52:27I-40 Fort Monmouth Transportation Planning District.

23. a. There is established the Fort Monmouth Transportation Planning District which shall consist of those lands which comprise the project area. The authority shall administer and manage the transportation planning district and carry out such additional functions as provided herein.

b. In furtherance of the development of a coherent and sustainable transportation system for the project area, the authority shall initiate a joint planning process with participation by: State departments and agencies, corporations, commissions, boards, and authorities; metropolitan planning organizations, and counties and municipalities with jurisdiction in the district; and private representatives. The authority shall oversee the development and updating of a comprehensive, future-oriented district transportation plan.

c. The district transportation plan shall establish goals, policies, needs, and improvement priorities for all modes of transportation, including walking and bicycling, within the district and shall be consistent with the revitalization plan. The district transportation plan shall be based on a reasonable assessment of likely future growth reflected in the revitalization plan.

d. The district transportation plan shall quantify transportation needs arising from anticipated future traffic passing within or through the district based upon future development anticipated to occur within or through the district, and reflected in the revitalization plan. The district transportation plan shall set forth proposed transportation projects designed to address that future development, prioritized over increments of five years, the allocation of public and private shares of project costs and allowable administrative costs, and the amount, schedule, and collection of development fees. If new developments are proposed in the district which are not considered in the district transportation plan which is currently in effect, that plan shall be reevaluated, notwithstanding the five-year increment provision.

e. The district transportation plan shall be in accordance with the State transportation master plan adopted under section 5 of P.L.1966, c.301 (C.27:1A-5), the applicable county master plans adopted under R.S.40:27-2, and the applicable regional transportation plan or plans adopted by a metropolitan planning organization pursuant to 23 C.F.R.s.450.322.

f. The district transportation plan shall include a financial element setting forth a statement of projected revenue and expenses, including all project costs. The financial element of the district transportation plan shall identify public and private financial resources which may be available to fund, in whole or in part, those transportation projects set forth in that plan. The financial element shall make recommendations for the types and rates of development fees to be assessed under subsection i. of this section, formulas to govern the assessment of those fees, and the projected annual revenue to be derived therefrom.

g. The authority staff shall make copies of the district transportation plan available to the public for inspection no less than 14 days prior to any formal action by the authority to adopt the plan. In addition, the authority staff shall take steps to notify members of the business community and other interested parties of the district transportation plan and shall hold a public hearing thereon after having given public notice of the hearing.

h. The authority may, by resolution adopt the district transportation plan as recommended by the staff or with modifications.

i. After the adoption of the district transportation plan by the authority pursuant to subsection h. of this section, the authority may, by resolution, provide for the assessment and collection of development fees on developments within the transportation planning district as provided hereunder.

j. Development fees assessed by the authority shall be based upon the growth and development forecasts contained in the district transportation plan and shall be levied in order to raise only those amounts needed to accomplish the transportation projects set forth in the district transportation plan and allowable administrative costs. Those fees shall be assessed based upon the formula or formulas contained in the resolution adopted pursuant to subsection i. of this section and shall be uniformly applied, with such exceptions as are authorized or required herein.

k. A formula or formulas adopted by the authority by resolution shall reflect a methodology which relates the use of land to the impact of the proposed development on the transportation system, including, but not limited to: vehicle trips generated by the development; the square footage of an occupied structure; the number of employees regularly employed at the development; or the number of parking spaces located at the development; or any combination thereof.

l. The resolution may provide for credits against assessed development fees for payments made or expenses incurred which have been determined by the authority to be in furtherance of the district transportation plan, including, but not limited to, contributions to transportation improvements other than those required for safe and efficient highway access to a development, and costs attributable to the promotion of public transit, walking, bicycling, or ridesharing.

m. The resolution may either exempt or reduce the development fee for specified land uses which have been determined by the authority to have a beneficial, neutral, or comparatively minor adverse impact on the transportation needs of the transportation planning district.

n. The resolution may provide for a reduced rate of development fees for developers submitting a peak-hour automobile trip reduction plan approved by the authority under standards adopted by the authority. Standards for the approval of peak-hour automobile trip reduction plans may include, but need not be limited to, physical design for improved transit, ridesharing, and pedestrian access; design of developments which include a mix of residential and nonresidential uses; and proximity to potential labor pools.

o. The assessment of a development fee shall be reasonably related to the impact of the proposed development on the transportation system of the transportation planning district and shall not exceed the development's fair share of the cost of the transportation improvement necessary to accommodate the additional burden on the district's transportation system that is attributable to the proposed development and related allowable administrative costs.

p. A resolution shall be sufficiently certain and definitive to enable every person who may be required to pay a fee to know or calculate the limit and extent of the fee which is to be assessed against a specific development.

q. Upon the adoption by the authority of a resolution pursuant to subsection i. of this section, no separate assessment for off-site transportation improvements within the transportation planning district shall be made by the State, a county, or municipality except as permitted pursuant to this act.

r. A resolution adopted by the authority pursuant to subsection i. of this section shall provide for the establishment of a transportation planning district fund under the control of the authority and administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. All monies collected from development fees shall be deposited into the fund, which shall be invested in an interest-bearing account. Monies deposited in the fund shall be used to defray project costs and allowable administrative costs.

