All buildings and structures erected and all land uses initiated after the effective date of this chapter shall provide accessory off-street parking or loading facilities as required hereinafter for the use thereof.

Existing off-street parking may be reduced when a building is altered to decrease the number of dwelling units, gross floor area, seating capacity, number of employees, or other unit of measure as specified hereinafter for required off-street parking or loading facilities and if this alteration results in a reduction in the off-street parking required by this chapter.

Existing off-street parking shall be increased when a building is altered to increase the number of dwelling units, gross floor area, seating capacity, number of employees, or other unit of measure as specified hereinafter for required off-street parking or loading facilities and if this alteration results in a increase in the off-street parking required by this chapter.

An off-street parking space shall have a minimum width of nine feet and a minimum depth of 18 feet. These dimensions are exclusive of driveways aisles and other circulation areas.

Driveways and drive aisles between two rows of cars shall be a minimum of 24 feet. One-way aisles for angled parking which is at least 45° to the drive aisle may be reduced to 16 feet in width.

Off-street parking areas and access drives leading to the parking areas shall be graded for proper drainage and shall be paved with a permanent surface, such as bituminous asphalt paving, poured-in-place concrete, brick, stone or precast concrete pavers. Off-street parking areas which are used for the storage of vehicles and are not accessible to the general public shall be graded for proper drainage and shall be paved with an all-weather surface, such as crushed stone or slag which has been properly graded, choked, and compacted.

Any parking lot lighting devices used to generally illuminate the parking lot shall be of a cutoff type and shall be arranged so that there is no light spillage or glare onto any adjoining property or public right-of-way. The lamp type shall be harmonious with the character of the neighborhood.

All off-street parking spaces shall be provided on the site of the principal structure which they are intended to serve. Conditional use may be made by Council in the event the off-street parking is on an immediately adjoining site.

Off-street parking shall be at least five feet from a public right-of-way. This buffer shall be planted with grass, shrubbery, hedges, trees or other landscape barrier to transition the view into the parking area. In the event this setback is in conflict with other provisions in this chapter, the greater requirements shall apply.

When two or more uses are located in one building or structure, or when two or more uses are located in more than one building on one property, off-street parking spaces equal to the sum of the separate requirements for each use shall be provided.

Handicapped parking spaces shall be provided at the ratio of one space for required off-street parking areas with less than 30 spaces and one space for each 30 spaces, or portion thereof, thereafter (unless the building occupancy warrants a greater ratio of handicapped parking spaces). Handicapped spaces shall meet ADA regulations. The international symbol for handicapped spaces shall be clearly painted in the space no less than 18 inches high, and the space shall also be conspicuously posted. The spaces shall be located at the shortest possible distance to the handicapped access to the building. This chapter shall not lessen the requirements that the federal ADA regulations may impose.

When the determination of required off-street parking spaces is calculated, any fraction of a space shall be rounded up to the next whole space.

Accessory off-street parking and loading spaces in existence on the effective date of this chapter may not be reduced in number unless already exceeding the requirements of this section for equivalent new construction; in which event, said spaces shall not be reduced below the number required herein for such equivalent new construction.

Any application for the reduction of off-street parking or loading spaces shall be accompanied by a site plan and application as if for new site plan approval. (See § 270-79, Site plans.)

When any existing public facility, such as a church, school, or library, expands or changes use of an existing structure, the parking requirement of this chapter may be met if it is shown that sufficient available public or private parking lot(s) exists within 500 feet of the expanding public facility and, in the instance of private parking, that the public facility can enter into lease for said parking lots for a term of no less than 25 years.

No parking facilities serving any commercial or industrial district shall be located in a residential district, except parking facilities serving a commercial or overlay district may be located in a residential district if the parking facility is adjacent to the commercial structure, on adjoining property, or adjacent but divided by a public easement, and any lighting of said parking area is turned off no later than 10:00 p.m.

No land shall be used for commercial or industrial truck-loading, storage or parking activities in any residential district. Such activities are permitted in commercial districts only when normally attendant to the conduct of the commercial activity as established in the occupancy and in no other case.

In all zoning districts, the loading and unloading of trucks and all other vehicles shall be conducted in such a manner that no part of the vehicle or the operations of loading and unloading shall extend onto the adjacent sidewalk or the roadway, or in any other manner hindering or impeding the use thereof. Exceptions to this requirement shall be made only in instances where physical development of facilities established prior to the effective date of this chapter will not permit compliance.

Tables for required off-street parking and loading. Requirements governing the number and location of off-street loading facilities in relation to the use property are established hereinafter in subsections of this chapter. The off-street parking and loading requirements for any use not specified herein shall be the same as for a similar specified use, as determined as hereinafter.

Floor area. The term "floor area," as employed in this off-street parking and loading article, shall mean the gross floor areas of a building (other than basement areas that have no occupancy use or garage areas not related to the primary use of the structure); this is to the exterior of the skin or to the center of a party wall.

Table of Minimum Parking.

The Planning Commission may recommend and/or the Borough Council approve an alternative lesser parking requirement for R-4 Zoning Districts if a parking study developed by a professional traffic engineer, as paid for and provided to the Borough by the developer of the proposed construction or renovation, establishes that a lesser amount of parking will be sufficient to meet the public health and safety objectives of this chapter, with the adoption of such lesser parking requirements being at the sole discretion of the Planning Commission and/or the Borough Council.

Off-street loading spaces shall be provided in accordance with the specifications in this section in any nonresidential zoning district whenever any new use is established or for the new portion whenever any existing use is enlarged. The term "off-street loading" shall include both "loading" and "unloading."

Off-street loading spaces in conjunction with industrial districts shall have a minimum rectangular dimension of 12 feet in width and 55 feet in length. Off-street loading spaces in conjunction with commercial districts shall have a minimum rectangular dimension of 12 feet in width and 30 feet in length.

Off-street loading spaces shall be located in areas which will not impede traffic on public streets. At no time may loading vehicles obstruct traffic on a public thoroughfare.

Off-street loading areas and access drives leading to the loading area shall be graded for proper drainage and shall be paved with a permanent surface, such as bituminous asphalt paving, poured-in-place concrete, brick, stone or precast concrete pavers, or other surfaces as approved by Council. In the event that construction occurs at a time of the year that paving is impossible, the owner shall provide written assurance to the Zoning Officer that paving will occur as soon as weather permits.

Any lighting devices used to illuminate the loading area or activities shall be arranged so that there is no light spillage or glare onto any adjoining property or public right-of-way.

Parking facilities shall be provided for zoning districts as specified herewith.

Off-street loading requirements.

Council may have the ability to alter the number or character of loading spaces when it can be demonstrated that the requirements are in character with a specific or proposed use now and in the future.