Except as provided in this section, no application for a building permit shall be approved unless there is included with the plan for such building, improvements, or use, a plot plan showing the required space reserved for off-street parking and service purposes. Occupancy shall not be allowed unless the required off-street parking and service facilities have been provided in accordance with those shown on the approved plan.

Off-street parking spaces shall not be reduced below the minimum required number for the use or facility to which they are assigned.

All off-street parking, loading, and service areas shall be drained so as to prevent damage to abutting properties and/or public streets and shall be constructed of materials which will assure a surface resistant to erosion. All such areas shall be at all times maintained at the expense of the owners thereof in a clean, orderly, and dust-free condition.

All off-street parking, loading, and service areas shall be separated from walkways, sidewalks, alleys and city streets by curbing or other suitable protective device acceptable to the city.

Parking stalls shall have a minimum width of nine (9) feet and length of twenty (20) feet. There shall be provided adequate interior driveways to connect each parking space with a public right-of-way. Interior driveways shall be at least twenty-four (24) feet wide where used with ninety (90) degree angle parking, at least eighteen (18) feet wide where used with sixty (60) degree angle parking, at least twelve (12) feet wide where used with forty-five (45) degree parking, and at least twelve (12) feet wide where used with parallel parking. Where there is no parking, interior driveways shall be at least ten (10) feet wide for one-way traffic movement and at least twenty (20) feet wide for two-way traffic movement.

Two (2) or more neighboring uses, of the same or different types, may provide joint facilities, provided that the number of off-street parking spaces are not less than the sum of the individual requirements.

Each off-street parking space shall be clearly marked, and pavement directional arrows or signs shall be provided wherever necessary. Markers, directional arrows, and signs shall be properly maintained so as to ensure their maximum efficiency.

Curb cuts for off-street parking are generally required to tie to public streets; however, due to the unique historic design of the City of Fitzgerald, parking inside of the area bounded by Roanoke, Merrimac, Sultanta and Monitor Drives may, when necessary, have access from public alleys.

In order to assure a proper and uniform development of public parking areas throughout the area of jurisdiction of this ordinance, to relieve traffic congestion on the streets, and to minimize any detrimental effects on adjacent properties, off-street parking space shall be provided and maintained as called for in the following schedule. For any class of use not specifically mentioned in this schedule, the requirements shall be the same as a similar use as mentioned herein. Parking requirements for additions to existing uses or structures shall be based upon the total development even if the existing use is deficient. These requirements shall apply to all zoning districts except the D-C district.

Industrial, wholesale, and retail operations shall provide loading spaces as follows:

7-10.1

Spaces appropriate to functions: Off-street loading spaces shall be provided as appropriate to the functions and scope of operation of individual or groups of buildings and uses.

7-10.2

Design of loading spaces: Off-street loading spaces shall be designed and constructed so that all maneuvering to park and unpark vehicles for loading and unloading can take place entirely within the property lines of the premises. Loading spaces shall be provided so as not to interfere with the free, normal movement of vehicles and pedestrians on public rights-of-way.

7-10.3

Ingress and egress: Ingress and egress to off-street loading spaces shall conform to driveway entrance requirements of the City of Fitzgerald.

In any district as described below where the lowering or cutting away of curbs, or the placement of asphalt and/or driveway pipe on noncurbed sections for the purpose of ingress and egress is required to the property, such curb cuts or asphalt width shall be placed through the entire right-of-way and shall be subject to the following provisions:

7-11.1

Residential Curb Cuts (R-20, R-15, R-9, R-6, R-6-M, M-R, and P zoning areas (excluding multifamily, residential group development projects and mobile home park development):

7-11.1.1

No more than two (2) combined entrances and exits shall be allowed any parcel of property, the front of which is less than two hundred (200) feet on any one (1) street. Additional entrances or exits for parcels having a frontage in excess of two hundred (200) feet shall be permitted at the rate of one (1) entrance/exit for each additional one hundred (100) feet.

7-11.1.2

At street intersections (corner lots), no curb cuts shall be located within twenty-five (25) feet of the intersection of two (2) curb lines or such lines extended; or within fifteen (15) feet of the intersection of two (2) property lines (right-of-way lines) or such lines extended, whichever is more restrictive. On principal or minor arterials or collector streets, no driveway shall be within seventy (70) feet of the intersection of two (2) curb lines or curb lines extended.

7-11.1.3

The distance between any two (2) curb cuts on the same side of the street shall be not less than ten (10) feet. Said distance shall be measured between the point of tangency of the curb return radii and the established curb.

