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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIssue Paper 06-123AMENDMENT 2006-T-4 – TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT REVISIONS DESCRIPTION: Although the City updated the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan for the 2004 update, the City’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is updated annually. As a result, the Transportation Element needs to be updated to reflect changes that have occurred since its last update. The current proposal is intended to bring the Transportation Element and the TIP more consistent with each other. In addition, because of recent annexations that affect a number of County funded projects, project priorities have had to change in order to ensure the continuation of County funding. Changes to Table 8.3 reflect the latest adopted City of Renton Six-year TIP. In addition, revisions to associated text have also been made. ISSUE SUMMARY: 1. Which transportation projects need to be amended or deleted and which transportation projects need to be added to Table 8.3 of the Transportation Element to update it for 2006? 2. Should the recently adopted Six-year Transportation Improvement Program, rather than the previous year’s TIP, be included in the update? RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY: Update Table 8.3 to reflect the City of Renton’s latest adopted Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and adopt associated text amendments explaining these changes, as delineated below and in Attachment ‘A’, ANALYSIS: The Growth Management Act (GMA)places special emphasis on transportation making it unlawful to approve development for which the approving jurisdiction cannot demonstrate the availability of facilities, strategies, and services, which are needed to accommodate the growth in traffic at an adopted level-of-service within six years. By April of each year, the legislative body of each city is required to prepare a six- year transit development and financial program for the calendar year and ensuing five years. The TIP must be consistent with the comprehensive plans adopted by counties, cities, and towns. This year’s updates to the Transportation Element are intended to ensure that the TIP and Comprehensive Plan are consistent. Renton’s Comprehensive Plan text already contains the necessary information to fulfill the GMA mandate to provide information on land use assumptions used in estimating travel, facilities and service needs (including an inventory of air, water, and land transportation facilities and services), level of service (LOS) standards for the transportation system to serve as a gauge to judge performance of the transportation system, ten-year traffic forecasts based upon the adopted land use plan, and identification of system expansion and transportation system management needs to meet current and future demand. It also includes financing information with a multi-year financing plan based on the needs identified elsewhere in the Comprehensive Plan, discussion of funding sources, and how land use assumptions will be reassessed, if necessary, to ensure that the LOS standards are met. Revisions to Table 8.3 reflecting the latest adopted six-year TIP and revisions to associated text pages will complete the update to Renton’s Transportation Plan. AMENDMENT 2006-T-4 – Transportation Element Revisions H:\EDNSP\Comp Plan\Amendments\2006\2006 Map Amendments\Transportation Element\Issues.doc REVIEW CRITERIA FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT: The proposed amendment must meet the review criteria in RMC 4-9-020G (at least one): 1. The request supports the vision embodied in the Comprehensive Plan, or 2. The request supports the adopted Business Plan goals established by the City Council, or 3. The request eliminates conflicts with existing elements or policies, or 4. The request amends the Comprehensive Plan to accommodate new policy directives of the City Council. These proposed amendments are within the vision embodied by the Comprehensive Plan and eliminate outdated information. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COMPLIANCE: The recommended changes comply with the goals, objectives, and policies of the Comprehensive Plan, and in particular, General Policies T-1 and T-2, below: Policy T-1. Land use plans and regulations should be used to guide development of the Transportation Element for the City, and Policy T-2. Transportation improvements should support land use plans. CONCLUSION: Updating the Transportation Element by revising Table 8.3 to reflect the latest adopted City of Renton Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan and associated text pages (XI-66 through XI-70) is consistent with GMA, Countywide Planning Policies, and criteria for Comprehensive Plan amendments. In the future, efforts should be made to adopt the City’s Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan by the end of the first half of the year so that it can be incorporated in that year’s Comprehensive Plan update for the Transportation Element.