§ 10.36.010. Purpose and intent.

This chapter is intended to meet the requirements of the Riverside County congestion management program and the air quality management plan as well as to promote consideration of transportation demand management objectives early in the development review process. Often, conventional land development promotes reliance on the single occupancy vehicle. This chapter establishes policies and procedures to encourage and promote the use of alternative transportation modes through project design and facility planning.

A more efficient transportation system is beneficial to the health, safety and welfare of residents and businesses within Riverside County. New development should therefore be encouraged to incorporate transportation demand management measures into project design and operations. By accomplishing this goal on a voluntary basis, regulatory measures may not need to be developed thereby minimizing or eliminating associated costs. However, Riverside County is currently working with the Western Riverside Council of Governments to develop detailed implementation strategies for congestion management and air quality and to identify and define impacted areas within western Riverside County where these strategies should be enforced. Should the detailed implementation strategies be approved and adopted by the board of supervisors, this chapter may be amended so as to identify some elements of the strategies as mandatory.

New residential, commercial, industrial and mixed-use development may adversely impact existing transportation and parking facilities, thereby resulting in increased motor vehicle emissions, deteriorating levels of service, and creating the need for significant additional capital expenditures to augment and improve the existing transportation system. In order to more efficiently utilize the existing and planned transportation system and to reduce vehicle emissions, it is the intent of this chapter to:

A.

Reduce vehicle trips generated by new development by twelve (12) percent commencing in 1994, by twenty (20) percent commencing in 2000, and by thirty (30) percent commencing in 2006;

B.

Reduce overall projected 1994 vehicle trips emanating from the county of Riverside by seven percent;

C.

Relieve traffic congestion in an effort to improve air quality;

D.

Produce an efficient transportation demand management system which utilizes the existing system to its best potential;

E.

Maintain or achieve minimum level-of-service "C" for all new development projects.

(Ord. 726 § 1, 1993)