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Monroe City Zoning Code

ARTICLE IX

Parking

§ 108-9.1 General provisions.

A. 
The following regulations and schedules with specific requirements shall apply to all off-street parking and loading facilities for all uses of land in all districts:
(1) 
Off-street parking space shall be provided as further specified in this article, and shall be furnished with necessary passageways and driveways. All such space shall be deemed to be required space on the lot on which it is situated, and no such space shall be encroached upon or reduced in any manner. All parking areas, passageways and driveways shall be constructed in accordance with the design specifications of the subdivision provisions of this chapter and in accordance with all applicable Federal and State regulations requiring handicapped parking. Landscaping consisting of attractive trees, shrubs, plants and grass lawns shall be required and planted in accordance with the site plans. Special buffer planting shall be provided along the side and rear property lines so as to provide protection to adjacent properties when such lot lines abut residential zones or uses.
(2) 
The collective provision of off-street parking area by two or more buildings or uses located on adjacent lots is permitted, provided that the total of such facilities shall not be less than the sum required of the various buildings or uses computed separately, and further provided that the land upon which the collective facilities are located is owned or leased by one or more of the collective users.
(3) 
All off-street parking and loading facilities shall be designed in accordance to the dimensions as contained herein.
(4) 
No off-street loading area or off-street parking area or part thereof for three or more vehicles shall be closer than 10 feet to any dwelling, school, hospital or other institution for human care located on an adjoining lot.
(5) 
For development other than single-family dwellings, any off-street parking area or off-street loading area for three or more vehicles shall be improved with an impervious cover according to the standards of this article.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(6) 
All parking and loading spaces shall be marked so as to provide for the orderly and safe loading, parking and storage of motor vehicles. All pavement marking materials (paint) shall be of a manufacture consistent with N.J.D.O.T. specifications for road and bridge construction, latest edition.
[Added 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(7) 
All off-street parking areas and off-street loading areas shall be graded and drained so as to dispose of all surface water without detriment to surrounding uses as determined by the Township Engineer and in conformance with the stormwater management requirements of this ordinance.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(8) 
No access drive or driveway in any residential district shall be used to provide access to uses other than those permitted in such residential district.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(9) 
Any public or private parking or loading area for three or more vehicles, including a commercial parking lot, shall be developed and maintained in accordance with the Township requirements.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(10) 
Off-street parking areas for three or more vehicles and off-street loading areas adjoining residential districts shall be effectively screened by a fence or hedge as provided in this chapter and in Article VIII of this ordinance. The screening shall be on the side or sides which adjoin or face premises in any residential district or institutional premises.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(11) 
All parking areas and appurtenant passageways and driveways serving commercial and industrial uses shall be illuminated adequately during the hours between sunset and sunrise when the use is in operation upon the premises. Adequate shielding shall be provided by commercial and industrial users to protect adjacent residential zones from the glare of such illumination and from that of automobile headlights. The operator of any commercial or industrial premises may reduce the amount of lighting after 12:00 midnight by not more than 50% of the total lighting required during the period between sunset and sunrise.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(12) 
All parking areas shall have artificial lighting that will provide an average lighting level of 0.5 horizontal footcandle throughout the parking area. Freestanding light poles shall be no higher than the height of the highest principal building served by the parking area, or 20 feet whichever is less.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(13) 
Parking areas may be located in any rear or side yard, but may not be located in any front yard area except where specifically permitted elsewhere in this article.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015; 4-4-05 by Ord. No. 007]
(14) 
Parking spaces, driveways and aisles shall be clearly marked and delineated. For safety and fire-fighting purposes, free access between adjacent parking areas shall be provided. Certification of provision of such access shall be obtained from the appropriate Fire District.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(15) 
It shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property to maintain all off-street parking, loading and unloading areas, driveways, aisles and accessways in good condition, free of sagging condition, potholes, cracked pavement, etc. All lighting, bumpers, markings, signs, drainage and landscaping shall be similarly kept in workable, safe and good condition. Parking space striping shall be inspected periodically by the Township Engineer every three years. If the condition of the lighting, bumpers, markings, signs, drainage and landscaping has deteriorated to a condition deemed by the Township to warrant renewal, the owner shall repair the markings to the satisfaction of the Township Engineer. Irrespective of the above described inspection period, if the Township Engineer or the Traffic and Safety Division of the Township Police Department determines that the layout of the parking space lines, curbs, islands or other traffic guidance features and drainage, landscaping or lighting is such as to adversely affect safety, the Township Engineer can require the owner to redesign and install such traffic guidance and parking features. The owner shall be responsible to pay all application, escrow and inspection fees. Where such redesign is ordered by the Township Engineer, the revised design must be reviewed and approved by the Township Planning Board prior to the start of repairs, construction and/or repainting. If the owner fails to undertake repairs after proper notification by the Township Engineer, the governing body may authorize repairs to be made at the owner's expense if, in the governing body's opinion, conditions constitute a hazard to the safety and welfare of the Township residents and visitors or may revoke the owner's certificate of occupancy and require the property to be vacated.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
B. 
