MapLink™ | Procedures | Adequate Public Facilities and Services Assessment (“APFA”)

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Adequate Public Facilities and Services Assessment (“APFA”)
Purpose and Implementation.
The Adequate Public Facilities and Services Assessment (“APFA”) ties development approval of an application for a project to the present availability of infrastructure and public service capacity measured by levels of service (“LOS”) adopted in Chapter 12. The provision of adequate public facilities in a timely manner is a necessary precondition to development in order to prevent sprawl, assure a positive fiscal impact for the County, provide a high quality of life through infrastructure and services, implement the goals, policies of the SGMP, and any applicable area or community plan, and protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the community.

Requirements.
The review of adequacy of public facilities and services shall compare the capacity of public facilities and services to the maximum projected demand that may result from the proposed project based upon the maximum density in the project and relevant affected areas. The APFA shall study the impacts of the proposed development on all of the following:
 
Roads.
The APFA shall calculate the LOS for roads consistent with Table 12-1. The impact of the proposed development shall be measured by average daily trips and peak-hour trips based upon the Transportation Research Board’s “Highway Capacity Manual 2000.” The APFA shall describe the means by which the transportation capacity of the system will be expanded without destroying historic and traditional built environment. For purposes of the APFA, average daily traffic assumes 10 trips per day per dwelling unit or building lot.

Fire, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Response Services.
For Law Enforcement (including emergency dispatch), and Fire and Emergency Response, the APFA shall calculate the LOS consistent with Table 12-1. In determining the impact of the proposed development on fire, law enforcement, and emergency service LOS, the approving agency shall primarily take into consideration the number and location of available apparatus and fire, law enforcement, and emergency service stations.

See § 6.423 Water.
See § 6.424 Sewer.

Community Parks, Recreation Areas, and Trails.
All County and community parks, recreation areas and trails shall be identified in the CIP and the land and right-of-way of those sites shall be placed on the Official Map. In determining compliance with the LOS standard for County and community parks, recreation areas and trails, nearby County or community parks, recreation areas or trails may be considered.

Existing Deficiencies.
Section 12.2.3.2 of the SLDC describes the ramifications of an existing failure of infrastructure and services to meet the LOS specified in the SLDC. Existing deficiencies that affect the proposed development project shall be identified and any proposed projects that will address the deficiency in the CIP shall be identified.
 
Future Available Capacity. When a proposed development project is approved, the public facilities that the project utilizes shall be quantified and debited against available capacity for future projects.

Mitigation.
The APFA may propose mitigation measures, or a combination of measures, as described in this Section, as an alternative to denial of the application. These measures shall be included as a condition for approval of the application. Mitigation measures may include:

Phasing of the project, so that no development approval is issued before roads or other transportation facilities needed to achieve the LOS standard are constructed;

Measures that allow the transportation network to function more efficiently by adding additional capacity to the off-site road system, including, but are not limited to: pavement widening or narrowing; turn lanes; median islands, access controls, or traffic signalization; and

Transportation congestion management measures that allow the transportation network to function more efficiently by adding sufficient capacity to the off-site road system.

Approval of applications subject to discretionary action.
The discretionary development approval application may be approved if adequate public facilities and services are available at the adopted LOS, may be denied if adequate public facilities are not available, and may be conditionally approved subject to phasing of development until all public facilities are available for the year the CIP shows that adequate public facilities for the entire proposed development will be built at the adopted LOS. (See Table 4-1 for applications subject to discretionary review.)

See § 6.4: ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES & SERVICES ASSESSMENT (APFA) for complete, detailed information.