§ 56-82. Legislative findings applicable to road impact fees.

The Board of County Commissioners of Columbia County, Florida, hereby finds, determines and declares that:

(a)

The county road system benefits all residents of the county and, therefore, the road impact fee shall be imposed in all unincorporated areas of the county.

(b)

Development necessitated by the growth contemplated in the comprehensive plan and the road impact fee study will require improvements and additions to the county road system to accommodate the traffic generated by such growth and maintain the standards of service adopted by the county.

(c)

Future growth, as represented by road impact construction, should contribute its fair share to the cost of improvements and additions to the county road system that are required to accommodate the traffic generated by such growth.

(d)

The required improvements and additions to the county road system needed to eliminate any deficiencies shall be financed by revenue sources of the county other than road impact fees.

(e)

Implementation of a road impact fee to require future road impact construction within the county to contribute its fair share to the cost of required improvements and additions is an integral and vital element of the regulatory plan of growth management incorporated in the comprehensive plan of the county.

(f)

The imposition of a road impact fee is to provide a source of revenue to fund the construction or improvement of the county road system necessitated by growth as delineated in the capital improvement element of the comprehensive plan.

(g)

The board of county commissioners expressly finds that the improvements and additions to the county road system funded by the road impact fee provide a benefit to all road impact construction within the county in excess of the amount of the road impact fee.

(h)

The county has the statutory responsibility to provide and maintain roads in the county road system. Road impact construction occurring within the county impacts upon the county road system; therefore, road impact construction should pay its fair share of the cost of providing the improvements and additions to the county road system.

(i)

Transportation planning is an evolving process and the capital improvements and additions to the county road system identified upon the date of the adoption of this article constitute projections of growth patterns and transportation improvements and additions based upon present knowledge and judgment. Therefore, in recognition of changing growth patterns and the dynamic nature of population growth, it is the intent of the board that the identified improvements and additions to the county road system be reviewed and adjusted periodically, pursuant to section 56-149, to ensure that road impact fees are imposed equitably and lawfully and are utilized effectively based upon actual and anticipated traffic conditions at the time of their imposition.

(j)

The purpose of this article is to require payment of road impact fees by those who engage in road impact construction and to provide for the cost of capital improvements to the county road system which are required to accommodate such growth. This article shall not be construed to permit the collection of road impact fees in excess of the amount reasonably anticipated to offset the demand on the county road system generated by such applicable road impact construction.

(k)

The data set forth in the road impact fee study which was employed in the calculation of the road impact fee rates imposed herein is the most recent and localized data available for the county road system.

(l)

The administrative fee set forth in subsection 56-87(f) hereof constitutes the county's actual costs for collection of the road impact fee including the actual costs related to the administration and the collection process.

(Ord. No. 2007-40, § 5.02, 10-18-2007)