Airway Heights City Zoning Code

Off-street parking and loading shall be provided and maintained in accordance with this chapter for any building hereafter erected, altered, enlarged, relocated, or reoccupied after being vacant for a period of one year or more.

These regulations shall not be interpreted to prevent the occupancy of a building erected before the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter where it can be demonstrated that there is insufficient land unoccupied by the building upon the site to provide the required number of parking spaces.

Where structural alterations or additions subsequent to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter create units of additional floor space, dwelling units, bowling alleys or other units requiring off-street parking, the number of such spaces required shall be determined by reference only to the additional floor space, dwelling units, bowling alleys, or other units.

Removal of required off-street parking and loading spaces or both from practical use by obstruction, erection of buildings or structures, or by other action is prohibited, and any such action in violation of this section shall be considered a misdemeanor subject to punishment and remedy prescribed in AHMC § 1.16.010.

Any addition to a building or any change in use of a building or site to such an extent that a permit or certificate of occupancy is necessary shall require compliance with the provisions contained within this chapter. All required parking areas shall be made permanently available free of charge to the customers of the use on the site and maintained for parking purposes only. No building permit shall be issued until plans showing provision for the required off-street parking have been submitted and approved. Every lot or parcel of land, or portion thereof, used as a public or private parking area shall be developed and maintained in accordance with this section; however, detached single-family and duplex housing shall be exempt from all requirements.

Off-street parking facilities shall be located within a reasonable distance to the building.

Up to three legally established on-street parking stalls, with one space for every 25 feet of uninterrupted public street frontage along the parcel, may be counted toward the parking requirement for the development, subject to availability and approval by City Planner.

A local access street may depart from standard street width requirements, allowing for a narrower design that does not accommodate on-street parking. In such cases, off-street parking requirements will remain in effect.

All parking spaces, stalls or both and aisles shall be designed according to the following parking design standards:

Parking spaces designed at any angle other than those described are permitted, provided the width of stalls and aisles is proportionately adjusted based upon the angle proposed.

Parking shall be so designed to minimize automobiles backing out into public streets or into main circulation routes within the parking lot.

Handicapped parking shall be installed in accordance with the Regulations for Barrier-Free Facilities as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Advisory Council and as administered by the Building and Safety Department. The handicapped parking space shall be included in the number of required parking spaces.

Bicycle racks and/or storage shall be provided whenever 50 or more parking spaces are required. There shall be two racks required for 50 to 74 parking spaces and one rack for every additional 25 parking spaces required.

A parking plan shall be submitted to the City Planner for review and approval before the issuance of any building or land use permits.

Bicycle parking may be substituted for 10 percent of the required parking spaces.

All off-street parking areas shall consist of gravel, paving or grading to the standards of the Public Works Department before a certificate of occupancy for the building is issued. All paving shall be done in a manner consistent with standards set forth by the City Engineer.

General Requirements (All Parking Areas). The paving and hard surfacing shall provide for proper storm drainage and allow for parking stalls and installation of other traffic control devices as set forth by the City Engineer. All traffic control devices, such as parking strips designating car stalls, directional arrows or signs, and curbs and other traffic control devices shall be installed and completed as required by this section and as shown on the approved plans. Paint or markers shall be used to delineate parking stalls and directional arrows on paved or hard-surfaced areas. Pedestrian walks on the exterior of the parking lot shall be curbed or raised six inches above the lot surface or to curb height, excluding those areas used for driveways, curb cuts necessary for meeting handicap requirements, and curb cuts necessary for meeting storm water requirements. The parking lot surfacing and drainage facilities shall be inspected and approved before issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

The owner(s) of a group of uses or buildings may jointly provide for the collective use of off-street parking and loading spaces, subject to the City Planner's approval of the plans thereof. Such plans shall include the identification of the limits of the property involved; the outline of all structures; the identification of all other areas not involved in the off-street parking, loading, or access thereto (e.g., pedestrian areas, landscaping, refuse storage areas); the actual layout of all off-street parking and loading spaces, as well as access thereto; identification of those spaces to be used collectively if other than all spaces on the property; and an agreement signed by all owners of the subject property binding them to continued collective use of off-street parking and loading spaces.

For shopping centers, the City Planner may establish a total parking requirement based upon the mixture of uses contained within the center. If the City Planner finds the uses within the center have substantially dissimilar peak demands for off-street parking, the City Planner may establish the center's parking requirements at a level reduced up to 25 percent of the normal parking requirement.

Up to 50 percent of the parking facilities required by this section for a use considered to be primarily a daytime use may be provided by the parking facilities of a use considered to be primarily a nighttime use or vice versa, provided the reciprocal parking area shall be subject to the conditions set forth in this subsection and subsections (F), (G), and (H) of this section.

Up to 100 percent of the Sunday and nighttime parking facilities required by this section for a church or auditorium incidental to a public or parochial school may be supplied by parking facilities required for the school use if the reciprocal parking area shall be subject to the conditions set forth in this subsection and subsections (F), (G), and (H) of this section.

For purposes of this subsection, the following uses are typical daytime uses: business offices, barber and beauty shops, and manufacturing or wholesale buildings. The following uses are typical nighttime and Sunday uses: auditoriums incidental to a public or parochial school, churches, dance halls, theaters, and taverns.

The building or use for which application is made for authority to use the existing off-street parking facilities provided by another building or use shall be located within a reasonable distance of the parking facilities.

The applicant shall demonstrate that there is not substantial conflict in the principal operating hours of the buildings or uses for which the joint use of the parking facility is proposed.

Parties jointly using off-street parking facilities, as provided for, shall execute a legal easement regarding their joint use agreement. The agreement shall be subject to review by the City Planner and recorded in the county auditor's office. The agreement shall run with the land and not be terminable without authorization being given by the City Planner, based upon changed conditions.

It is the intent of this section to require all future commercial, business, institutional, or industrial developments to provide off-street loading facilities in order to guarantee full utilization of existing rights-of-way to accommodate present and future traffic demands. Off-street loading facilities are intended to provide adequate space to accommodate outside deliveries from large vehicles which cannot be functionally served by normal parking stalls. Off-street loading facilities must be located in such a manner that service vehicles do not block or intrude into public rights-of-way or block driveways or parking area circulation.

Location and Design.

When a proposed structure is intended to be used concurrently for different purposes, final determination of required loading spaces shall be made by the City Planner, provided the loading requirements for the combined uses shall not be less than the total requirement for each separate use.

Off-street loading spaces shall measure 15 feet wide, 60 feet long, and 15 feet high; except, if this section requires only one off-street loading space, it may measure 12 feet wide, 30 feet long, and 14 feet, six inches high.

Off-street loading spaces must be paved.

The minimum number of off-street loading spaces shall be required according to the following table: