Planning commission backs tighter transportation-impact rules, lowers study trigger to 50 peak-hour trips

The Hilton Head Island Planning Commission on an unanimous vote recommended that town council approve a text amendment to the town Land Management Ordinance that renames "traffic impact analysis" plans as "transportation impact analysis" plans, expands the required study scope to include multimodal facilities, and lowers the threshold for when an analysis is required from 100 peak-hour trips to 50.

The amendment, presented by Missy Lueck, director of planning, would add evaluation of sidewalks, bicycle facilities and transit connections, expand mitigation options, add level-of-service standards for unsignalized intersections, shift approval authority from an LMO official to the town engineer and remove a current exemption that discounted impacts attributed to previously existing development. "It is the intent that these updates will make our process more responsive to…