This Chapter establishes Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Ordinance with the goals of lessening traffic impacts by reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the City and the region and facilitating the use of alternative modes of transportation by residents, tenants, employees and visitors. The TDM Ordinance also implements the Greenhouse Gas emissions reduction measure of the City's Climate Action Plan.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

The City Manager or their designee shall establish and maintain the rules, procedures, and additional requirements within a TDM Policy to implement the provisions of this Chapter. The TDM Policy is incorporated by reference into this Chapter. The City Manager or their designee is hereby authorized to modify the TDM Policy as necessary, provided such amendments are consistent with this Chapter and State law.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

The following words and phrases shall have the meanings below when used in this Chapter. Additional information is provided in the TDM Policy.

A.

Carpool shall mean a motor vehicle occupied by two or more persons travelling together.

B.

Commute shall mean a regular trip between home and work-related facilities, i.e., home to park-and-ride to work.

C.

Complex shall mean either:

1.

A business park, shopping center, or other commercial/industrial project in separate or common ownership, which can be identified by any of the following characteristics:

(a)

It is known by a common name given to the project by its developer or owner(s);

(b)

It is governed by a common set of covenants, conditions, and restrictions;

(c)

It was approved, or is to be approved, as an entity by the City;

(d)

It is covered by a single tentative, final subdivision map or parcel map;

(e)

It is managed as a single aggregated center by the property owner or management company; or

2.

Any non-retail multi-tenant building or group of buildings with 50 or more employees at the single site, which is not included within the definition of complex pursuant to Section 12.36.030(a) above.

3.

Any set of residences served by a single management company, on-site management team, or homeowners association.

D.

Compressed work week shall mean a policy and supportive strategies that allow an employee to work fewer but longer days within a week.

E.

Employee shall mean any person hired by any employer, including part-time and seasonal employees.

F.

Employer shall mean any private or public employer, including the City, who has a permanent place of business in the City.

G.

Single-Occupancy Vehicle shall mean a motor-driven vehicle (to include two-wheel, motor-driven vehicles) occupied by one person. For the purposes of this ordinance, motorized e-bikes and scooters are excluded from this definition.

H.

Telecommuting shall mean a policy and supportive strategies that allow an employee to work wholly or partially from home or other remote location.

I.

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is a system of strategies, policies, and programs that aim to increase availability and convenience of alternative travel modes to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicle trips.

J.

TDM Coordinator shall mean an assigned on-site person, by the developer/owner/project operator who is responsible for implementing and monitoring the project's TDM Plan, as approved by the City. The TDM coordinator shall be responsible for sharing TDM information with residents, employees, and other project users, answering questions, and coordinating with the City on matters such as monitoring and reporting.

K.

TDM Plan-Applicant shall mean a plan/documentation prepared by the project applicant/developer that shows how a proposed development will show compliance with Chapter 20.350 of the SMMC and adopted TDM Policy. The TDM Plans shall include information on which strategies will be applicable to the project and details on how they will be implemented and monitored over time.

L.

Vanpool shall mean a van occupied by three to 15 people travelling together.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

A.

The standards of this Chapter and the TDM Policy shall apply to all development projects that are not exempt from CEQA and that emit more than 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide {MT of CO ₂ ) per year.

B.

Projects that are subject to this Ordinance shall submit a project specific TDM Plan for the City's review and approval with the entitlement application to show compliance with this Chapter and the TDM Policy.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

A.

Development projects that are subject to the TDM Ordinance and Policy are required to establish project specific TDM Plans that include all mandatory and a selection of optional strategies from the City's TDM Policy. Project applicants shall submit their project's TDM Plans to the City with their entitlement application. A project's TDM Plan is to be considered by the decision making body with project's other entitlements.

B.

After initial approval and during the life of the project, City Manager or designee are authorized to approve amendments to TDM Plans, in consultation with and based on input from the project applicants or successors.

C.

City approved TDM Plans for development projects are binding on the project applicant and successors for the life of the project. The applicant is required to notify the City when administration and monitoring of the TDM Plan transfers to their successor.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

A.

Monitoring. The project applicant or their successor and the TDM Coordinator are responsible for implementation, monitoring, and reporting of their project's TDM Plan. Monitoring mechanisms may include printed copies of materials provided to employees or residents, photographs of installed features, site inspections by City staff, documented site inspections by applicant staff, or surveys of site employees and/or residents to determine the mode share for single-occupancy vehicles, carpooling/vanpooling, public transit, walking, bicycling, and telecommuting. Surveys may also include participation rates for programmatic strategies and usage of infrastructure strategies. Collaboration with City staff is required to determine the monitoring documentation appropriate to the specific measures and nature of the project.

B.

Reporting. The project applicant/their successor or TDM coordinator shall submit TDM Plan's Monitoring and Compliance Reports to the City, during the first five years of a project's operations, with relevant data and reports to document compliance with the project's TDM Plan. The initial/first Report shall be due to the City after one year of issuance of final Certificate of Occupancy. After the initial report, Monitoring Reports are required to be submitted to the City after every other year. The reports may include results of surveys and mode choices by project residents and/or employees to disclose if mode share goals are being met. The reports should list all the mandatory and optional strategies that a project included in its TDM Plan and show implementation efforts undertaken by the applicant/TDM coordinator. The report should additionally identify participation rate by employees/residents for each strategy. If certain strategies are not able to achieve desired goals of reduction in vehicle trips, the report should identify what strategies the project will employ moving forward to achieve the goal of trips reduction.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

A.

The City Manager or their designee shall investigate and enforce this Chapter. Any City authorized personnel or enforcement officer may exercise any enforcement power as set forth in Chapter 1.12 of the San Marcos Municipal Code.

B.

The City Manager or their designee may delegate to or enter into a contract with a consulting firm to implement and administer any of the provisions of this Chapter on behalf of the City.

C.

TDM amenities approved and installed pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and project specific TDM Plan shall be maintained in accordance with the policies and requirements of the TDM Policy. Failure to do so may be subject to enforcement to the provisions of this section. Non-compliance with this Chapter includes failure to submit a TDM Plan when required; failure to submit biennial Monitoring and Compliance Reports or non-implementation of TDM strategies included in a project's TDM Plan.

D.

If the City determines that a project's mode share goals are not being met and strategies included in the TDM Plan are deemed insufficient, the TDM Coordinator shall work with the City to revise the project's TDM Plan to modify or replace strategies.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)

An applicant for a project subject to this Chapter shall include with the TDM Plan and with subsequent Monitoring and Compliance Reports, all fees established by the City Council by resolution to cover the City's cost to review the TDM documentation packages and any other documents that the city staff reviews pursuant to the requirements of this Chapter, the TDM Policy and the project specific TDM Plan.

(Ord. No. 2023-1539, § C(Exh. A), 12-12-2023; Ord. No. 2024-1543, § B(Exh. A), 4-9-2024)