Some areas of the city are exempt.
Commercial/Industrial 1% of building value.
Residential 1-1/2 % of building value
Chula Vista (near San Diego)
o Traffic Signal Fee (established by council resolution).
o Each development pays a portion of signal cost based on
the number of average daily trips.
o Trips are determined from a trip generation table which
is based on the building use and building size.
o Collected fees go to a fund for a specific signal.
All Uses $8.00 per average daily trip.
These examples are intended to demonstrate the variety of fee
structures that are used by other communities. Each city has
chosen their fees based on what is appropriate for them. Some
cities differentiate fees based on use (retail vs. office).
Walnut Creek has a higher fee for office construction whereas
Concord has a higher fee for retail construction.
The Danville commercial area is relatively small, suggesting the
methods of other cities may not be well suited to Danville. It
is expected that in order to assure the viability of all
existing commercial establishments, all new commercial
development should share equally in helping providing the needed
improvements.
Despite their differences in traffic generation, office and
retail uses in Danville will generate the need for the same
improvements. Therefore, the proposed fee structure for
Danville does not provide a differential rate based on the type
Of use.
The manner of assessing fees can be based on square footage,
average trips for a particular use, or building value. All of
these methods are related to the size of the project, with the
larger projects paying higher fees. Because the variety of
commercial uses permitted in Danville is relatively limited, the
simplest"approach seems the best suited to Danville. Fees
should be based on gross square footage of construction.
Wh~t i~ Rq3, itab]e?
Any financing plan for these types of improvements should be
equitable. Equity means that the benefits and burdens (costs)
of the improvements are fairly distributed - those that benefit
the most should pay the most. Development (TIP) fees place the
burden upon new development. This is appropriate when new
development creates the need for new capital improvements.
Future development in Danville is the key contributor to the
need for the required capital improvements hence development
fees are an appropriate source of financing.
Eowever, TIP fees will not be the only source of financing for
the required improvements. Even at relatively high rates,
development fees will not produce revenues adequate to finance
all the required improvements. Under the proposed plan the
10
existing commercial community will contribute through the
allocation of ~xisting (not new) tax revenues. In addition, the
proposed Transportation Improvement Program has been limited to
only traffic circulation safety, and parking improvements.
Other needed improvements, such as a beautification project for
Bartz Avenue must be financed in ways, other than from the
Transportation Fee.
What will be the Rconomic Rffect?
TIP fees contribute directly to the cost of constructing new
commercial floorspace. In a strong real estate market
development fees will be'passed along to those who purchase new
property. In a weaker market, fees will result in lower
existing land values, hence they are absorbed by the sellers of
property. If the cost of development is higher in Danrills than
in neighboring communities, it is conceiveable that the high
costs would deter development, resulting in lower growth rates
and or lower density development.
The fact that other communities, such as Walnut Creek and
Concord currently have development fees for capital improvements
at a similiar level to those being proposed in Danrills, in
addition to the overall high demand for commercial space in the
San Ramon Valley, will tend to minimize any significant economic
effect of the proposed development fee.
Bow Much Revenue Wo.ld ~ Fee Proance?
The amount of revenue that a TIP fee will produce depends upon
the fee rate structure and the amount of development that
occurs. The fact that revenue from a TIP fee is dependent upon
development occuring demonstrates one of its key limitations as
a financing.source - it is unpredictable from year-to-year. As
an unpredictable source of revenue it cannot be used for debt
service or other long term financing methods. Nonetheless, in
an area with strong growth potential such as Danville, the fee
can be expected to produce a continuing source of revenue.
Table 4 provides a projection of development fees at a range of
rates (dollars per square foot of new Construction) for both
Scenarios A and B as shown on Table 1, page 4.
.~ho,,ld Credit~ or F.x~n~tion~ Re Grintea?
Developers are frequently required to provide off-site
improvements as part of the standard approval process. This
requirement occurs for both residential and commercial
projects. The following guidelines are recommended when
reviewing exemptions or credits.
Off-site improvements that would normally be required
with or without a TIP fee should not be granted a
credit or exemption. Such standard requirements include,
but are not limited to, landscaping, curbs, gutters,
sidewalks, streets, drainage and traffic safety items.
11
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Off-site improvements, in addition to standard
improvements, occa~sionally may be required. If these
improvements are in addition to those outlined in the TIP
and primarily benefit the project, then credits or
exemptions should not be granted.
There will be situations where projects are required to
make specific improvements in advance of, or which
offset, those outlined in the City's TIP. In those
situations credits or exemptions should be considered
on a case-by- case basis.
