Bothell Planning Commission approves updated Transportation Impact Fee findings, shifts measurement toward multimodal per-person trips

Bothell's Planning Commission on Feb. 4 approved findings, conclusions and recommendations to update the city's Transportation Impact Fee and associated Title 17 code language.

Boyd Benson, Utilities and Development Services Manager, told the Commission the revised approach replaces vehicle-only trip measures with per-person, multimodal trip generation (vehicles, bikes and pedestrians) and retains the PM peak-hour person-trip level-of-service as the primary standard for most development. Benson said the change is intended to reflect shifts in how people travel and to support citywide capacity planning for growth.

Why it matters: the change shifts the technical basis for how the city calculates fees charged to new development for transportation impacts. Benson said the update uses national trip-generation data (from the Institute of Transportation Engineers) translated into per-person trip rates and a new fee table so applicants can readily identify the fee associated with a given use.

Key details: Benson said staff retained the PM peak focus for person-trip measures because most residential and commercial impacts traditionally occur in that period, but added a provision allowing the public works director to use different measurements in particular cases. He also described policy reductions, including a 50% reduction for early childcare uses and a change-in-use exemption discussed favorably at recent hearings.

Commission discussion focused on methodology and implementation. Commissioners asked whether AM peak traffic and school-related peaks would be captured; Benson acknowledged AM congestion and safety concerns raised by residents but said the TIF level-of-service remains PM-focused, while concurrence tracking and mitigations (including traffic calming and safety programs) are used to address localized AM or school-related impacts. Commissioners also asked what metrics the city will track post-adoption; Benson said concurrency tracking will include counts of affordable units added and units within a quarter-mile of transit, and staff will explore tracking permitting timelines as a secondary metric.

The Commission moved and seconded a motion to approve the findings, conclusions and recommendations; the motion passed with an affirmative vote and the packet items were approved as presented. No changes to the final motion text were made during the meeting.

What happens next: Staff said the package will be used to inform the council agenda and any code amendments, and the public record (including recent council comments and an email regarding AM/PM measurement) will be included with the next council agenda bill. The action at the Feb. 4 meeting approved the Commission's recommendation but did not itself adopt code text into the municipal code.