A.

For every building hereafter erected or buildings structurally altered for retail, commercial, business or industrial purposes, off-street parking spaces shall be provided. Each space shall measure at least eight feet by eighteen (18) feet and shall be paved in all districts except R-1 and R-2, except that the planning commission shall allow, upon request of an applicant or by majority vote of its own initiative, a reasonable number of smaller parking spaces for compact cars, in a number up to thirty (30) percent of the total spaces, and the commission may, at its option, require an additional number of oversize parking spaces for handicapped-access vehicles. Compact car spaces, which must be so labeled on the lot, shall be at least eight feet by sixteen (16) feet in size and handicapped spaces, which must also be so labeled on the lot, shall be twelve (12) feet by eighteen (18) feet in size, except that such spaces may be nine feet wide when an additional four feet is provided at one side as an available, paved handicapped ramp.

B.

In RC, C and I zoning districts, areas included in driveways or otherwise required to move cars in and out of parking spaces shall not be considered to meet off-street parking space requirements. Parking lot spaces shall be arranged in such a manner that vehicles will not back directly from an off-street parking space into a public right-of-way, except in the case of public alleys, and no portion of a public right-of-way or easement shall be included as a portion of a parking lot except with the approval of the planning commission and the written permission of the owner(s) of record of the right-of-way or easement.

C.

Uses which are expanded or changed must appropriately adjust the number of parking spaces provided within ninety (90) days of the expansion or change of use.

D.

Each off-street parking lot containing more than fifty (50) parking spaces shall provide one or more landscaped areas, equal to five percent of the total parking lot area and dispersed within the parking area and which shall be a portion of the overall site landscaping requirement and shown on an appropriate landscaping plan.

E.

Residential off-street parking spaces shall be located on the same lot as the dwelling(s) they serve. All other required parking spaces located more than one thousand (1,000) feet from the building or structure they serve, measured in a straight line from the nearest corner of the building, must first be approved by the board of adjustment as a variance.

F.

Off-street parking in planned unit developments shall comply with the requirements of this section except when a separate development plan incorporating alternate off-street parking provisions is reviewed by the planning commission and approved by the city council.

G.

Parking requirements shall apply to all zoning districts, except as specified herein. When more than one use is conducted on a single lot or parcel, parking shall be required for all uses, even though one use is accessory to another and the number of spaces required shall be a sum of the spaces required for the cumulative uses.

H.

All parking lot aisles shall be at least twenty (20) feet in width and all open parking areas shall contain snow storage or removal provisions adequate to the planning commission as determined by a majority vote of the commission.

Snow storage areas are recommended to be sized to approximately ten (10) percent of the total parking lot area.

I.

Businesses that are a use by right in existing buildings in the TC zone and in the RC zone on 9th Street from Poplar Street to Harrison Avenue and Harrison Avenue from 2nd Street to 9th Street, including the side streets to the first alleys east and west of Harrison Avenue, shall not be required to provide off-street parking spaces.

J.

Any or all of the off-street parking requirements may be waived by the city council upon recommendation of the planning and zoning commission if deemed impractical or cost prohibitive to the applicant.

K.

If a public alley is adjacent to a property. any new required off-street parking spaces for the uses on that property shall be alley-loaded only, and new required off-street parking spaces shall not be accessed from a new driveway connection to an adjacent street. A property may be exempt from this requirement if the planning director determines that a public alley is not adjacent or not reasonably accessible from or to the property.

(Ord. 03-15 § 3; Ord. 99-8 § 1 (part): prior code § 17.19.010)

(Ord. No. 2024-3, § 7, 9-3-24)

The following types of uses shall require the following number of off-street parking spaces, as a minimum requirement:

Table 3

Off-Street Parking Requirements

* DU= dwelling unit

** Except in the Retail Core (RC) Zoning District.

In the computation of parking spaces needed according to Table 3, all fractional spaces shall be rounded to the next higher number.

Requirements for types of buildings and uses not specifically enumerated herein shall be determined by the city council upon review and recommendation from the planning commission, based upon the requirements of comparable uses listed above and prevailing elsewhere in the surrounding area.

(Ord. 99-8 § 1 (part): prior code § 17.19.020)

(Ord. No. 2016-8, § 4, 11-1-16; Ord. No. 2024-3, § 8, 9-3-24)

For the purpose of providing for off-the-street loading and unloading of goods, buildings or structures to be built or substantially altered which receive or distribute materials and merchandise by truck shall provide and maintain off street loading berths in sufficient number to accommodate the needs of the particular use.

The minimum number of loading berths required, if the gross floor area of the building is less than ten thousand (10,000) square feet shall be one berth; if greater than ten thousand (10,000) square feet, the number of berths provided shall be one for each additional fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet, or fraction thereof, of gross floor area over and above the first ten thousand (10,000) square feet.

A loading berth shall contain, at a minimum, a space twelve (12) feet wide, thirty-five (35) feet in length and maintain a vertical clearance of at least fourteen (14) feet. Where the vehicle is routinely used for loading or unloading exceeds these dimensions, the planning commission may increase the required size of loading berths correspondingly by majority vote.

These off-street parking and loading berth requirements may be modified in accordance with the variance procedures of the board of adjustment.

(Ord. 99-8 § 1 (part): prior code § 17.19.030)