Currently almost all commercial property in Danville is
contiguous to the downtown commercial district. Projects
in these areas will have an impact on the entire
commercial district. In a few instances there may be
properties which are not contiguous or not in the
immediate area. In these situations, specific
improvements related to the projects should be
considered for an exemption or credit to the standard
TIP fee, on a case-by-case basis.
Interior or exterior remodelling or rehabilitation for
which no change in use or size of building occurs
should be granted an exemption. This exemption would
not apply to construction of a new buidling that replaces
a structure.
How to Rstahlish a TIP Fee
Any financing plan that the City adopts should reflect 'the
policies for growth and development and the available resources
for funding.
The exisiting General Plan requires that traffic and circulation
be safe, efficient and promote the general welfare of the
community. The General Plan should also contain language that
states specific goals for traffic and circulation and which
discusses needed captial improvements, financing mechanisms and
implementation measures. It is recommended that a General Plan
amendment be initiated that will further strengthen the
Transportation Improvement Program.
Further, reference to the October 1984 traffic analysis (JHK &
Associates) would appropriately be included in the General Plan
should an amendment be intiated.
Institution of a TIP fee can be accomplished through a special
ordinance enabling their collection. The enabling ordinance
should clearly state the purpose of the fee, the collection of
the fee and the use for collected fees. A council resolution
can be used to set the fees called for in the enabling
legislation.
13
APPENDIX A
Development Potential Analysis
Appendix R
Table 1
DRHUILLE LAND USE SUMMARY
ITEM
URLUE
1, Total Land Area (1)
2, Total Buildable Land Area (2)
3, Total Existing Connercial Oeuelopnent
4_ Ryerage Floor Area Ratio, 1985
5. Uacant Land
6, Land uith Inprouenent Potential
170 Acres
133 Acres
900,000 Sq.Ft.
0.15
6 Acres
30 Acres
Notes=
(1)
<2>
(4)
(5)
TotaI Land (acres) of Study Area, This is land zoned,
designated (GP) or used for connercial or office uses
in the downtoun area,
Total Buildable Area is Total Land Area nlnus streets.
To.tal Existing ConnerciaI Area is non-residential
buildings including retail, office and religious
buildings,
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is the total connercial building
floor area divided by Total Buildable Land Area,
Buildable area is first converted to square feet
(5,793,480 sq,ft_) 900,000 sq,ft,/5,?93,480 sq,ft,
= FAR = 0,15
Vacant Land includes all parcels which currently have no
buildings on then_ It does not include land owned by the
County Flood Control District,
Land with inprovenent potential includes parcels with a
FRR less than 2SX and for which the buildings are More
than 5 years old,
14
Development Potential Analysis - Definitions and Assumptions
The following definitions and assumptions apply to Table I in
the body of the report and use of the terms within the report.
Floor Area Ratioz Floor area ratio (FAR) is a measure of the
intensity of development on a parcel. It is equal to the gross
building area divided by the lot area.
total building floor area
total lot area
FAR is used in this report as a method for comparing the
intensity of development on different properties or categories
of property. Danville~s zoning regulations do not have explicit
FAR standards for any zoning district~ however, other zoning
regulations (e.g. setbacks, side yards, height, parking, open
space, etc.) result in an effective FAR of 0.25-0.33 for most
parcels. Some parcels will have, and will continue to be
developed at a higher FAR. Use of this unit of measure is not
intended to recommend FAR standards for Danville.
Vacant Landz Vacant lands are generally the first and the
most likely properties to be developed. The density to which
these parcels are built will depend on city policies and, to
some extent, on market forces and land values.
Charlotte Wood School Sitez The development of Charlotte
Wood School is unquestionably dependent on policies established
by the City for the reuse (or continuation of the exisiting use)
of the property.
The 11 acre site has potential for construction of a commercial
complex or a combined public building/commercial complex. A
commercial complex of a minimum size (275,000 square feet) will
be needed to cover development costs given the land sales price
the School Board is asking. This level of development would
result in a FAR of about 0.50.
Even though the average FAR for downtown Danville is currently
0.15, a more intensive use of this site is possible (and
probable) due to the large lot size and the type of facility
that is likely to be constructed.
Historic Areaz The historic area is 20 acres in the core of
the downtown (see Figure 1). The historic area was so designated
in the mPreliminary Historic Downtown Danville Guidelines.m
15
The historic ~rea contains approximately seven acres that can be
considered "under-utilized" and less than one acre of available
vacant land.