s. Every transportation project funded, in whole or in part, by funds from a transportation planning district fund shall be subject to a project agreement to which the relevant entities are parties. The expenditure of funds for this purpose shall not be made from a transportation planning district fund, except by approval of the project budget by the authority and upon certification of the chief fiscal officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that the expenditure is in accordance with a project agreement or is otherwise a project cost and has the approval of the authority.

t. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no development fees shall be assessed for any low and moderate income housing units which are constructed pursuant to the "Fair Housing Act," P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.) or under court order or settlement.

u. (1) The payments due to the authority, whether as a lump sum or as balances due when a series of payments is to be made, shall be enforceable by the authority as a lien on the land and any improvements thereon. The lien shall be recorded by the county officer in the record book of the county office.

(2) When the fee is paid in full on the development or portion thereof, the lien on the development or portion thereof, as appropriate, shall be removed. When a series of payments is to be made, failure to make any one payment within 30 days after receipt of a notice of late payment shall constitute a default and shall obligate the person owing the unpaid balance to pay that balance in its entirety.

(3) All amounts assessed as a lien pursuant to this section shall be a lien upon the land against which they are assessed in the same manner that taxes are made a lien against land pursuant to Title 54 of the Revised Statutes, and the payment thereof shall be enforced within the same time and in the same manner and by the same proceedings as the payment of taxes is otherwise enforced under Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.

v. (1) Any fees collected, plus earned interest, not committed to a transportation project under a project agreement entered into under subsection s. of this section within 10 years of the date of collection, or not used for other allowable administrative costs within 10 years of the date of collection, shall be refunded to the fee-payer under a procedure prescribed by the authority; provided, however, that if the fee-payer transfers the development or any portion thereof, the fee-payer shall enter into an agreement with the grantee in such form as shall be provided by the authority which shall indicate who shall be entitled to receive any refund, and that agreement shall be filed with the chief fiscal officer of the EDA.

(2) Any person who has been assessed a development fee may request in writing a reconsideration of the assessment and a hearing by an employee so delegated by the authority within 90 days of the receipt of notification of the amount of the assessment on the grounds that the authority or its officers or employees in issuing the assessment did not abide by the provisions of this section or the provisions of the resolution adopted by the authority pursuant to this section.

w. A person may appeal to the authority any decision made in connection with the reconsideration of an assessment as authorized pursuant to subsection v. of this section. The authority shall review the record of the hearing and render its decision, which shall constitute an administrative action subject to review by the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as limiting the ability of any person so assessed from filing an appeal based upon an agreement to pay or actual payment of the fee.

x. If the authority, in conjunction with the New Jersey Transit Corporation, shall cause a passenger rail station to be designed, constructed and operated within the project area, prior to taking any such action, the authority shall receive written approval by resolution from the governing body of the host municipality in which the passenger rail station is to be located.

y. For the purposes of this section:

"Allowable administrative costs" means expenses incurred by the authority in developing a district transportation plan, including a financial element, and in managing a transportation planning district.

"Developer" means the legal or beneficial owner or owners of a lot or of any land proposed to be included in a proposed development, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land.

"Development" means "development" in the meaning of section 3.1 of the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-4).

"Development fee" means a fee assessed on a development pursuant to a resolution of the authority adopted under subsection i. of this section.

"District" or "transportation planning district" means the Fort Monmouth Transportation Planning District established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.

"Project agreement" means an agreement between the authority and a developer providing the terms and conditions under which the developer agrees to perform any work or undertaking necessary for a transportation project.

"Project costs" means expenses incurred in the planning, design, engineering and construction of any transportation project, and shall include debt service.

"Public highways" means public roads, streets, expressways, freeways, parkways, motorways, and boulevards including bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, rest areas, express bus roadways, bus pullouts and turnarounds, park-ride facilities, traffic circles, grade separations, traffic control devices, the elimination or improvement of crossings of railroads and highways, whether at grade or not at grade, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, pedestrian and bicycle bridges traversing public highways, and any facilities, equipment, property, rights-of-way, easements and interests therein needed for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of highways.

"Public transportation project" means, in connection with public transportation service or regional ridesharing programs, passenger stations, shelters and terminals, automobile parking facilities, ferries and ferry facilities including capital projects for ferry terminals, approach roadways, pedestrian accommodations, parking, docks, and other necessary land-side improvements, ramps, track connections, signal systems, power systems, information and communication systems, roadbeds, transit lands or rights-of-way equipment storage and servicing facilities, bridges, grade crossings, rail cars, locomotives, motorbus and other motor vehicles, maintenance and garage facilities, revenue handling equipment and any other equipment, facility or property useful for or related to the provision of public transportation service or regional ridesharing programs.

"Transportation project" or "transportation improvement" means, in addition to public highways and public transportation projects, any equipment, facility, or property useful or related to the provision of any ground, waterborne, or air transportation for the movement of people and goods within or through the district, including rail freight infrastructure.

L.2010, c.51, s.23.