Greenville Mercer County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XII
Parking and Loading Regulations
§ 550-44 Off-street parking and loading facility requirements.
A.
New use of a structure and/or land: for the use of any new structure and any use of land established, parking and/or loading facilities shall be provided in accordance with the following schedules.
B.
Increase in intensity of use of an existing structure and/or land: the intensity of use of a structure and/or land use shall not be increased through the addition of dwelling units, rooming units, gross floor area, lot area, or other units of measurement prescribed in the following schedules unless accessory parking and/or loading facilities shall be provided in accordance with said schedules.
C.
Change in use of an existing structure and/or land: an existing use of a structure and/or land shall not be changed to a new use, unless parking and/or loading facilities shall be provided as required in the following schedules for such new use. However, if said use of a structure and/or land was established prior to the effective date of the Zoning Ordinance, additional parking and/or loading facilities shall be required only in the amount by which the requirements for the new or expanded use would exceed those for the existing use, if the latter were subject to the following schedule and space requirements.
D.
Waiver of parking and loading requirements; the Central Business Zoning District where it is clearly impractical to provide off-street parking and loading facilities and where such requirements are shown to be adequately met in existing on-street or public parking facilities such parking and loading requirements as contained herein may be waived.
E.
Size of parking and loading spaces:
(1)
Spaces shall be a minimum of 180 square feet (10 feet by 18 feet or nine feet by 20 feet).
(2)
ADA-required spaces shall be a paved area of eight feet by 20 feet with adjacent five feet access area (13 feet by 20 feet total) connected by an accessible walkway to the building access.
(3)
Note: These provisions are minimum requirements and are subject to ADA codes.
F.
Required parking spaces for each use:
Required Parking Spaces | |
|---|---|
Residential | |
1- and 2-unit dwelling structures | 2 for each dwelling unit |
Multifamily structures | 1.5 per dwelling unit |
Housing for elderly persons | 1 per dwelling unit |
Boarding, lodging or rooming house | 1.5 per sleeping unit |
Home occupation in 1- and 2-family dwellings | 2 plus 2 per dwelling unit |
Bed-and-breakfast facility | 1 per guest room plus 2 additional spaces for owner/manager |
Business | |
Retail or personal services establishment | 1 for each 300 square feet of gross floor area (SQ GFA) |
Office establishment (other than personal services) | 1 for each 400 SQ GFA |
Eating and/or drinking establishment | 1 for each 3 units of seating capacity |
Business school, business college | 1 for each 3 units of classroom and auditorium seating capacity |
Hotel, motel, tourist court | 1 for each sleeping room plus 1 for each 3 units of restaurant seating capacity |
Amusement establishment | 1 for each 400 SQ GFA, or if assembly room, 1 for each 3 units of seating capacity |
Bowling alleys | 5 for each alley |
Mortuary or funeral home | 5 for each chapel used for mortuary purposes, plus 2 for each dwelling unit and 1 for each employee |
Clubs (fraternal, social) | 1 for each 400 SQ GFA |
Motor vehicle sales, garages, repair shops and services | 1 for each 200 SQ GFA |
Wholesale, warehouse and industrial establishment | 1 for each employee not to exceed 2 shifts |
Community Facilities | |
Government use (other than place of public assembly) | 1 for each employee plus 1 for each 400 SQ GFA |
Church, synagogue or other place of worship | 1 for each 3 units of seating capacity |
Public utility facility, service structure | 1 for each employee but not less than 3 spaces |
College, day nursery school, public school | 1 for each classroom, plus: 1 for each 3 units of assembly room seating capacity; 1 per each 3 units of classroom seating capacity |
Dormitory, fraternity house, sorority house | 1.5 for each sleeping room or 1 for 400 SQ GFA |
Nurses house or similar institutional housing | 1.5 for each sleeping room or 1 for SQ GFA |
Convalescent home, hospital, sanatorium, nursing home | 1 for each bed |
Place of public assembly (auditorium, hall, theater) | 1 for each 3 units of seating capacity |
Mixed Uses | |
Any mixed use | The sum of the various uses computed separately |
G.
Required loading spaces for each use:
Use | Required Loading Spaces | |
|---|---|---|
Multifamily structures with more than 5 dwelling units | 1 | |
Retail and wholesale merchandising, manufacturing, storage or processing: | ||
5,000 to 25,000 square feet of gross floor area (GFA) | 1 | |
25,000 to 40,000 SQ GFA | 2 | |
40,000 to 60,000 SQ GFA | 3 | |
60,000 to 100,000 SQ GFA | 4 | |
For each additional 50,000 SQ GFA | 4 additional | |
Schools having 15,000 + SQ GFA | 1 | |
Hospitals: (in addition to space for ambulances) | ||
10,000 to 30,000 SQ GFA | 1 | |
For each additional 5,000 SQ GFA | 1 additional | |
Mortuary or funeral home: | ||
3,000 to 5,000 SQ GFA | 1 | |
For each additional 5,000 SQ GFA | 1 additional | |
Hotels, motels, and offices with 5,000 or more SQ GFA | 1 | |
§ 550-45 General provisions.
