(1) Setting minimum off-street parking standards for different land uses that assure safe, convenient and adequately sized parking facilities within activity centers;

(2) Providing incentives to rideshare through preferred parking arrangements;

(3) Providing for parking and storage of bicycles;

(4) Providing safe direct pedestrian access from public rights-of-way to structures and between developments; and

(5) Requiring uses which attract large numbers of employees or customers to provide transit stops. (Ord. 08-21 § 4 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.010))

(1) Before an occupancy permit may be granted for any new or enlarged building or for a change of use in any existing building, the use shall be required to meet the provisions of this chapter. Downtown zones shall be subject to the parking access and circulation standards in accordance with Chapter 18.31 CMC unless otherwise specified by Chapter 18.31 CMC.

(2) If this chapter does not specify a parking requirement for a land use, the Director shall establish the minimum requirement based on a study of anticipated parking demand. Transportation demand management actions taken at the site shall be considered in determining anticipated demand. In the study the applicant shall provide sufficient information to demonstrate that the parking demand for a specific land use will be satisfied. Parking studies shall be prepared by a professional engineer with expertise in traffic and parking analyses, or an equally qualified individual as authorized by the Director.

(3) If the required amount of off-street parking has been proposed to be provided off-site, the applicant shall provide written contracts with affected landowners showing that required off-street parking shall be provided in a manner consistent with the provisions of this chapter. The contracts shall be reviewed by the Director for compliance with this chapter, and if approved, the contracts shall be recorded with the County Records and Elections Division as a deed restriction on the title to all applicable properties. These deed restrictions may not be revoked or modified without authorization by the Director. (Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.020))

(1) Except as modified in CMC 18.50.070(2) and (3), off-street parking areas shall contain at a minimum the number of parking spaces as stipulated in the following table. Off-street parking ratios expressed as a number of spaces per square feet mean the usable or net square footage of floor area, exclusive of nonpublic areas. Nonpublic areas include but are not limited to building maintenance areas, storage areas, closets or restrooms. If the formula for determining the number of off-street parking spaces results in a fraction, the number of off-street parking spaces shall be rounded to the nearest whole number with fractions of one-half or greater rounding up and fractions below one-half rounding down.

(2) Minimum off-street parking requirements for the downtown zones are subject to the provisions of Chapter 18.31 CMC.

(3) An applicant may request a modification of the minimum required number of parking spaces by providing that parking demand can be met with a reduced parking requirement. In such cases, the Director may approve a reduction of up to 50 percent of the minimum required number of spaces.

(4) When the City has received a shell building permit application, off-street parking requirements shall be based on the possible tenant improvements or uses authorized by the zone designation and compatible with the limitations of the shell permit. When the range of possible uses results in different parking requirements, the Director will establish the amount of parking based on a likely range of uses.

(5) Where other provisions of this code stipulate maximum parking allowed or reduced minimum parking requirements, those provisions shall apply.

(6) In any development required to provide six or more parking spaces, bicycle parking shall be provided. Bicycle parking shall be bike rack or locker-type parking facilities unless otherwise specified.

(7) All developments that require off-street parking shall be subject to the provisions of the electric vehicle parking space requirements in CMC 18.50.170 through 18.50.180. See CMC 18.31.450 for downtown parking requirements.

(8) In the MR and RCMU zones, the following standards shall apply to residential units in a mixed-use or multifamily building:

(9) In the MR and RCMU zones, on-street parking on streets adjacent to the lot frontage can be used to meet all or a portion of the required number of parking spaces with an approved parking study. (Ord. 04-25 § 28 (Exh. A); Ord. 08-21 § 4 (Exh. C); Ord. 03-14 § 1; Ord. 01-14 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 19-11 § 1 (Exh. 1); Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 09-09 § 6; Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.030))

(1) The total parking area exceeds 8,000 square feet;

(2) The parking facilities are designed and developed as a single on-site common parking facility, or as a system of on-site and off-site facilities, if all facilities are connected with improved pedestrian facilities and no building or use involved is more than 800 feet from the most remote shared facility;

(3) The amount of the reduction shall not exceed 20 percent for each use, unless:

(4) The total number of parking spaces in the common parking facility is not less than the minimum required spaces for any single use;

(5) A covenant or other contract for shared parking between the cooperating property owners is approved by the Director. This covenant or contract must be recorded with King County Records and Elections Division as a deed restriction on both properties and cannot be modified or revoked without the consent of the Director; and

(6) If any requirements for shared parking are violated, the affected property owners must provide a remedy satisfactory to the Director or provide the full amount of required off-street parking for each use, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter, unless a satisfactory alternative remedy is approved by the Director. (Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.040))

(1) The minimum requirement of one off-street parking space per two bedrooms for CRFs and one off-street parking space per two senior citizen assisted housing units may be reduced by up to 50 percent, as determined by the Director based on the following considerations:

