In all districts, automobile off-street parking spaces with adequate access to all spaces shall be provided. The number of off-street parking spaces, in conjunction with all land or building uses, shall be provided, prior to the issuance of a certification of occupancy as hereinafter prescribed.

For purposes of these regulations, major recreational equipment is defined to include boats, boat trailers, travel trailers, recreational vehicles, pickup campers or coaches, motorized dwellings, tent trailers and the like. No recreational equipment shall be parked or stored on any lot within a residential district except that such recreational equipment may be parked or stored in a carport or enclosed building, behind the front line of the building, or next to the main structure, as long as the equipment does not cause a nuisance to abutting property; provided, however, that such equipment may be parked anywhere on residential premises for not more than forty-eight (48) hours during loading and unloading. No such equipment shall be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping purposes when parked or stored on a residential lot, or any location not approved for such use.

Automotive vehicles, semitrailers, heavy-duty equipment, or trailers of any kind or type without current license plates shall not be parked or stored on any residentially zoned or commercially zoned property other than in a completely enclosed building. In residential zones, it shall be illegal to garage or park more than one commercial vehicle larger than a regularly manufactured pickup or panel truck of one and one half (1½) tons capacity per lot. The commercial vehicle must be owned and operated by a member of the family residing on said lot or parcel.

Off-street parking required in conjunction with all land and building uses shall be provided as herein prescribed:

1.

The minimum number of off-street parking spaces shall be determined in accordance with the table in Section 26.07. For uses not specifically mentioned therein, off-street parking requirements shall be interpreted by the planning commission from requirements for similar uses. The planning commission's interpretation may be appealed to the zoning board of appeals.

2.

Any area once designated as required for off-street parking shall never be changed to any other use unless and until comparable facilities are provided elsewhere. Off-street parking existing at the effective date of this ordinance in connection with the operation of an existing building or use shall not be reduced to an amount less than hereinafter required for such building or use.

3.

Off-street parking for other than residential uses shall be either on the same lot or within three hundred (300) feet of the building it is intended to serve, measured from the nearest point of the building to the nearest point of the off-street parking lot, without crossing any major thoroughfare. Ownership shall be shown of all lots or parcels intended for use as parking by the applicant when an application for a building permit or a certificate of occupancy is filed.

4.

Residential off-street parking shall consist of a parking strip, parking bay, driveway, garage, parking lot, or combination thereof. Such spaces shall be located on the same premises as the use they are intended to serve and shall be located no closer than five (5) feet from any street lot line. In appropriate cases they also shall be subject to the provisions of Section 4.21, Accessory buildings, of this ordinance. Single-family residential off-street parking is exempt from all other regulations of this article governing a parking lot.

5.

Off-street parking existing at the effective date of this ordinance in connection with the operation of an existing building or use shall not be reduced to an amount less than hereinafter required for a similar new building or new use.

6.

Off-street parking may be provided either by individuals or by a parking program carried out through public action, whether by special assessment district or otherwise.

7.

Two (2) or more buildings or uses may collectively provide the required off-street parking, in which case the required number of parking spaces shall not be less than the sum of the requirements for the several individual uses computed separately. However, in cases of dual functioning of off-street parking where operating hours do not overlap, the planning commission may waive requirements based on the peak hour demand.

8.

Required off-street parking shall be for the use of occupants, employees, visitors, and patrons and shall be limited in use to motor vehicles. The storage of merchandise, motor vehicles for sale, or the repair of vehicles is prohibited.

9.

Where off-street parking is permanent, publicly owned and the operation exists in quantity greater than would be necessary to fulfill the requirements of this ordinance based upon the existing contiguous buildings, then such number of parking spaces may be prorated to the land area within three hundred (300) feet as measured in Paragraph 3 above to the extent that the parking requirements are thereby met. The planning commission shall determine such proration calculation. To the extent of such proration calculation, the board of appeals may grant a variance to the minimum number of off-street parking spaces required to be provided prior to the certificate of occupancy for any new building or new use.

10.

Stacking spaces. On the same premises with every building structure or part thereof, erected and occupied for the purpose of serving customers in their automobiles by means of a service window or similar arrangement where the automobile engine is not turned off, there shall be provided a minimum of three (3) off-street waiting spaces, hereinafter referred to as stacking spaces, for each service window except where otherwise provided in this ordinance.

Wherever off-street parking is required by the provisions of this ordinance or is otherwise constructed to meet the requirements of this ordinance, such lot or facility shall be laid out, constructed and maintained in accordance with the following requirements:

1.

No parking lot shall be construed without a proper permit issued by the building inspector. The building of a parking lot shall be subject to the requirements of a zoning compliance permit.

2.

Adequate ingress and egress to the parking lot shall be provided for vehicles by means of clearly limited and defined drives.

3.

Parking spaces shall be set back from abutting residential districts as follows:

a.

Where the parking lot abuts on side lot lines, the required setback shall be ten (10) feet from the side lot lines.

b.

Where the parking lot abuts on a contiguous common frontage in the same block, the required setback shall be equal to the residential required setback, or average of existing setbacks in the common block frontage, whichever is greater.

c.

Where the parking lot is across the street and opposite, with residential lots fronting on such streets, the required setback shall be equivalent to the opposite residential required setback.

d.

Where the parking lot abuts the rear lot line, the required setback shall be ten (10) feet from the street lot line.

4.

The land between the setback line and the lot line, in a parking lot, is for the purposes of this ordinance called a buffer strip. There shall be installed bumper stops or wheel chocks to prevent any vehicle from projecting over or on to the buffer strip. The ground of the buffer strip shall be landscaped and used only for the purposes of plant materials. The buffer strip shall be kept free of refuse or debris. Landscaping shall be kept in a healthy, growing condition.

