This chapter establishes the standards for the number, location, and development of motor vehicle parking facilities, standards for on-site loading areas, and standards for bicycle parking.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Fractions. Where a fractional space results during the calculation of required parking, the required number of parking spaces shall be the next lowest whole number.

B.

Parking space requirement not specified. Where the parking requirement for a particular use is not described in Table 6.2, and where no similar use is listed, the director of planning shall determine the number of spaces to be provided based on requirements for similar uses, location of the proposed use, the number of employees on the largest shift, total square footage, potential customer use, or other expected demand and traffic generated by the proposed use. If the director of planning reasonably determines that a parking generation study should be prepared by a qualified professional, the director of planning may require submission of such a study to aid the director of planning in making a determination with respect to the number of required parking spaces.

C.

Computations for multiple floor uses within a building. In cases where a building contains some combination of residential use, office space, retail or wholesale sales area, or bulk storage area, the director of planning may determine on a proportional basis the parking and loading requirements based on separate computations for each use.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

Off-street parking spaces shall be provided in accordance with the following requirements:

A.

Each application for a development permit or building permit, other than for a detached single-family residence, shall be accompanied by a parking plan showing all required off-street parking spaces, driveways, and the internal circulation system for each such parking lot.

B.

All parking lots and spaces shall conform to the following requirements:

1.

All vehicles shall be parked on a paved surface that is connected to and has continuous paved access to a public or private street, except as otherwise allowed in this section.

2.

Each parking space, except those located on a single-family residential lot, shall comply with the minimum dimensions established in Table 6.1. Each parking lot shall have adequate space for each car to park and exit every parking space and space for internal circulation within said parking lot.

3.

Each parking lot, except those parking spaces located on property used for single-family residential purposes, shall comply with section 5.4.4, site and parking area landscaping.

4.

All parking lots and parking spaces, except those located on property used for single-family residential purposes, shall conform to the geometric design standards of the Institute of Traffic Engineers.

5.

Parking and loading shall not be permitted within the front yard in any MR, HR, O-I, or O-I-T zoning district, except for required handicapped parking. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, parking and loading shall be permitted within the front yard where provision of adequate parking spaces within the rear is impractical and upon issuance of a variance pursuant to article 7.

6.

Parking shall not be permitted within the front yard of any property used for single-family residential purposes, except within a driveway, or in a roofed carport or enclosed garage. Within any single-family residential district, not more than thirty-five (35) percent of the total area between the street right-of-way line and the front of the principal building shall be paved.

7.

No parking space, driveway or parking lot shall be used for the sale, repair, dismantling, servicing, or long-term storage of any vehicle or equipment, unless located within a zoning district which otherwise permits such use.

8.

The parking of business vehicles on private property located within residential zoning districts is prohibited. This section shall not prohibit: (1) typical passenger vehicles, with or without logos, including automobiles, pickup trucks, passenger vans, and dually trucks, (2) vehicles engaged in active farming, construction activities or contractor services on the private property, or the temporary parking (twelve (12) hours or less) of vehicles for the purpose of loading/unloading within residential zoning districts; nor (3) the parking of vehicles on property located in residential zoning districts, where such property is used for an authorized non-residential use such as a church. Vehicles used in law enforcement are exempt from the restrictions of this subsection.

9.

All parking lots shall conform to the requirements of section 6.1.7.

Table 6.1: Minimum Parking Space Dimensions

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Minimum on-site parking requirements may be reduced through use of shared parking, in accordance with section 6.1.5.

B.

In residential districts in which garage space is provided, the garage space may count for no more than one (1) required space per two hundred (200) square feet of garage space.

C.

Tandem parking is permitted in association with all single-family detached and single-family attached housing types.

D.

Minimum and maximum parking ratios: Unless otherwise regulated elsewhere in this chapter, off-street parking spaces shall be provided for all uses listed are specified in Table 6.2. Unless otherwise noted, the parking requirement shall be based on the gross square footage of the building or buildings devoted to the particular use specified. Maximum parking standards shall not apply to existing uses so long as the building or parking lot is not expanded.

E.

Phased development. Where a project is intended to be developed in phases, the director of planning may approve phased development of a parking lot intended to serve current and future development.

F.

