These standards are to promote safe and efficient access. It is essential that driveways be located to advance safe ingress and egress for development, minimize adverse impacts on the roadway, and preserve roadway capacity to promote public safety.

Driveway spacing for collector or higher order streets shall be governed by lot frontage requirements which may exceed those found in section 26-35. In any case, the more stringent requirement will be applicable. The standards for all roads designated on the parish thoroughfare map, as amended, are as follows:

(1)

No driveway access shall exceed thirty-six (36) feet in width.

(2)

Excluding those for single family dwellings, all driveways at the connection of the street shall have a minimum of five (5) feet radius with the following maximum radius:

a.

Local street:

i.

Commercial/industrial—Twenty-five (25) feet.

ii.

All other—Fifteen (15) feet.

b.

Urban collector, as designated on the master transportation plan—Twenty-five (25) feet.

c.

Rural collector, as designated on the master transportation plan—Fifty (50) feet.

Alternative connections may be approved by the director following an applicant's submittal of an engineering study and a review by the parish engineer.

The "point of beginning" of the radius may begin at the common property line, where, if the property line was extended, it would meet the street edge. The radius is exclusive of the driveway width.

(3)

Excluding those for single family dwellings, multiple driveways serving a single parcel of land shall be spaced according to the following minimum distances:

a.

Local street—Twenty-five (25) feet.

b.

Collector street—Fifty (50) feet.

c.

Arterial street—Seventy-five (75) feet.

Alternative spacing may be approved by the director following an applicant's submittal of an engineering study and a review by the parish engineer.

For purposes of this subsection, distances between driveways shall be measured from closest perpendicular edge of drive to the closest perpendicular edge of nearest drive at the end of the radii point.

(4)

For all new subdivisions abutting collector or higher order streets, minimum lot frontages based upon the posted speed limit shall be required as follows:

For purposes of this subsection, frontages shall be measured from property line to property line.

(5)

Existing lots not meeting the above lot frontage minimums shall be permitted only one (1) access point per lot.

(6)

For new major subdivisions with proposed streets accessing a collector or higher order street, the roadway geometry shall be designed such that access for all lots shall be provided from the interior roadways.

(7)

Access for corner tracts should be located as far from the intersection as practical and must meet the following:

a.

Corner tracts shall provide access from the lesser (lowest classification) street. The determination as to the lesser (or greater) street shall be based on the functional street classification or average daily traffic (ADT). Additional connections for commercial and industrial developments maybe permitted based upon written justification to be approved by the director following a review by the parish engineer.

b.

Minimum distance from the nearest intersection for driveways shall be seventy-five (75) feet for local streets and one-hundred (100) feet for collector or higher order streets. This measurement shall be taken from the intersection of rights-of-way lines at the corner.

(8)

Access for vehicular traffic on collector or higher order streets shall be planned to ensure vehicles enter and exit property in a forward manner.

(9)

In order to minimize the total number of access points while facilitating traffic flow, commercial and industrial developments may be permitted to reduce the road frontage requirements in (4) above by utilizing shared driveways, cross-access drives, service drives, or similar means of shared access connecting two (2) or more adjacent lots fronting collector or higher order streets. Where permitted, shared access between lots shall meet the following guidelines:

a.

The shared access may be required as primary or secondary vehicular access as part of a site plan or plat approval.

b.

Access easements granting access to adjacent or undeveloped site(s) shall be incorporated into the site plan or plat and shall be recorded with the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court. In no case under this subsection will road frontage be permitted to be less than the minimum requirements of section 26-35, without additional approval per article IV of this chapter.

(10)

All driveways fronting on a street or highway that is controlled by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development must also adhere to those state regulations.

(Ord. No. 6143, § II, 12-6-12; Ord. No. 7162, § 6, 1-17-19)