Under Chapter 33E of the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances, Miami-Dade County (“County”) may assess a road impact fee on all new developments seeking permitting. The intention of this assessment is to ensure that all new development bears its proportionate share of a portion of the capital cost of roadway capacity improvements necessary to allow an adequate level of roadway service in response to the effects of the new development.

However, road impact fees may be utilized on any off-site roadway improvements, or on bonds or other borrowed revenues used to fund such improvements, within the road impact fee benefit district of the development. For developments within the Town of Miami Lakes (“Town”), this means the road impact fees can be used on any off-site road capacity improvement within Road Impact Fee Benefit District 3, which spans from Okeechobee Road (US-27) to Sunny Isles Beach across and from the northern County boundary to NW 138/135 Street North/South. See attached diagram. Because of the size of the Road Impact Fee Benefit District that the Town resides in, there are circumstances in which development occurring within the Town generates Road Impact Fees that are then used to fund roadway improvements outside the Town's boundaries.

To limit this occurrence, the Town, in coordination with the Graham Companies, has explored avenues available to retain Road Impact Fees for roadway improvements within the Town's boundaries. The solution we arrived at was to utilize the County's “Contribution in-lieu-of-fee” (“CIL”) process provided for in §33E-10 of the Miami-Dade County Code of Ordinances. In this process, developers may construct all or part of an off-site roadway improvement and deliver it to the County in return for a credit to their assessed Road Impact Fees. The manner in which the roadway improvement is constructed is left up to the developer.

The Town has identified two roadway improvement projects located within Town boundaries that are eligible for a CIL credit: NW 67th Avenue Widening Project and the Adaptive Signalization Project along NW 154th Street (Miami Lakes Drive). These projects are designed to increase road capacity and facilitate the flow of traffic around SR 826 at NW 67th Ave and NW 154th St.

As part of the Transportation Improvement Initiatives outlined in the Town's Strategic Plan, the NW 67th Ave Widening Project was proposed as an opportunity to address transportation issues facing the Town. The Project involves widening the roadway at NW 67th Avenue by incorporating an additional northbound through lane on the southern approach to the intersection at NW 67th Avenue and NW 167th Street to aide traffic flow, reducing traffic congestion and improving vehicular movement. The improvements for NW 67th Avenue will extend from approximately 300 ft. south of Windmill Gate Road up to NW 167th Street. The goal of the project is to help alleviate peak hour congestion in this area.

Similarly, the NW 154th Street corridor, specifically near the vicinity of the Palmetto Expressway interchange, experiences heavy congestion during peak hour periods. To mitigate and relieve congestion along this segment of the corridor, the County agreed to work with the Town to install and update the traffic signals with Closed Circuit Television (“CCTV”) and Adaptive Signal Control Technology (“ASCT”) technologies on NW 154th St from NW 87th Ave to NW 77th Ave. The installation of CCTV and ASCT cameras will help the County and the Town monitor traffic conditions in real-time and adjust signal timing for both normal rush hour traffic and special events based on the camera data.

To secure funding for these projects, Town staff assisted the Graham Companies with the process to receive CIL credit for the projects. The County has approved the CIL credit to the Graham Companies for both projects, pending successful delivery of the constructed roadway improvements. The next step for the Town is to enter into a funding agreement with the Graham Companies for the value of the projects up to the approved CIL credit amounts. Town staff and the Graham Companies have negotiated agreements for each project. The agreements are included in the attached resolution.