Reduction of minimum parking requirements. The minimum number of required spaces described in Table 6.2 for a particular use may be reduced by ten (10) percent by the director of planning pursuant to an administrative variance in compliance with article 7. If the use is within one thousand (1,000) feet of a designated heavy rail, streetcar/light rail or bus rapid transit station, the minimum number of required spaces may be reduced by twenty-five (25) percent in accordance with article 7.

G.

Carpool/vanpool parking. For office, industrial, and institutional uses where there are more than twenty (20) parking spaces on the site, the following standards shall be met:

1.

At least five (5) percent of the parking spaces on site must be reserved for carpool use.

2.

Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, parking lots shall be designed so as to provide the most convenient access to building entrances by persons arriving by vanpools and carpools. In the event of a conflict between the priority described in this subsection and section 6.1.16, this subsection shall prevail.

3.

Signs shall be posted identifying spaces reserved for carpool use.

Table 6.2: Off-street Parking Ratios

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015; Ord. No. 2022-2549, Pt. I, 1-26-2023; Ord. No. 2022-2270, § Pt. I, 12-12-2023)

Parking spaces for any existing or new mixed-use development may be based upon a shared parking formula as set forth in Table 6.3.

Shared parking may be utilized for any of the combinations of uses shown in Table 6.3. If shared parking is to be used to satisfy the requirements of this article, an application shall be submitted to the director of planning seeking approval of a shared parking plan. The applicant must submit a scaled site plan for each site that will participate in the shared parking showing zoning, use, and existing parking facilities. Shared parking agreements approved by the director of planning shall be executed prior to issuance of any certificate(s) of occupancy for the development.

In any shared parking agreement, at least fifty (50) percent of shared parking spaces must lie within seven hundred (700) feet of the main entrance to the principal use for which the parking is provided, and all shared parking spaces must lie within one thousand (1,000) feet of the main entrance to the principal use for which the parking is provided. Shared spaces shall not be separated from the site by a roadway with more than four (4) through-travel lanes, unless there is a well-marked, safe pedestrian crossing such as a pedestrian hybrid beacon, a signalized crosswalk, or a refuge median.

Any change in the use of a building, shop or leased area that relies on a shared parking agreement to meet its parking requirements shall require compliance with the parking standards in this article based on the new use in order to obtain a certificate of occupancy. No right to shared parking shall vest in a property where the use of the property changes. In the event that property on which the shared parking is located has a different owner than the owner of the principal development, a written shared parking agreement between all relevant property owners, approved by the director of planning and filed on the deed records in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court for DeKalb County, shall be provided prior to approval of a certificate of occupancy for the principal development. Expiration for any reason of a shared parking agreement, on which compliance with this article is based, shall automatically terminate the related certificates of occupancy and place the property owner(s) in violation of this zoning ordinance.

The steps for determining parking requirements in a mixed use development are:

A.

Determine the minimum amount of parking required for each separate use (Table 6.2).

B.

Multiply each parking requirement by the corresponding percentage for each of the time periods given below.

C.

Calculate the column total parking requirement for each time period.

D.

The largest column total is the shared parking requirement.

E.

Example of shared parking calculation:

If the following uses were proposed with the following example number of parking spaces in accordance with the individual use:

Office - 400 spaces, Retail - 300 spaces, and Restaurant uses - 100 spaces, with a total parking for individual use on site: 800 spaces

Then these same land uses under the provisions for shared parking would require the number of parking spaces shown in the example Table 6.4 (by applying the percent reduction in Table 6.3):

Table 6.3: Shared Parking Reduction Table

Table 6.4: Example of Shared Parking Reduction Calculation

As shown in the weekdays 6:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. column, 6:30 parking spaces would be needed for this example development. This is a reduction of one hundred seventy (170) required spaces.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Applicability. This section shall apply to all new office, commercial, institutional, mixed use, and industrial developments and any building renovations and repaving projects of office, commercial, institutional, or industrial developments for which a land disturbance permit is required.

B.

Shared driveways. Shared driveways between two (2) parcels along a common property line may be required by the planning commission during subdivision plat review or by the director of planning during the land disturbance permitting process. In such cases, each property owner shall grant an access easement to facilitate the movement of motor vehicles and pedestrians across the site. The property owner's obligation to comply with this requirement shall be limited to the extent legal permission to construct and utilize the required shared drive can be obtained from the neighboring property owner.

C.

