5:10A-70 Findings, declarations relative to the "Hackensack Meadowlands Transportation Planning District Act of 2015."

70. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Every day, residents of New Jersey confront congestion in some part of their day as they commute to work, recreate, or travel for family business. As our State continues to grow and prosper, we can only expect more cars, trucks, and buses on our roads. Meanwhile, the number of riders on our trains and buses is also increasing along with the number of pedestrians and bicyclists.

b. Our ability to deal with these demands at all levels of government is limited without a sound framework for developing responses to congestion and aging infrastructure problems and providing adequate funding to implement strategic solutions.

c. Sections 69 through 81 of P.L.2015, c.19 (C.5:10A-69 through C.5:10A-81) develops the concept of a transportation planning district, which permits the assessment of fees on future development to ensure that adequate transportation infrastructure is put into place to accommodate the vehicular and pedestrian traffic caused by future development.

d. Existing financial resources and existing mechanisms for securing financial commitments for transportation improvements are inadequate to meet transportation improvement needs which are the result of new development in growth areas and, therefore, it is appropriate for the State to make special provisions for the financing of needed transportation improvements in the Meadowlands District, including the assessment of fees on new developments which are responsible for the travel demand burdens on the transportation system. Creation of a transportation planning district provides a mechanism through which the State, counties, and municipalities, and the Meadowlands Regional Commission, as well as the private sector, will have the means to work together to respond to transportation needs on a regional basis as determined by travel conditions or transportation needs in developed areas rather than upon preexisting boundaries. The Meadowlands Regional Commission and the Meadowlands Transportation Planning Board shall oversee the development of a district-wide transportation plan through a consultative planning process which relies upon the participation of public and private sector interests.

e. In assessing development fees under sections 69 through 81 of P.L.2015, c.19 (C.5:10A-69 through C.5:10A-81), the commission recognizes that: (1) those fees supplement, but do not replace, the public investment needed in the transportation system; (2) the costs of remedying pre-existing problems shall not be charged to a new development; (3) the fee charged to any particular development shall be reasonably related to the impact of that development on the transportation system of the district and shall not exceed the development's fair share of the cost of the improvements and related allowable administrative costs; and (4) no development shall be subject to any assessment or fees for transportation improvements by the State, a county, or a municipality, except as provided pursuant to sections 69 through 81 of P.L.2015, c.19 (C.5:10A-69 through C.5:10A-81). In determining the basis for assessing development fees, the commission shall develop reasonable formulas that rely on established planning models.

f. The creation of a transportation planning district shall be accompanied by the development of strategies to improve regional comprehensive planning, to encourage transportation-efficient land uses, to reduce automobile dependency, to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety, and to encourage alternatives to peak-hour automobile trips.

L.2015, c.19, s.70.