(2) If a CRF or senior citizen assisted housing is no longer used for such purposes, additional off-street parking spaces shall be required in compliance with this chapter prior to the issuance of a new certificate of occupancy. (Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.050))

(1) Every nonresidential building engaged in retail, wholesale, manufacturing or storage activities, excluding self-service storage facilities, shall provide loading spaces in accordance with the standards listed below:

(2) Every building engaged in hotel, office building, restaurant, hospital, auditorium, convention hall, exhibition hall, sports arena/stadium or other similar use shall provide loading spaces in accordance with the standards listed below:

(3) Each loading space required by this section shall be a minimum of 10 feet wide, 30 feet long, and have an unobstructed vertical clearance of 14 feet six inches, and shall be surfaced, improved and maintained as required by this chapter. Loading spaces shall be located so that trucks shall not obstruct pedestrian or vehicle traffic movement or project into any public right-of-way. All loading space areas shall be separated from parking areas and shall be designated as truck loading spaces. All loading areas shall be screened from public view and oriented away from any public right-of-way when possible.

(4) Any loading space located within 100 feet of areas zoned for residential use shall be screened and operated as necessary to reduce noise and visual impacts. Noise mitigation measures may include architectural or structural barriers, beams, walls, or restrictions on the hours of operation.

(5) Multi-story self-service storage facilities shall provide two loading spaces, and single story facilities one loading space, adjacent to each building entrance that provides common access to interior storage units. Each loading berth shall measure not less than 25 feet by 12 feet with an unobstructed vertical clearance of 14 feet six inches, and shall be surfaced, improved and maintained as required by this chapter. Any floor area additions or structural alterations to a building shall be required to provide loading space or spaces as set forth in this chapter. (Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.070))

(1) A stacking space shall be an area measuring eight feet by 20 feet with direct forward access to a service window of a drive-through facility. A stacking space shall be located to prevent any vehicles from extending onto the public right-of-way, or interfering with any pedestrian circulation, traffic maneuvering, or other parking space areas. Stacking spaces for drive-through or drive-in uses may not be counted as required parking spaces.

(2) Uses providing drive-up or drive-through services shall provide vehicle stacking spaces as follows:

(3) Restrictions on the Location of Drive-Through Facilities.

(1) All land uses listed in CMC 18.25.060 (government/business services) and in CMC 18.25.080 (manufacturing), hospitals, high schools, vocational schools, universities and specialized instruction schools shall be required to reserve one parking space of every 20 required spaces for rideshare parking as follows:

(2) The Director may reduce the number of required off-street parking spaces when one or more scheduled transit routes provide service within 660 feet of the site. The amount of reduction shall be based on the number of scheduled transit runs between 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each business day up to a maximum reduction as follows:

(3) All uses which are located on an existing transit route and are required under the computation for required off-street parking spaces in CMC 18.50.030(1) to provide more than 200 parking spaces may be required to provide transit shelters, bus turnout lanes or other transit improvements as a condition of permit approval. Uses which reduce required parking under subsection (2) of this section shall provide transit shelters if transit routes adjoin the site. (Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.090))

(1) Pedestrian and bicycle parking standards for the downtown zones are provided in CMC 18.31.450.

(2) All permitted nonresidential uses in the community and neighborhood commercial zones shall provide pedestrian and bicycle access within and onto the site. Access points onto the site shall be provided:

(3) Residential Uses.

(c) Access shall only be required to school bus stops that are within or adjacent to a proposed residential use of five or more dwelling units and that are identified by the affected school district in response to a notice of application. In order to allow school districts to identify school bus stops, the Department shall send a notice of application to affected school districts on all applications for residential uses of five or more dwelling units.

(4) Walkways shall form an on-site circulation system that minimizes the conflict between pedestrians and traffic at all points of pedestrian access to on-site parking and building entrances. Walkways shall be provided when the pedestrian access point onto the site, or any parking space, is more than 75 feet from the building entrance or principal on-site destination and as follows:

(c) Walkways across parking areas shall be located as follows:

(i) Walkways running parallel to the parking rows shall be provided for every six rows. Rows without walkways shall be landscaped or contain barriers or other means to encourage pedestrians to use the walkways; and

(ii) Walkways running perpendicular to the parking rows shall be no further than 20 parking spaces. Landscaping, barriers or other means shall be provided between the parking rows to encourage pedestrians to use the walkways;

(5) Pedestrian and bicycle access and walkways shall meet the following minimum design standards:

(6) Blocks in excess of 460 feet shall be provided with a crosswalk at the approximate midpoint of the block.

