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21 <br />page 8 <br />required to complete a traffic impact study. Some of these levels used <br />for the various land uses are considerably lower than the threshold used <br />for other areas. EDC will look at these and submit some specific <br />recommendations for the different land uses. The ordinance has an open <br />ended approach for projecting traffic impact of future development in a <br />study area during the period under which a development is under <br />construction. EDC would like for this approach to be standardized to <br />reduce the potential for misunderstanding during the entire review <br />process. The existing ordinance under 13.3 provides a general exemption <br />which is to be deleted. EDC feels there may be certain instances in <br />which this provision may be needed. EDC is presently in the process of <br />making a recommendation for prezoning of certain areas in the County <br />that would be suitable for economic development. The extent to which <br />the traffic impact study ordinance provisions are going to be required <br />for the areas they have under consideration is an important concern. <br />They have not included in the budget monies to pay for the traffic <br />impact study on these areas under consideration. He stated that a <br />written statement from EDC will be sent to the Planning Board before <br />they consider this item and make a recommendation to the Board. <br />Barry Jacobs made reference to an area in Durham County which was <br />prezoned and the traffic impact was not taken into consideration and how <br />this adversely impacted the neighborhood. The only way he would feel <br />comfortable with prezoning would be to consider the impact of the <br />development in the area and a way to include that in the approval. <br />Larry Meisner from Kimley Horn stated that the thresholds were put in <br />as a guideline. Rather than have a developer come in and take a look at <br />the trip generation of 800 trips a day or 100 trips in a peak hour and <br />determine if his development meets that and wonder if he has to go <br />through a whole impact study to find out if he needs to do an impact <br />study, the TAS suggested to put in these typical thresholds. These are <br />not necessarily the final guidelines. They are based on the Institute <br />of Transportation Engineers trip generation report which is a standard <br />for the number of trips generated per one thousand square feet of <br />office, per thousand square feet of retail, per unit of single family or <br />multi family units, etc. <br />Chairman Carey questioned the necessity of having the transportation <br />plan certified stating that this increases the cost of doing the study. <br />Meisner indicated they want the study to be done by someone who is a <br />registered engineer or certified planner. It is a way to protect the <br />applicant and the public. The cost of a traffic impact study will <br />depend on the location, the intersections involved, the complexity of <br />the project, etc. Usually the minimum cost would be $2,500 to $3,000 <br />for a small project. For a medium size project it could cost from <br />$3,000 to $5,000. <br />JAY ZARAGOZA stated that what Chapel Hill or Durham does should be <br />irrelevant to what Orange County does. Wake County seems to function <br />very well without a traffic impact analysis. He feels that hiring a <br />certified engineer to come up with figures that can't be all that <br />accurate is unnecessary. <br />