5.

Where the parking lot boundary adjoins property zoned for residential use, a suitable screening wall shall be provided. Suitable ornamental fencing may be substituted for the screening wall with the approval of the planning commission. Said wall or fence shall not extend into the required front open space of abutting residential lots. The height of the wall or fence shall be at least four feet but no higher than six (6) feet.

6.

All lighting for parking areas shall be limited to twenty (20) feet in height and shall be directed away from and shielded from adjacent property and rights-of-way, especially residential areas, and shall be arranged to not adversely affect driver visibility on adjacent roads.

7.

The parking lot shall be drained to eliminate surface water in such a way as to preclude drainage onto adjacent property or toward buildings.

8.

The surface of the parking lot, including drives and aisles, except for the buffer strips, shall be constructed of dustless and durable all-weather surface material.

9.

Parking structures may be built to satisfy off-street parking regulations when located in other than residential districts, subject to the area, height, bulk and placement regulations of the district in which such are located.

10.

The parking facilities design and layout shall meet the following minimum requirements:

PARKING LAYOUTS

SEE ILLUSTRATION AT END OF SECTION [2.02]

11.

Except for parallel parking, all parking spaces shall be clearly stripped with a minimum of four (4) inch-wide double lines twenty-four (24) inches apart, to facilitate movement and to help maintain an orderly and efficient parking arrangement.

12.

Parking space standards.

a.

All parking spaces shall be nine (9) feet in width, center to center, and twenty (20) feet in length.

b.

Off-street parking reserved for the handicapped shall be provided in accordance with the following table and identified by signs bearing the international symbol for the handicapped as being reserved for physically handicapped persons. A maximum of two (2) spaces may be designed by a single sign when the sign displays arrows specifically delineating each space. Signs shall be installed approximately seven (7) feet above grade. Each reserved parking space shall not be less than twelve (12) feet in width. Where a curb exists between a parking lot surface and a sidewalk surface, an inclined approach or a curb cut with a gradient of not more than one (1) foot in twelve (12) feet and a width of not less than four (4) feet shall be provided for wheelchair access. Parking spaces for the physically handicapped shall be located as close as possible to walkways and entrances. Signs shall be provided when necessary indicating the direction of travel to an accessible entrance.

13.

Stacking spaces shall be a minimum of nine (9) feet wide and twenty (20) feet in length, shall not extend into any public street right-of-way and shall be distinctly separated from on-site parking so as not to interfere with ingress and egress to parking spaces.

14.

Parallel parking spaces shall be twenty-three (23) feet in length.

15.

All parking lots shall have clearly limited and defined access from roadways and said access shall not be less than twenty-four (24) feet in width at the right-of-way line. Interior driveways shall also be clearly defined and not less than twelve (12) feet wide for one (1) way and twenty (20) feet wide for two (2) way traffic.

16.

All parking spaces shall have access from an aisle on the site. Backing directly onto a street shall be prohibited.

17.

The township may require the posting of such traffic control signs as it deems necessary to promote vehicular and pedestrian safety.

18.

Bumper stops, curbing, or wheel chocks shall be provided to prevent any vehicle from damaging or encroaching upon any required wall, berm, pedestrian or bike path or buffer strips, upon any building adjacent to the parking lot, or upon any adjacent property. Freeway type guardrails shall be prohibited.

19.

In order to ensure pedestrian safety, sidewalks, of not less than five (5) feet in width, may be required to separate any driveway or parking area from a building.

20.

All interior circulation routes shall have rights-of-way of a sufficient width to accommodate the vehicular traffic generated by the uses permitted in the district or adequate provision shall be made at the time of the approval of the plan for such sufficient width of rights-of-way.

21.

Parking lot landscaping requirements.

a.

For those uses requiring greater than twenty (20) parking spaces, there shall be a minimum of twenty-five (25) square feet of landscaping for each space in excess of twenty (20) spaces required, and a minimum of two hundred (200) square feet of landscaping must be provided.

This parking lot requirement is exclusive of any yard and other landscaping requirement within a given zone.

Parking lot landscaping shall be no less than five (5) feet in any single dimension and no less than one hundred fifty (150) square feet in any single area and shall be protected from parking areas with curbing, or other permanent means to prevent vehicular encroachment onto the landscaped areas. Areas less than these minimum requirements shall not be considered as meeting part of the landscaping requirements.

b.

For all off-street parking lots, a landscaping plan shall be submitted to the planning commission. The landscape plan shall include an itemized plant materials schedule with botanical and common names of materials, their locations, sizes, and quantities. The arrangement of this landscaping shall be done in such a manner as to contribute significantly to safe circulation, visual orientation, and other positive environmental factors.

On the same premises with every building, structure, or part thereof erected and occupied for manufacturing, storage, warehousing, retailing, wholesaling, or other uses involving the receipt or distribution of vehicles or materials or merchandise, there shall be provided and maintained on the lot adequate space for standing loading and unloading services adjacent to the opening used for loading and unloading in order to avoid interference with the public use of highways, streets, or alleys. Such loading and unloading space shall be a minimum of ten (10) feet by forty (40) feet in area, with a fourteen (14) foot-high clearance and shall be provided according to the following table:

The amount of required off-street parking space for new uses of land or buildings, or any additions thereto, and additions to existing uses of land or buildings, shall be determined in accordance with the following table, and the space, so required, shall be stated in the application for a building permit and shall be irrevocably reserved for such use and/or shall comply with the initial part of this section: