Lower Providence Township Montgomery County
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XII
Off-Street Parking Standards
§ 143-70 Legislative intent.
It is the intent of this article to:
A.
Set reasonable standards to assure sufficient parking capacity for the uses of land in the Township.
B.
Provide flexibility in the implementation of these standards by permitting construction of a reduced number of parking spaces under the appropriate conditions.
C.
Prevent hazards to public safety caused by the intrusion of parking upon public rights-of-way.
§ 143-71 General regulations for off-street parking.
[Amended 9-21-2006 by Ord. No. 556; 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 617; 3-15-2018 by Ord. No. 654; 6-5-2025 by Ord. No. 687]
A.
General. The parking spaces and access driveways shall be laid out in a safe and efficient method that takes into account the location of access to the property, loading areas, pedestrian circulation and any drive-through facilities.
B.
Existing parking. Structures and uses in existence at the effective date of this section shall not be subject to the requirements of this article, provided that the kind of use is not changed or expanded and that any parking facility now serving such structures or uses shall not in the future be reduced to an amount less than that required by this chapter.
C.
Changes in use. Whenever a building or use is changed or enlarged in floor area, number of employees, number of dwellings, seating capacity or otherwise to create a need, based upon the requirements of § 143-71 for an increase of 10% or more in the number of existing parking spaces, the number of total spaces to be provided shall be based upon the total parking that would be required for the entire existing and proposed use.
D.
Continuing obligation.
E.
Conflict with other uses. No parking area shall be used for any other use that interferes with its availability for the parking need it is required to serve. Required parking spaces shall not be used for storage or display of materials or vehicles for sale.
F.
Location of parking. Required off street parking spaces shall be on the same lot or abutting lot with the principal use served.
G.
Required spaces for various uses.
Use | Requirement (number of spaces) |
|---|---|
Single-family dwelling | 2 per dwelling unit (not including garage) |
Multifamily or two-family dwelling unit | 1 per studio unit, 2 per unit for any other (not including garage) |
Retirement community, senior housing | 1 per dwelling unit |
Tourist home, boarding or rooming house, bed-and-breakfast | 2 plus 1 per rental unit |
Home occupations or office within a residence1 | Shall be treated as a freestanding use for the purpose of determining parking requirements |
Church, public auditorium | 1 per four seats |
Elementary or intermediate school2 | 1.75 per classroom |
High school2 | 5 per classroom |
Hospital, nursing home, rehabilitation center, institutional home | 1 per 2 beds, plus per employee on largest shift |
Community center, library, public building | 1 per 500 square feet of gross floor area |
Day-care center3 | 1 per 10 children of designed capacity, plus 1 per employee |
Correctional institution | 1 per 3 occupants of designed capacity |
Membership club (nonresidential) | 1 per 6 members of designed capacity, plus overflow parking (on lawn or field for 100 cars. Restaurants or other public facilities shall be treated as separate uses for parking calculations. |
Indoor recreation | |
Bowling alley | 5 per lane |
Sports club/health spa, billiard room, etc. | 1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area |
Outdoor recreation | |
Golf course | 3 per hole plus 1 per employee. Any area for restaurant, clubhouse, etc., shall be treated as a separate use for parking calculations. |
Ballfield or other outdoor court | 1 per 4 persons of total design capacity |
Medical/dental office | 7 per doctor and/or technician, plus 1 per additional employee |
Retail store | 1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area |
Shopping center, supermarket | 1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area |
Bank, financial institution | |
Without drive-in | 6 per teller window |
With drive-in window | 6 per inside teller plus 3 per self-service facility |
Indoor theater | 1 per 3 seats |
Restaurant, bar or tavern, banquet hall, etc. | 1 per 100 square feet of gross floor area |
Vehicle sales | 1 per 500 square feet of indoor gross floor area, plus 1 per 5,000 square feet outside sales area, to be set aside for customer parking and not used for display or storage |
Motor vehicle service/repair | 3 per service bay |
Gasoline service station | 1 per 300 square feet of gross floor area or 3 per service bay (whichever is larger) |
Undertaking or funeral | 1 per 4 seats or per 50 square feet of public floor area (whichever is larger) |
Job printing | 1 per employee on largest shift, plus 1 per 250 square feet of public floor area |
Hotel or motel | 1 per room, plus 1 per 200 square feet of additional public floor area. Any restaurant, bar, etc., shall be treated as a separate use |
Offices | 1 per 300 square feet of gross floor area |
Warehouse or storage | 1 per 1,500 square feet of gross floor area or per employee on largest shift (whichever is larger) |
Industry, research and development | 1 per 450 square feet of gross floor area or per employee on largest shift (whichever is larger) |
Newspaper publishing | 1 per 450 square feet of gross floor area or per employee on largest shift (whichever is larger) |
Veterinarian, animal hospital or kennel | 7 per doctor plus 1 per additional employee |
Self-storage development4 | 1 space per 10,000 square feet of gross floor area |
Medical marijuana dispensary | 1 per 250 square feet of gross floor area plus 1 per employee |
Medical marijuana grower/processor | 1 per 450 square feet of gross floor area plus 1 for each business vehicle normally stored on the premises |
Tobacco store, smoke shop or vape shop | 1 off-street parking space required for each 150 feet of gross floor area or fraction thereof |
NOTES: | |
|---|---|
1For example, a doctor's office in a residence would meet the standards of "medical/dental office" herein, while a business office would meet the standards of "offices" herein. | |
2All schools shall designate an area of level lawn or field for overflow parking for special events, which shall provide at least 100 parking spaces. | |
3Day care centers shall designate a pickup and delivery zone immediately adjacent to the building, providing 1 parking space per up to 15 children of designed capacity. Required parking may be used to meet this requirement if it is not separated from the building by streets or driveways. | |
4Where a self-storage development is included as part of a shopping center, the calculation of required parking for the self-storage development shall be independent and apart from the calculation for the remainder of the shopping center. |
§ 143-72 Reserve parking.
If the number of spaces required by § 143-71 above is substantially larger than the number anticipated by the applicant, reserve parking may be used in accordance with the following criteria:
A.
Up to 25% of the number of spaces required under this chapter may be placed in reserve.
B.
A sufficient area must be set aside for construction of the reserved spaces, if and when they are deemed necessary by the Board of Supervisors. All stormwater engineering shall be designed based on total parking requirements, including the reserve.
C.
Should the Township Zoning Officer subsequently decide on the basis of actual usage, or as a result of any change in the use, ownership, size of building or number of residents or employees that the parking as built is adequate, he shall require that the parking required to resolve the inadequacy shall be taken out of reserve and constructed in accordance with Township specifications.
D.
The Zoning Officer may deny or revoke the use and occupancy permit of any use that fails to comply with these provisions.
E.
The applicant may be required to provide a financial guaranty to cover the cost of engineering and installation of the reserved parking spaces, for a period of 10 months following installation of the initially guaranty must be approved by the Board of Supervisors upon the recommendation of the Township Solicitor and Engineer.
§ 143-73 Shared parking.
A.
The parking spaces required under § 143-71 above may be reduced when two or more establishments share the same parking area, whether on the same lot or abutting lots, according to the following formula:
(1)
Calculate the minimum amount of parking required for each land use as if it were a separate use.
(2)
To determine peak parking requirements, multiply each amount by the corresponding percentage in Table 1 for each of the five time periods.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Attachment 1, Shared Parking Requirements and Calculations, which consisted of Tables 1 and 2, was repealed in its entirety 10-20-2011 by Ord. No. 602.
(3)
Calculate the column total for each time period.
(4)
The column total with the highest value is the shared parking requirement.
§ 143-74 Overflow parking.
Properties found to have insufficient space for peak periods only may allow for parking on grass-lined pavers or other stabilized pervious surfaces for the purpose of accommodating temporary conditions at overflow. Use of pavers in a sand setting bed with permeable joints or of sand or partly pervious surface treatment is also acceptable when stormwater management is adequately addressed.