Inter-parcel access requirements. Inter-parcel access for vehicles between abutting and nearby properties shall be provided so that access to individual properties can be achieved between abutting and nearby developments as an alternative to forcing all movement onto highways and public roads, unless the director of planning during the land disturbance permitting process determines that it is unnecessary to provide inter-parcel access due to the unlikelihood of patrons traveling among abutting or nearby sites, or due to inability after reasonable efforts by the property owner to obtain legal permission from the abutting property owners for such inter-parcel access.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

The minimum number of and dimensions for handicapped parking spaces shall comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (Public Law 101—136), the State Building Code, and the American National Standards Institute, and any other applicable state or federal law.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

On-street parking spaces located immediately abutting the subject property, entirely within the extension of the side lot lines into the roadway and not within any required clear sight triangle, may be counted toward meeting the required parking ratios for all uses occurring on such abutting lots facing a local street or minor collector street. Where streets have been designated "no parking" by the county, no credit for on-street parking shall be available.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

The following requirements shall apply for parking structures:

A.

Minimum setbacks. Parking structures shall comply with the setback requirements for accessory structures established for the zoning district in which they are located.

B.

Maximum height. Parking structures shall comply with the maximum height requirements established in the zoning district in which they are located.

C.

Architectural features and façades.

1.

Parking structures shall utilize materials such as brick, glass, stone, cast stone, poured-in-place concrete, hard coat stucco or precast concrete with the appearance of brick or stone on façades facing public rights-of-way.

2.

Architectural features and façades for parking structures shall be compatible with abutting structures.

D.

Orientation. Parking structures shall be oriented to the interior of the parcel by adhering to the following:

1.

Residential dwelling units, retail storefronts or office façades shall line the parking structure along all first floor façades adjacent to a street, excluding alleys and driveways.

2.

Parking structures, when added to an existing residential development, shall not be located between the building front and the street.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

See parking area landscaping requirements in section 5.4.4.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Typical paving surfaces. The paving surface of required minimum on-site and off-site parking areas shall be a dust-free, all-weather material (e.g., asphalt, concrete, or pavers). The paving surface shall have the parking stalls, loading and unloading zones, fire lanes and any other applicable designations delineated in white or yellow paint.

B.

Alternative paving surfaces may be used for the number of spaces that exceed one hundred five (105) percent of the minimum required spaces subject to the confirmation by the director of planning of the pervious nature of the alternative paving material and the numerical calculations.

1.

Alternative paving surfaces may include living turf grass or similar ground cover, pervious pavers or concrete, stabilized grass lawn, or other pervious parking surfaces.

2.

Driveways, access aisles and parking spaces (excluding handicapped) may be surfaced with grass lawn or other pervious parking surface serving:

a.

Uses within fifty (50) feet of environmentally sensitive areas identified in the comprehensive plan;

b.

Uses which require parking for less than five (5) days per week during a typical month; and

c.

Parks, playgrounds, and other similar outdoor recreation areas with less than two hundred (200) parking spaces.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

All driveway entrances, including stacking lane entrances, must be at least fifty (50) feet from an intersection. The distance is measured along the street from the junction of the two (2) street curb lines to the nearest edge of the entrance.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

All valet parking services shall meet the following requirements:

A.

Valet parking services shall only use off-street parking to park customer vehicles.

B.

A valet parking service shall be allowed only where the business establishment being served possesses the minimum required parking spaces either on-site or through a shared off-site parking agreement.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Off-street loading spaces shall be provided as indicated in Table 6.5.

Table 6.5: Off-street loading space requirements

B.

Design and arrangement of off-street loading areas. The following standards shall apply to off-street loading areas, which shall be comprised of loading spaces and maneuvering areas:

1.

A loading space shall measure no less than twelve (12) feet by thirty-five (35) feet and have no less than fourteen (14) feet of vertical clearance.

2.

For any use required to furnish three (3) or more loading spaces, at least one (1) in every three (3) shall measure no less than twelve (12) feet by fifty-five (55) feet.

3.

For manufacturing and warehousing uses, all loading spaces shall measure no less than twelve (12) feet by fifty-five (55) feet.

4.

Maneuvering areas shall not include required parking spaces or any portion of a public right-of-way. No off-street maneuvering area shall require vehicles to back in from or out to a public street.

C.

Off-street loading and maneuvering location limitations. Off-street loading spaces and maneuvering areas shall be located only in those portions of a lot where off-street parking areas are allowed with the following additional limitations:

1.