Parking spaces, loading spaces and aisles.
(1) 
Each off-street parking space shall measure not less than ten by twenty (10 x 20) feet, exclusive of access drives and aisles, except that parallel curb parking spaces shall be nine by twenty-three (9 x 23) feet.
(2) 
Loading spaces shall not be less than fifty by twelve (50 x 12) feet.
(3) 
All traffic aisles between parking spaces for 90 degree parking shall be 24 feet wide.
C. 
Design standards for driveways and access aisles.
(1) 
All entrance and exit driveways to public streets shall be located to afford maximum safety to traffic on the public streets.
(2) 
Any exit driveway or driveway land shall be so designed with regard to profile, grading and location to permit the sight distance in accordance with § 108-12.9C of this ordinance, entitled "Sight Triangle Easements."
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(3) 
The dimensions of driveways shall be designed to adequately accommodate the volume and character of vehicles anticipated to be attracted daily onto the land development for which a site plan is prepared.
(a) 
Driveway dimensions. Driveway width at the curbline should be limited to 15 to 35 feet.
[1] 
Driveways serving large volumes of traffic shall be required to utilize high to maximum dimensions.
[2] 
Driveways serving low traffic volumes shall be permitted to use low to minimum dimensions.
(b) 
Number of driveways. The number of driveways provided from a site directly to any one municipal street shall be recommended as follows:
Length of Site Frontage
(feet)
Recommended Number of Driveways
100 or less
1
More than 100 to 800
2
Over 800
To be specified by the municipal agency upon receipt of advice of the Township Engineer.
(4) 
No driveway to or from a parking area should be located closer than 100 feet from the nearest right-of-way line of an intersection collector or arterial street. However, any major use, such as shopping center or office complex, which, in the opinion of the Approving Board, will generate large traffic volumes shall not be located closer than 200 feet from the nearest right-of-way line of an intersection of a collector or arterial street.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(5) 
No part of any driveway may be located within five feet of a side property line for single-and/ or two-family dwellings and within 20 feet of a side property line for all other uses. However, upon application to an Approving Board and approval of the design by the Township Engineer, the Approving Board may permit a driveway serving two or more adjacent sites to be located on or within 10 feet of a side property line between the adjacent sites.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(6) 
Driveway angle, one-way operation. Driveways used by vehicles in one-way direction of travel (right turn only) shall not form in angles smaller than 45 degrees with the public street, unless acceleration and deceleration lanes are provided.
(7) 
Driveway angle, two-way operation. Driveways used for two-way operation will intersect the public street at any angle as near 90 degrees as site conditions will permit, and in no case shall it be less than 60 degrees.
(8) 
Parking areas for 25 or more cars and access drives for all parking areas on arterial roadways provide curbed return radii of not less than 15 feet for all right turn movements and left-turn access from one-way streets and concrete aprons on entrance and exit drives.
(9) 
Parking areas for less than 25 cars may utilize concrete aprons without curb returns at entrance and exit drives which are not located on a minor arterial or principal arterial highway.
(10) 
Access drives for single and two-family dwellings shall utilize concrete aprons without curb returns, regardless of size or location.
(a) 
Such drives shall have a minimum width of 10 feet and a maximum width of 12 feet when they provide access to a one-car garage, or when there is no garage, a maximum width of 24 feet when they provide access to a two-car or larger garage.
(b) 
All such residential driveways shall be paved upon a compacted subgrade approved by the Township Engineer with a minimum of two inches base coarse BSBC, N.J.D.O.T. mix 1-2 and two inches surface course FABC, NJDOT Mix 1-5.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(11) 
Maximum curb depression width for single and two-family dwellings shall be the driveway width plus four feet, but not more than 25 feet.
(a) 
For all other uses it shall be the driveway width plus 10 feet, but not more than 35 feet.
(b) 
All concrete shall be constructed as provided by the appropriate section of this chapter.
(12) 
Where a driveway connecting to a public street serves traffic from parking areas of a major traffic generator, an acceleration and/or deceleration lane may be required in accordance with Policy of Geometric Design of Rural Highways 1984 or latest revision American Association of State Highway Officials.
(13) 
The number of driveways, in such locations and of such widths, as shall be certified by the engineering official having jurisdiction over road design to be necessary and proper in order to achieve compatibility with the road design in view of the site conditions, shall be permitted and shall be deemed to constitute compliance herewith.
(14) 
If the road to which the driveways connect is a Township street, the certifying official shall be the Township Engineer. If a County road, the certifying official shall be such County Engineer as may be in charge of road design. If a State road, the certifying official shall be such official of the New Jersey Department of Transportation division, bureau or other unit in charge of road design for that road.
(15) 
Aisles from which cars directly enter or leave parking spaces shall not be less than:
(a) 
25 feet for perpendicular parking.
(b) 
20 feet for 60 degree angle parking.
(c) 
25 feet for all aisles allowing two-way traffic.
(d) 
Only angle parking stalls or parallel parking stalls shall be used with one-way aisles.
D. 
(Reserved)
E. 
Driveway aprons. Driveway aprons shall be required between the curbing and the sidewalk. They shall be six inches of concrete according to specifications required for curbing described in Article XII.
(1) 
Parking areas shall be so arranged as to provide adequate access to all buildings in case of fire or other emergency. No parking shall be allowed within 30 feet of the outer walls of any structure or within such other adequate distance as the Planning Board, in consultation with Township Fire Officials, may approve. The developer shall post adequate signs and provide pavement markings, approved by the Planning Board, prohibiting such parking and designating such areas as fire zones.
F. 
Parking areas in commercial and industrial districts.
(1) 
Off-street parking areas which abut a residential or institutional use on any side shall be set back a minimum of 50 feet from the lot line and adequately buffered and screened from such use with planting or fencing.
[Amended 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
(2) 
All parking areas for 10 or more vehicles shall be landscaped with hedges, shrubbery and/ or shade trees of a type and quantity approved by the Approving Board.
(3) 
All parking areas for 20 or more vehicles shall contain grassed or landscaped island areas of at least six feet in width separating rows of parking spaces. Such island areas shall be spread throughout the parking area in accordance with a site plan approved by the Approving Board and shall occupy a minimum of 10% of the area formed by the outer perimeter of the paved parking area. The island areas shall contain a minimum of one shade tree for each 10 parking spaces in the parking area and shall be landscaped in accordance with a landscaping plan approved by the Approving Board.
(4) 
For commercial and all nonresidential uses in business districts, required parking shall be provided within 200 feet of such use, measured from the nearest point of the building that such facility is required to serve.
G. 
Schedule of required off-street parking spaces.
Land Use
Parking Spaces Required
Single and multifamily dwellings
2.5 spaces per unit
Trailer parks
[Repealed 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
Barber shop and beauty shop
Two parking spaces per beauty chair or barber chair, plus 1 parking space per employee.
Places of worship
1 for every 3 seats
Hotels, motels and other transient accommodations
1 1/2 per guest room, plus 1 per staff and additional facilities as defined herein
Schools
Elementary
2 per classroom, but not less than 1 per teacher and staff
Intermediate
1.5 per classroom, but not less than 1 per teacher and staff
Secondary
2.5 per classroom, but not less than 1 per teacher and staff
Bar
1 per 2 seats
Bowling alley
4 per alley
Car wash
20 per washing lane
Community buildings, fraternal and social clubs and similar uses
1 for each 8 members
Hospitals
4 for each 5 beds
Nursing homes
1 for each 3 beds
Government administrative offices
5 for each 800 square feet of gross floor area
(1) 
Supermarkets, self-service food stores: one parking space for every 100 square feet of building area or fraction thereof.
