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The City Council finds as follows:

A. The acquisition, construction, and improvement of streets to serve new developments in the City of Snohomish is a major burden upon City government; the City is experiencing a rapid, large-scale increase in intensity of land use and in population growth; rapid growth creates large “front-end” demands for City services, including streets, and causes increased street usage; existing and projected City funds are not adequate to meet the public’s projected street needs; failure to ensure that street improvements are made as traffic increases cause severe safety problems, impedes commerce, and interferes with the comfort and repose of the public; and the provisions of this Chapter are necessary to preserve the State Legislature’s intent that the City, in the exercise of reasonable discretion, retains ultimate responsibility for City services and the City’s financial integrity.

B. The City has the power under existing law to condition development and require street improvements reasonably related to the traffic impact of a proposed development, and it is appropriate and desirable to set out in this Chapter what will be required of developments and to establish a uniform method of treatment for similar development impacts on the City street system.

C. The Growth Management Act (GMA), RCW 36.70A.070(6)(b), requires that “local jurisdictions must adopt and enforce ordinances which prohibit development approval if the development causes the level-of-service on a transportation facility to decline below the standards adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan, unless transportation improvements or strategies to accommodate the impacts of development are made concurrent with the development” and that: “For the purposes of this subsection (6) ‘concurrent with development’ shall mean that improvements or strategies are in place at the time of development, or that a financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years.”

D. This Chapter is consistent with and implements the City’s Comprehensive Plan adopted pursuant to Chapter 36.70A RCW.

E. The total benefits of certain transportation demand management measures in reducing marginal trips are projected to significantly outweigh the total costs.

F. The regulations contained in this Chapter are necessary for the protection and preservation of the public health, safety and general welfare.