A.
Parking areas for the storage of four or more automobiles in any zoning district shall be constructed in compliance with the following minimum standards:
(1)
Construction. Any area used for vehicle parking shall be improved for use as parking area. Parking areas shall be constructed in accord with acceptable engineering practice and § 550-46, Parking area design standards. Pavement design shall be directly related to parking lot size, projected traffic type and volumes (i.e., automobile, truck).
(2)
Maintenance. Off-street parking areas shall be maintained in a clean, orderly, and dust-free condition at the expense of the owner or lessee.
(3)
Drainage. Off-street parking facilities shall be drained to eliminate standing water and prevent damage to abutting property or public streets and alleys and surfaced with erosion-resistant material in accordance with applicable specifications. Parking areas shall be so designed to provide positive drainage to landscaped areas, watercourses and/or municipal stormwater systems.
(4)
Separation from walkways and streets. Off-street parking spaces shall be separated from walkways, sidewalks, streets, or alleys by landscaping, wall, fence, curbing, or other approved barriers or protection devices, at a distance so that vehicles cannot protrude over public rights-of-way or pedestrian areas.
(5)
Entrances and exits. Location and design of entrances and exits shall be in accord with the applicable requirements of traffic regulations and standards. Landscaping, curbing, or approved barriers shall be provided along lot boundaries to control entrance and exit of vehicles or pedestrians. Curb cuts shall be a minimum of 18 feet for two-way traffic and nine feet for one-way traffic, with concrete approach ramp and concrete curb returns at a minimum five-foot radius on each side. Ramps shall slope to street gutter.
(6)
Interior drives. Interior drives shall be of adequate width to serve a particular design arrangement of parking spaces, generally 20 feet wide for two-way traffic.
(7)
Marking. Parking spaces in lots of more than 10 spaces shall be marked by painted lines or curb bumpers or other permanent means to indicate individual spaces. Parking stripes shall be four-inch-wide painted strips, at a minimum of nine foot center to center by 18 feet long, angled to best advantage for each of ingress and egress. Bumpers (wheel stops) shall be installed where designated to prevent vehicle encroachment upon abutting pedestrian walks, public roads, or private property.
(8)
Area lighting. Adequate lighting shall be provided if off-street parking spaces are to be used at night. The lighting shall be arranged and installed to minimize glare on property on adjacent residential uses or lots and all residential districts. Lighting may not exceed 25 feet in height.
(9)
Screening. When off-street parking areas for 10 or more automobiles are located closer than 15 feet to a lot in a residential district, or to any lot upon which there is a residential use permitted under these regulations, and where such parking areas are not entirely screened visually from such lot by an intervening building or structure, there shall be provided along the lot a continuous visual screen with a minimum height of four feet.
(10)
Such screen may consist of a compact evergreen hedge or foliage screening or solid fence a minimum of four feet high, not higher than six feet.
(a)
Tree spacing shall be determined by species type. Large maturing trees shall be planted at a spacing of a minimum of 35 feet and a maximum of 60 feet on center. Small and medium maturing trees shall be planted at a spacing of between 15 feet and 40 feet on center.
(b)
Large maturing trees, such as white oak, Chinese elm, sycamore, red oak, and chestnut oak shall generally be planted along residential streets and along the street frontages and perimeter areas of parks, squares, greenbelts, or other open space or recreation areas.
(c)
Small and medium maturing trees, such as flowering dogwoods, serviceberry, hawthorn, and river birch shall generally be planted along nonresidential streets, interior portions of parks, squares, greenbelts, or other open space or recreation areas.
(d)
All plantings shall be installed free from disease in a manner that ensures the availability of sufficient soil and water for healthy growth.
(e)
All dumpsters used for multifamily or nonresidential uses shall be completely screened on three sides by either a rock or masonry wall, solid fence, or a dense screen of trees and shrubs.
B.
Location of required parking facilities. It is suggested parking areas are to be to the rear of the building between Mercer Street and Water Street with buildings fronting the sidewalks.
(1)
The parking spaces required for the use listed in the above schedule shall be on the same lot as the use they are intended to serve, except that the Zoning Officer, with the review by the Planning Commission, may permit the parking spaces to be on any lot wholly within 300 feet of the building if determined it is impractical to provide space on the same lot with the building.
(2)
The Zoning Officer, with the review by the Planning Commission, may reduce the total number of parking and/or stacking spaces required by the strict application of the provisions of this section when it has been conclusively demonstrated that circumstances, site design or location of additional available parking indicates that the site does not warrant the number of spaces required and that such reduction will not adversely affect pedestrian or vehicular circulation on the site or on any abutting street.
(3)
In such cases where the required spaces are provided off the site, such space shall be in the same ownership as the use to which they are accessory, and shall be subject to deed restrictions filed in an office of record, binding the owner and his heirs and/or assigns to maintain the required number of spaces available throughout the life of such use.
C.
Location of required loading facilities. The loading spaces required for the uses listed in the foregoing schedule shall in all cases be on the same lot as the use they are intended to serve. In no case shall the required loading space be part of the area used to satisfy the parking requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.
D.
Use of required parking by another use. Any part of the parking required for any use for the purpose of complying with the regulations of the Zoning Ordinance may be included as part of a parking similarly required for another use when the owner provides evidence that the type of use indicates that the periods of usage shall not be simultaneous with each other as determined by review by the Zoning Hearing Board. (See Article VI, Mixed-Use Overlay Zoning District, for guidelines.)
E.
Encroachment and reduction. A required parking and/or loading space shall not be encroached upon by a structure, storage or any other use, nor shall the number of spaces be reduced.
F.
Off-street parking and loading spaces for uses not specifically mentioned. For any use not specifically mentioned in the above sections, the requirements for off-street parking and off-street loading facilities are the same as for a similar use that is specifically mentioned. In such a case, either the Zoning Officer or the applicant for the certificate of occupancy or building permit may apply to the Zoning Hearing Board for an interpretation of the provisions of this chapter for such off-street parking and off-street loading requirements, and the Zoning Hearing Board shall render a decision in writing in the manner provided for in this chapter for such action.
G.
Parking, storage, or use of major recreational equipment.
(1)
Major recreational equipment are limited to one per lot, as defined for purposes of these regulations, includes trailers, pickup campers or coaches, motorized dwellings, tent trailers, boats and boat trailers, and the like, and cases or boxes used for transporting recreational equipment, whether occupied by such equipment or not.
(2)
Occupancy. No such equipment shall be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping purposes except as provided for under the following conditions:
(a)
Travel trailers, pickup campers, or coaches, motorized dwellings and tent trailers may be temporarily parked and occupied for sleeping purposes only, by visitors and house guests in accordance with the following provisions:
[1]
The temporary parking and occupancy period shall not exceed 14 days.
[2]
Such vehicles and/or trailers shall be parked in adequate off-street parking areas.
[3]
Permanent parking and storage of camping and recreational equipment. Permanent storage of such equipment shall be permitted in any zoning district, provided parking of the unit conforms to all applicable yard setback requirements of the zoning district.
[4]
Lot coverage. Major recreational equipment six feet or more in average height shall be included on the same basis as buildings for regulation of lot coverage by all buildings, with area covered computed on the basis of the largest horizontal area covered by such equipment.
[5]
Derelicts. No major recreational equipment shall be stored out of doors unless it is in condition for safe and effective performance of the function for which it is intended or can be made usable at a cost not exceeding the value of the equipment in its existing state.
§ 550-46 Parking area design standards.
 |
A.
Lots consisting of one to four spaces.
(1)
Parking may be constructed of gravel or other pervious surface as detailed.
(2)
Gravel parking must include six inches of compacted gravel over a four-inch subbase enclosed in geotextile fabric to prevent silt infiltration of stormwater storage or piping.
(3)
Pervious paving (such as bricks or other pavers) must include a four-inch compacted gravel subbase for stability and stormwater management.
(4)
Spaces provided for any use other than a residential use shall be marked by curb bumpers or other approved permanent marking and shall be screened from adjacent residential uses as outlined
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B.
Lots consisting of five to 20 spaces.
(1)
Parking may be constructed of asphalt, concrete or other impervious surface with stormwater management facilities or landscaping as necessary to meet stormwater management requirements.
(2)
Parking may be constructed of pervious surface (such as bricks or other pavers) if landscaping is constructed to meet the needs of stormwater management as detailed.
(3)
Spaces shall be marked with paint.
(4)
Spaces shall include 15% pervious area at the front of the space to allow stormwater infiltration with curb bumpers to prevent encroachment of vehicle into this area.
(5)
Ten percent of the total parking lot area shall be landscaped, including five-foot-wide landscape buffer surrounding the lot and eight-foot-wide planting islands between or at the ends rows.
 |
C.
Lots consisting of 20 or more spaces.
(1)
Parking shall be improved for use as parking lot as required.
(2)
Parking shall be constructed of asphalt, concrete or other solid surface with stormwater management facilities and landscaping as necessary to meet requirements.
(3)
All spaces shall be paved and marked with paint to designate spaces.
(4)
Twenty percent of the total parking lot area shall be landscaped, including five-foot-wide landscape buffer surrounding the lot and eight-foot-wide planting inlands between each fourth row of spaces.
(5)
A five-foot paved walkway must be provided between the public streets to the building access if more than three rows of 15 spaces are required for the site.
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D.
Central Business District (CBD). All parking areas within the CBD shall be paved and must provide adequate stormwater facilities and landscape screening as outlined in Subsection C.
(1)
Exception: Car dealer display areas may allow 30% of lot frontage to remain open from landscape screening for display purposes.