(7) The Director may waive or modify the requirements of this section when:

The Director’s waiver may not be used to modify or waive the requirements of this section relating to sidewalks and safe walking conditions for students. (Ord. 08-21 § 4 (Exh. C); Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.100))

(1) Off-street parking areas shall not be located more than 600 feet from the building they are required to serve, unless approved by the Director, for all uses except those specified as follows; where an off-street parking area does not abut the building it serves, the required maximum distance shall be measured from the nearest building entrance that the parking area serves:

(g) In the MR and RCMU zones, off-street surface parking shall be separated from a street by a building except when:

(i) Parking is located adjacent to a building facade that is not oriented to a street frontage; or

(ii) Parking is located in the driveway of a single-family detached residence or townhouse; or

(iii) Parking is located in a park; or

(iv) Parking is located along up to 20 percent of the applicable street frontage and is screened by landscaping or other physical barrier, such as a berm, wall or sight-obscuring fence.

(2) The minimum parking space and aisle dimensions for the most common parking angles are shown on the table in this subsection. For parking angles other than those shown on the chart, the minimum parking space and aisle dimensions shall be determined by the Director. Regardless of the parking angle, one-way aisles shall be at least 10 feet wide, and two-way aisles shall be at least 20 feet wide. If dead end aisles are used in the parking layout, they shall be constructed as two-way aisles. Parking plans for angle parking shall use space widths no less than eight feet six inches for a standard parking space design and eight feet for a compact car parking space design.

(3) Any parking spaces abutting a required landscaped area on the driver or passenger side of the vehicle shall provide an additional 18 inches above the minimum space width requirement to provide a place to step other than in the landscaped area. The additional width shall be separated from the adjacent parking space by a parking space division stripe.

(4) The parking space depth may be reduced if vehicles overhang a walkway or landscaping under the following conditions:

(5) Driveways providing ingress and egress between off-street parking areas and abutting streets shall be designed, located and constructed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 12.60 CMC, City of Covington Design and Construction Standards. Driveways for single detached dwellings, no more than 20 feet in width, may cross required setbacks or landscaped areas to provide access between the off-street parking areas and the street, provided no more than 15 percent of the required landscaping or setback area is eliminated by the driveway. Joint use driveways may be located within required landscaping or setback areas. Driveways for all other developments may cross or be located within required setbacks or landscaped areas to provide access between the off-street parking areas and the street, if no more than 10 percent of the required landscaping is displaced by the driveway and the driveway is located no closer than five feet from any property line except where intersecting the street.

(6) Parking spaces required under this title shall be located as follows:

(7) Lighting shall be provided for safety of traffic and pedestrian circulation on the site. It shall be designed to minimize direct illumination of abutting properties and adjacent streets.

(8) Tandem or end-to-end parking is allowed in residential developments. Apartment or townhouse developments may have tandem parking areas for each dwelling unit but shall not combine parking for separate dwelling units in tandem parking areas.

(9) All vehicle parking and storage for single detached dwellings must be in a garage, carport or on an approved impervious surface, as defined in CMC 18.20.026. Any impervious surface used for vehicle parking or storage must have direct and unobstructed driveway access.

(10) Per each single-family dwelling unit, the total number of vehicles parked or stored outside of a permanent fully enclosed building or carport, regardless of zone, shall not exceed six vehicles on lots 12,500 square feet or less and eight vehicles on lots greater than 12,500 square feet, including recreational vehicles, boats and trailers. In no case shall vehicles, recreational vehicles, boats and trailers be parked between the single-family dwelling unit and the street unless located on approved impervious surface. For properties with a legally established accessory dwelling unit or units, an additional vehicle is allowed per unit.

(11) Vanpool or carpool parking areas shall meet the following minimum design standards:

(12) Direct access from the street right-of-way to off-street parking areas shall be subject to CMC 18.75.070.

(13) No dead end alley may provide access to more than eight off-street parking spaces. (Ord. 04-25 § 29 (Exh. A); Ord. 08-21 § 4 (Exh. C); Ord. 10-19 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 03-14 § 1; Ord. 01-14 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 10-10 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.110))

(1) Off-street parking areas shall have dust-free, all-weather surfacing and lighting. Typical approved sections are illustrated below. Frequently used (at least five days a week) off-street parking areas shall conform to the standards shown in A below or an approved equivalent. If the parking area is to be used more than 30 days per year but less than five days a week, then the standards to be used shall conform to the standards shown in B below or an approved equivalent. An exception to these surfacing requirements may be made for certain uses that require intermittent use of their parking facilities less than 30 days per year. Any surface treatment other than those graphically illustrated below must be approved by the Director.

(Landscape improvements not shown)

(2) Grading work for parking areas shall meet the requirements of Chapter 15.05 CMC. Drainage and erosion/sedimentation control facilities shall be provided in accordance with Chapter 13.25 CMC.