Due to the small parcels and the communityws interest in
retaining the historic flavor of the area, development in the
historic area is assumed to be minimal. The historic area is
built to an FAR higher than the remainder of the downtown
(0.28). This is due in part to the lack of permanently vacant
land such as creekside property. It is also partly due to the
RB zoning which permits more coverage of a lot than other
downtown zones. Another important reason for the high FAR is
that many parcels are 'fully-utilized' given the existing
General Plan and zoning.
The existence of small lots has been reinforced recently as the
city has collected fees in-lieu of requiring construction of on-
site parking. This practise is likely to increase in the
Historic Area as lots are rebuilt. These in-lieu fees are
separate and apart from the proposed TIP fees. The in-lieu
parking fees are to accomodate required parking, whereas the TIP
fees are for the provision of general public parking.
Land with Improvement Potentialz This land is represented by
parcels with generally smaller buildings on them and whichz
1)
can accomodate building additions to existing structures
in the same lots or
2) may be torn down and rebuilt with larger structures
Land with improvement potential could be rebuilt when adjacent
(individually under-utilized) parcels are consolidated. The
consolidation of lots will usually allow the land to be
developed at higher FAR~s.
A lot has improvement potential in Danville
1)
exisiting regulations will permit more intensive use of
the property (higher density)~ and
2)
market demand exists for the more intensive use of the
land.
Fully-utilized Landz Land is considered fully utilized if,
with current General Plan and zoning designations and current
market conditions, there is no demand to increase the building
area on a parcel. Parcels with built to an FAR greater than 25%
were considered to meet this criterea. If land use policies
and/or land values change, these parcels could have floor space
added with building additions or a reconstruction to increase
their level of utilization.
16
Appendix A
Table
Current New Project Applications and Approvals
Downtown Danville Traffic Improvement Financing Study
P~oaect Name
Land Area
(acres)
Estimated
Floorspace
(Square Feet
Floor Area
Ratio
(FAR)
Current
Zoning
Victorian Village
1.5
70,000
1.07
NB
Woodhill Developers
<Town and Country)
1.17
13,000
0.25
R-20
ChamOlin and Cotton
Development
0.45
7,000
0.36
R-80
Rand/McLean
(Diablo Oaks Center)
1.05
29,000
0.63
0-1
Totals
4.17
119,000
0.65
17
MONTAIR
SCHOOl.
FIGURE 1
DOWNTOWN DANVILLE
STUDY AREA
Land Supply Items
VACANT PARCELS
HISTORIC AREA
CHARLOTTE WOOD SCHOOL
OTHER
//
:]-8
APPENDIX B
Description of Public Improvements
Project Descriptions
RAILROAD AVENUE
Railroad Avenue is proposed to be widened to permit four lanes
of travel. The road will also be extended to the north to
connect with Danville Blvd. A precise alignment for the road
extension has not been selected.
Most of the current north/south traffic in Danville uses Hartz
Avenue (63%). In order to more effeciently handle new traffic
either Front Street or Railroad Avenue will require widening.
Due to the physical constraints of the creek (among other
reasons), Front Street is not a good candidate. Railroad Avenue
is a better choice also due to its alignment and connection with
San Ramon Valley Blvd. Widening of Railroad Avenue will allow a
redistribution of the traffic so that approximatedly 36% of the
future traffic will use Bartz and 41% will use Railroad (data
extracted from JHK & Associates, Transportation and Parking
Analysis, October 1984, Table 4-1). It should be noted that
even though the percentage of downtown traffic will be much
lower on Hartz, if Railroad is four lanes, the number of average
daily trips will only be decreased by 15% (from 17,100 to
14,100).
PARKING GARAGE
A 250 space parking garage is proposed for the downtown. As
yet, no location has been selected for the garage, nor has the
garage been designed. A garage will beneeded to provide public
parking. Because of the small size of the downtown it is
difficult for public parking to be provided. Parking is needed
to assure the viability of all of the businesses~ the garage
will encourage more people to use and stay in the downtown
commercial area.
A garage of 250 spaces is only one-third to one-half of the
spaces recommended in the October 1984 study. Other parking
solutions eventually need to be investigated.
TRAFFIC SIGNAL
A traffic signal at the intersection of Front and Diablo is
proposed to control the traffic flow on these two streets.
Front street will take on more north/south traffic and Diablo
will be used for additional traffic accessing the freeway (or
going further east, and coming into the downtown area.
19
TRAFFIC SIGNAL INTERCONNECT
The interconnect will 'connects the operation of existing and
future traffic signals in the downtown area. The interconnect
controls the timing of the traffic signal cycles and is related
to the volume of traffic. It is used to assure a more efficient
traffic flow by making it possible for through traffic to move
from signal to signal without having to stop for each one.
20