(2) 
Medical and dental offices: one parking space for each employee, plus two spaces for each treatment room. For a home professional office, this requirement is in addition to required spaces for dwelling purposes.
(3) 
Home occupations and other home professional offices: one parking space for each 150 square feet of floor space or fraction thereof (in addition to required spaces for dwelling purposes).
(4) 
Financial, business offices and professional offices except medical and dental offices: one parking space for each 200 square feet of gross floor space or fraction thereof for the floor located on the ground level or below ground level; for each level above the ground level, one parking space for each 200 square feet of gross floor space or fraction thereof.
(5) 
Stores for the retail sale of furniture, appliances and hardware: one parking space for each 500 square feet of floor area or fraction thereof.
(6) 
All other retail and service stores: one parking space for each 150 square feet of floor area or fraction thereof.
(7) 
Restaurants, taverns, cafeterias and diners: one parking space for every two seats for customers, including seats provided at the bar and in the lounge area, plus one parking space for every two employees during the largest shift.
(8) 
[Repealed 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
(9) 
Parks and other outdoor recreation sites: five parking spaces for each gross acre of land up to 50 acres, and one parking space per gross acre of land above 50 acres.
(10) 
Private and parochial schools. The off-street parking requirements as provided for schools in this chapter.
(11) 
[Repealed 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
(12) 
Shopping center.
Under 400,000 sq. ft. GFA
(Gross Floor Area/GFA)
4 per 1,000 sq. ft. GFA
400,000—599,999 sq. ft. GFA
4.5 per 1,000 sq. ft. GFA
600,000+ sq. ft. GFA
5 per 1,000 sq. ft. GFA
(13) 
Laundromats: one parking space for every two washing machines.
(14) 
Auditoriums, exhibition halls, assembly halls, union halls, community centers and similar places of public and quasi-public assembly not having fixed seating facilities: one parking space for every four persons who may legally be admitted therein at one time under the State Fire Prevention Laws.
[Amended 4-5-99 by Ord. No. 0-4-99-015]
(15) 
Auditoriums, theaters and similar places of public assembly having fixed seating facilities: one parking space for every four seats.
(16) 
Hospitals and similar institutional uses for care of the ill or aged: one parking space for every four beds, plus one additional parking space for every two employees and members of the staff in the largest working shift.
(17) 
Mortuaries and funeral homes: two parking spaces for every 50 square feet of gross floor area associated with business use.
(18) 
Warehouse and light industrial uses. One automobile parking space for each two employees in the shift that has the highest number of employees, or one automobile parking space for each 800 square feet of gross floor area, whichever shall be greater. Furthermore, one tractor-trailer parking space shall be provided for each 5,000 square feet of gross floor area, which shall constitute the maximum number of tractor-trailer parking spaces for the site.
[Amended 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
(19) 
[Repealed 9-3-03 by Ord. No. 0-9-2003-036]
(20) 
Parks and other outdoor recreation sites: five parking spaces for each gross acre of land up to 50 acres, and one parking space per gross acre of land above 50 acres.
H. 
Schedule of required off-street loading spaces.
Land Use
Loading Spaces Required
Schools
1 space
Hospitals
1 for each 50 beds
Mortuaries and funeral use
1 for each 5,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area associated business use
Retail stores
1 for each establishment
Wholesale, storage, distributive and other industrial establishments
1 for the first 10,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area, plus additional for each additional 20,000 sq. ft. or fraction thereof of gross floor area
I. 
Barrier-free parking. All parking areas shall be designed in accordance with the applicable New Jersey State Statutes for barrier-free and handicapped parking. This shall apply to the access from the parking stalls to the various uses in which the parking is provided for.
J. 
Connection of parking facilities. As part of the layout of the parking facility for various uses, the applicant with guidance from the Technical Review Committee shall provide for, if possible, the connection of adjoining parking facilities of the two adjacent uses. The intention of this section is to eliminate the drive cuts along various local, County and State roadways but provide for the movement of vehicles between parking facilities of various uses similar in nature.