Industrial zoning districts: If the off-street loading spaces and maneuvering areas are across from, or adjacent to, any non-industrial zoning district, a fifty-foot landscaped strip shall be established between the non-industrial zoning district and the off-street loading spaces and maneuvering area.

D.

Screening of loading areas. Loading areas shall be paved with impervious materials and shall be screened so as not to be visible from any public plaza, ground-level or sidewalk-level outdoor dining area, public sidewalk, public right-of-way, private street or any adjacent residential use.

E.

Enclosure of dumpsters and trash compactors. All external dumpsters and loading areas shall be enclosed with opaque fence or walls at least six (6) feet in height.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

In a residential zoning district, no trailer or recreational vehicle shall be parked in front of the principal structure; within the side yard setback or ten (10) feet from side property line, whichever is less; or within ten (10) feet of the rear lot line.

B.

No recreational vehicle or trailer may be occupied for human habitation for more than fourteen (14) consecutive days while parked within a residential zoning district.

C.

Recreational vehicles and trailers may be parked, for the limited purpose of storage between travel, on unpaved surfaces, including gravel or a similar material that prevents the vehicle's or trailer's tires from making direct contact with the earth, soil, sod or mud, so long as the unpaved surface prevents tracking of earth, soil, sod or mud onto public streets when the vehicle or trailer is moved from the property.

D.

Within any residential zoning district, no recreational vehicle, trailer or storage container may be parked on a lot that does not contain a permanent dwelling unit or other structure intended for permanent human habitation as its principal use.

E.

No portable storage container may be parked or stored in a residential zoning district for a period of a time exceeding fifteen (15) consecutive days, or a total of thirty (30) days during any calendar year. A container used during active construction under a valid permit may remain for the duration of the active construction, counting toward the time restrictions of this subsection.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

Where required. Preferential parking for alternative fuel vehicles shall be provided for all new non-residential parking areas containing one hundred (100) or more parking spaces, and for new parking areas of mixed-use projects where the non-residential portion of the project requires one hundred (100) or more parking spaces. The parking spaces shall be striped with green paint to distinguish the spaces as preferential parking spaces, and in accordance with the Georgia Department of Transportation requirements.

B.

Required number of spaces. At least two (2) percent of all parking spaces in parking lots identified in subsection A. shall be designated for preferential parking for alternative fuel vehicles.

C.

Location of parking spaces. The required alternative fuel preferential parking spaces shall be located as close as possible to the primary entrance without conflicting with the Americans with Disability Act requirements, or other state or federal law. In the event the priority described in this subsection shall conflict with the priority described in section 6.1.4, section 6.1.4 shall prevail.

D.

Signage required. Each alternative fuel preferential parking space shall be provided with a sign that identifies the parking space as designated for use by alternative fuel vehicles. The sign shall be in compliance with chapter 21, signs.

E.

Existing vehicle recharging stations. Existing parking spaces with vehicle recharging stations may be used to meet the requirements of this section.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)

A.

A building, commercial establishment, recreation area, or other property, whether privately or publicly owned or operated, that is required to provide automobile parking facilities, whether free of charge or for a fee, to any employees, tenants, customers, clients, patrons, residents, or other members of the public shall provide at least one (1) bicycle/moped parking space for every twenty (20) required automobile parking spaces. No such building, commercial establishment or other property subject to the provisions of this section shall have fewer than three (3), nor be required to have more than fifty (50) bicycle/moped parking spaces. The requirements of this section shall not apply to properties being operated primarily as commercial parking facilities, residences, or churches.

B.

All bicycle/moped spaces shall be located within two hundred fifty (250) feet of a regularly used building entrance and shall not interfere with pedestrian traffic. Each space shall include a metal anchor that will secure the frame and both wheels of a bicycle or moped in conjunction with a user-supplied lock. If bicycle/moped parking is not visible to the general visiting public, then a sign no larger than ten (10) inches by fifteen (15) inches shall be displayed that directs cyclists to the bicycle/moped parking.

C.

The provisions of this section shall apply to property owners, persons occupying the property pursuant to a leasehold interest, or other managers or operators of buildings, commercial establishments and property subject to the provisions of this section.

D.

The provisions of this section shall apply to any building, commercial establishment or property for which a permit for new construction is issued following the effective date of this part, and to the alteration of existing buildings in all cases where sufficient space exists to provide such parking facilities.

(Ord. No. 15-06, 8-25-2015)