(3) Asphalt or concrete surfaced parking areas shall have parking spaces marked by surface paint lines or suitable substitute traffic marking material in accordance with the Washington State Department of Transportation Standards. Wheel stops are required where a parked vehicle would encroach on adjacent property, pedestrian access or circulation areas, right-of-way or landscaped areas. Typically approved markings and wheel stop locations are illustrated below.

(1) Each space shall be clearly identified as a compact car space by painting the word “COMPACT” in capital letters, a minimum of eight inches high, on the pavement at the base of the parking space and centered between the striping;

(2) Aisle widths shall conform to the standards set for standard size cars; and

(3) Apartment developments with less than 20 parking spaces may designate up to 40 percent of the required parking spaces as compact spaces. (Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.130))

(1) All trail segments shall be fully accessible in accord with the provisions of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

(2) All segments shall be paved to a minimum width of 10 feet. Additional width may be required as determined by the Department.

(3) All paved improvements shall be consistent to approved City standards.

(4) Signage shall be provided at each trail entrance, crossing and intersection. Signage shall be consistent to approved City standards.

(5) Lighting shall be provided to ensure the safe use of all trail facilities where appropriate and consistent with approved City standards. (Ord. 42-02 § 2 (21A.18.150))

(1) Applicable Provisions. All electric vehicle charging stations shall follow the specified requirements in the International Building Code (IBC) for occupancy type, applicable electrical codes, guidelines provided by the energy provider, and the equipment and service provided.

(2) Government and City-Owned Developments. Any new park (CMC 18.25.040) that is publicly owned and maintained shall provide a minimum of one Level 2 or one Level 3 electric vehicle charging station regardless of the number of vehicle parking stalls required for the site. New government services (CMC 18.25.060) developed proposals shall meet the electric vehicle charging station requirements outlined in the IBC for occupancy type, unless such facility is not occupied (e.g., utility facility, sewer lift station or water tower).

(3) Modifications and Waivers. The Director may reduce or waive the requirement for electric vehicle parking spaces in any zone if the applicant can demonstrate compliance with accessibility requirements under the IBC and the shared or cross-access parking facility provides access to a minimum of two existing electric vehicle parking spaces. A contract for the shared use of electric vehicle parking spaces between property owners shall be recorded with King County Records and Elections as a deed restriction that cannot be modified or revoked without approval by the Director.

(4) Alternative to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. In cases where electric vehicle charging infrastructure cannot be immediately installed, the property owner or applicant may request an alternative to installing electric-vehicle-capable parking spaces. This alternative approach is based on the following criteria:

(1) An electric vehicle parking space may be included in the calculation for minimum required parking spaces as required in CMC 18.31.450 and 18.50.030; provided, that the installation meets the electrical system standards in the International Building Code (IBC) for electric vehicle charging stations and associated supply equipment.

(2) Parking for electric vehicles should also consider the following:

(3) To allow for maintenance and notification, the owner of any private new electric vehicle charging station that will be publicly available shall be required to provide information on the parking space’s geographic location, date of installation, equipment type and model, and owner contact information. If applicable, the system shall comply with IBC emergency power systems.

(4) On-street electric vehicle parking spaces shall conform to the following and be installed in compliance with the IBC and meeting accessibility for individuals with disabilities requirements:

(1) The parking or storage of recreational vehicles, except for loading and unloading activities completed within a three-day period within any given two-week period, is not permitted unless there is compliance with the following:

(2) For purposes of this section, all sides of a property which abut a right-of-way constitute a front yard.

(3) It is a violation of this section to sleep in, or use for any other habitation or residential purposes, a recreation vehicle or boat parked, placed, or situated on private property for more than 14 days in any 90-day period, except as allowed by subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this section. Should there be any discrepancy between the provisions of subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this section and Chapter 18.85 CMC, Nonconformance, Temporary Uses, and Re-Use of Facilities, the provisions of subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this section shall prevail.

(4) One recreational vehicle may be used as a temporary dwelling on a lot already containing another dwelling unit for a period not to exceed 30 days upon issuance of a temporary use permit by the City pursuant to the provisions of this subsection and CMC 18.85.100.

(5) As to recreational vehicles only, the requirements of this section shall not apply to a residence if one or more occupants thereof has a current windshield placard or special license plate issued to them by the State of Washington as a qualified disabled person in accordance with RCW 46.19.010. Persons claiming this exemption shall apply to the Director for approval thereof. The Director shall establish procedures and standards for acting on exemption requests hereunder. Only one recreational vehicle per residence may be exempted under this provision.

(6) Based on a written request, the Director may permit a recreational vehicle of any size to be used as a temporary dwelling on a single-family residential lot where the primary dwelling unit is unsafe to occupy by reason of disaster or accident such as fire, wind, earthquake, or other similar circumstance, provided: