18G.10.160 Amenity Funding.
Amenity funds help mitigate the effects of added density and they are a method for attracting an incorporated city or town to take part in the Program. Amenity funds are most often used for additional transit facilities, parks, roadway and sidewalk improvements, public art installations and the construction of community facilities. Sometimes these types of funds come directly from the County. However, the burden of amenity funds also sometimes falls on the developer.
A. Amenity funding may be available from Pierce County to a city or town as an incentive to enter into and utilize the Program.
B. Amenity funding shall be described in the interlocal agreement and may differ between jurisdictions based upon unique needs.
C. Expenditures by the County for amenities to facilitate development right sales shall be authorized by the interlocal agreements. Amenity funding shall not exceed the value of the increased development right it is intended to offset, nor shall amenity funding be available if the sending and receiving sites are each located within the same city or town.
D. The County shall not expend funds on amenities in a city or town before execution of an interlocal agreement.
E. Amenities may include the acquisition, design or construction of public art, cultural and community facilities, parks, open space, trails, roads, parking, landscaping, sidewalks, other streetscape improvements, transit-related improvements or other improvements or such other amenities that may be agreed to in the TDR agreement.
F. Public transportation amenities shall enhance the transportation system. These amenities may include capital improvements such as passenger facilities if the improvements are within a designated receiving area or within 1,500 feet of a receiving site. These amenities may also include programs that reduce the use of single occupant vehicles, including transit pass programs.
G. Road fund amenities shall enhance the transportation system. These amenities may include capital improvements, such as streets, sidewalks, street landscaping, and bicycle lanes, if these improvements are within a designated receiving area site or within 500 feet of a receiving site.
H. All amenity funding provided by the County to facilitate the transfer of development rights shall be consistent with Federal, State, and local laws.
I. The timing and amounts of funds for amenities paid by the County to each participating city or town shall be determined by an interlocal agreement.
J. A city or town that receives amenity funds from the County is responsible for using the funds for the purpose and according to the terms of the governing interlocal agreement.
K. To facilitate timely implementation of capital improvements or programs at the lowest possible cost, the County may make amenity payments as authorized in an interlocal agreement to a city or town before completion of the required improvements, as applicable.
L. Pierce County is not responsible for maintenance, operation, and replacement costs associated with amenity capital improvements in other jurisdictions unless expressly agreed to in the interlocal agreement.