7-11.1.4

All driveways shall be constructed so as to be at least five (5) feet from any property line (excluding right-of-way), except that a curb return may become tangent to a curb line at a point where such property line extends with the curb line.

7-11.1.5

The maximum width of any driveway shall not exceed twenty-four (24) feet measured at the right-of-way line.

7-11.1.6

The sum of the two (2) curb return radii for any curb cut shall not exceed fifteen (15) feet.

7-11.1.7

When development on sites where existing curb cuts are abandoned and access is no longer afforded due to parking lots, buildings or other permitted structures, the driveway shall be removed, the sidewalk (if existing) shall be replaced, the curb and gutter shall be replaced, fill dirt backfilled to its natural state; where it is a piped driveway to a dirt or paved street, said pipe shall be removed, asphalt removed and the shoulders and ditch regraded to its natural pre-existing state.

7-11.2

Commercial, industrial, mobile home park, and multifamily curb cuts:

7-11.2.1

No more than two (2) combined entrances or exits shall be allowed any parcel or frontage which is less than three hundred (300) feet on any one (1) street. On parcels less than one hundred fifty (150) feet, only one (1) entrance shall be allowed provided it is a two-way driveway (two (2) one-way driveways shall be allowed in lieu of the one (1) two-way). Additional entrances or exits for parcels of property having a frontage in excess of three hundred (300) feet shall be permitted at the rate of one (1) entrance-exit for each additional one hundred fifty (150) feet.

7-11.2.2

No driveway shall be located closer than one hundred fifty (150) feet of an existing driveway on an abutting lot. Existing lots of record less than one hundred fifty (150) feet frontage shall be allowed one (1) combined entrance/exit not to exceed twenty-four (24) feet at the right-of-way line.

7-11.2.3

At street intersections (corner lots), no curb cuts shall be located within seventy (70) feet of the intersection of two (2) curb lines or within sixty (60) feet of the intersection of two (2) property lines (right-of-way lines) where such lines extended, whichever is more restrictive.

7-11.2.4

All driveways shall be constructed so as to be at least twelve and five-tenths (12.5) feet from any property line except that a curb return may become tangent to a curb line at a point where the property line extended intersects such curb line.

7-11.2.5

Maximum width of any driveway shall not exceed thirty (35) feet measured at the right-of-way line; minimum two-way shall be twenty-four (24) feet at right-of-way line with a maximum of twelve and five-tenths (12.5) foot radius. No two (2) driveways on the same property shall be closer than twenty-five (25) feet.

7-11.2.6

The maximum width of any curb cut in N-C, C-C, G-B, WLI, and H-I zones shall not exceed thirty-five (35) feet at the right-of-way line.

7-11.2.7

The sum of the two (2) curb return radii for any one (1) curb cut shall not be less than twenty-five (25) feet, nor greater than forty (40) feet.

7-11.2.8

When development on sites where existing curb cuts are abandoned and access is no longer afforded due to parking lots, buildings, or other permitted structures, the driveway shall be removed, the sidewalk (if existing) shall be replaced, the curb and gutter shall be replaced, fill dirt backfilled to its natural state; where it is a piped driveway to a dirt or paved street, said pipe shall be removed, asphalt removed and the shoulders and ditch regarded to its natural pre-existing state. In addition to the abandonment requirements, when any new onsite construction totals twenty-five (25) percent or more of the assessed value of the existing development, all site access shall be improved to current design standard.

7-11.3

Residential group development curb cuts:

7-11.3.1

No more than one (1) combined entrance and exit shall be allowed any parcel of property, the total area of which is less than or equal to two (2) acres. Additional entrances for parcels having areas greater than two (2) acres will be granted at the rate of one (1) combined entrance and exit per two (2) acres.

7-11.3.2

At street intersections (corner lots), no curb cuts shall be located within seventy (70) feet of the intersection of two (2) curb lines or within sixty (60) feet of the intersection of two (2) property lines where such lines extended, whichever is more restrictive.

7-11.3.3

The maximum width of any driveway shall not exceed twenty-four (24) feet measured at the right-of-way line.

7-11.3.4

The sum of the two (2) curb return radii for any one (1) curb cut shall not exceed fifteen feet.

7-11.3.5

All driveways shall be constructed so as to be at least twelve and five-tenths (12.5) feet from any property line except that a curb return may become tangent to a curb line at a point where the property line extended intersects such curb line.