Monroe Town City Zoning Code

The requirements for a simple use (e.g., a single-family residence or a retail store) shall be determined directly from the related provision of this section.

The requirements for a use made up of several component uses (e.g., a bowling alley with auditorium seating and a restaurant and bar or a retail store and office building) shall be determined by establishing the requirements for each component use and adding them together.

When the required number of spaces is determined to be a fraction, it shall be increased to the next highest whole number.

If a use is not specifically listed in this article, the requirements shall be the same as for the most similarly listed use.

At the time of individual site plan approval for uses located within a business park, the adequacy of accessory parking areas and truck loading spaces for that use shall be subject to review and determination by the Planning Board. After consideration of an appropriate parking needs study for the proposed use and the overall business park, the Board may reduce the actual parking area and/or loading spaces that would otherwise be required by this article by up to 25% in instances where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Board that the combination of uses within the business park will generate parking needs that do not overlap or will not occur simultaneously or that the actual parking requirements of the proposed use are less than would otherwise be required by this article.

In appropriate cases, the Planning Board may reduce the number of parking spaces to be constructed prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy. As a condition of such reduction the applicant shall demonstrate that an appropriate area is available to meet the parking area requirements of this article, and such area shall be identified and reserved for parking purposes on the site plan for three years following approval of the site plan. The Planning Board may require the applicant to provide a sufficient bond to allow construction of the improvements in such parking area as a condition of site plan approval, and may require construction of the improvements at any time during that three-year period on its finding that the additional parking area is necessary to accommodate the actual parking requirements of the occupied site.

At the time of individual site plan approval for uses located in the GB District, the adequacy of accessory parking and truck loading spaces shall be subject to review and determination by the Planning Board. After consideration of an appropriate parking needs analysis for the proposed site use, the Board may reduce the actual number of parking spaces and, if applicable, loading spaces that would otherwise be required by this article by up to 75% in instances where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Planning Board that the specific use or combination of uses on the site will be less than otherwise required by this article. Reference to this finding shall be included on the plan as well as in the Planning Board's approval resolution and filed with the Building Inspector. The Planning Board may require, at its option, that the site be capable of accommodating any portion of this reduced number of parking spaces and be bonded pursuant to § 57-47F.

At the time of individual site plan approval for uses located within the HI District, the adequacy of accessory parking areas and truck loading spaces for that use shall be subject to review and determination by the Planning Board. After consideration of an appropriate parking needs study for the proposed use and the overall proposed use(s) in the HI District, the Board may reduce the actual parking area and/or loading spaces that would otherwise be required by this article by up to 40% in instances where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Board that the combination of uses within the HI District will generate parking needs that do not overlap or will not occur simultaneously or that the actual parking requirements of the proposed use are less than would otherwise be required by this article.

In all districts, the minimum required number of parking spaces to be provided in private garages or private parking areas accessory to main buildings or structures or uses of land permitted in any given district shall be in accordance with the following regulations:

Off-street parking requirements for residential uses shall be as follows:

In all districts, an accessory garage or accessory parking area shall be subject to the applicable regulations for accessory buildings and uses prescribed in § 57-38.

In all districts, an access drive to an accessory garage, parking area or truck-loading space may be located within a required side yard.

In any residence district, a private garage or private parking area may be utilized only as an accessory to the main building, except that one parking space in a private garage accessory to a one-family or two-family dwelling may be rented to a person who is not a resident of the main building.

In any residence district, not more than one commercial vehicle, with a gross weight limited to 3/4 of one ton, may be housed on any lot, and then only in a private garage, except that motorized equipment properly accessory to garden apartments or multiple dwellings may be housed, but only within a roofed enclosure.

In any residence district, not more than 50% of the area of a minimum required rear yard shall be used as a parking area.

In all districts, required garages or parking areas accessory to any permitted residence use shall be on the same lot with the main building or buildings or on an immediately adjacent lot in the same ownership.

In all districts, required garages or parking areas accessory to any permitted nonresidential use shall be on the same lot or parcel of land with the main building, buildings or use, except that where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships, the Board of Appeals may grant a permit for a required parking area to be located on other property, subject to appropriate safeguards, within 500 feet of the property to which it is accessory, measured in a straight line between the nearest point of the property to be served. Such permit shall be subject to safeguards and conditions designed to assure the continuing availability of such parking area to serve the use to which it is accessory for a minimum term of 20 years; provided, however, that a different parking area may be substituted therefor at any time within such twenty-year period, on approval of the Board of Appeals and subject to similar safeguards and conditions.

In all districts, required accessory parking areas and truck-loading spaces shall have safe and adequate access to a public street, either by a driveway on the same lot or by means of a permanent easement across an adjoining lot.

In any nonresidential district, except in the LI District, an accessory parking area may be situated in whole or in part on the roof of the main building to which it is accessory.

The adequacy of accessory parking areas and truck-loading spaces for special uses shall be subject to review and determination as an integral part of the review of the site plan by the Planning Board, as provided in the applicable provisions of this chapter.

Accessory parking areas shall be marked off into parking spaces, each with a minimum width of nine feet and a minimum length of 18 feet, exclusive of access driveways and turning areas. The left and right sides of parking spaces shall be delineated by two four-inch-wide painted lines running the length of the parking space and separated by eight inches.

An off-street truck-loading space shall have a minimum width of 10 feet, a minimum length of 25 feet and minimum clear height of 14 feet, including its access from the street.

Accessory nonresidential parking areas and off-street truck-loading spaces shall be suitably paved, drained and lighted and appropriately planted and fenced for the protection of adjacent residential properties, in accordance with specifications of the Town. Driveways and turning areas shall be of adequate width and radii to assure ease of mobility, ample clearance and convenient access, egress and safety of vehicles and pedestrians. Such facilities shall be maintained in good condition by the owner.

No required accessory parking area nor off-street truck-loading space shall be encroached upon by buildings, open storage or any other use.

Accessory private garages may be constructed within or under any portion of a main building, provided that the access driveway does not at any point have a grade in excess of 10%.

In all residence districts, wherever the average level of the ground within 10 feet of the street line at the front of the lot is eight feet or more above the curb level, an accessory private garage for not more than two cars may be located not less than 10 feet from such street line.

In private garages accessory to garden apartments, no repairing of cars shall be done, but washing of tenants' cars shall be permitted, if done without the aid of washing machinery.

Private garages accessory to garden apartments shall conform in exterior architectural style and treatment to the architecture of the main building or buildings and shall be of similar materials.

No manufacturing or industrial building or use of land and no wholesale business shall have any truck-loading space or spaces or access driveway for trucks within 30 feet of any residence district.

Parking lots with more than 30 spaces shall devote at least 5% of the parking lot area to landscaping within the interior of the parking lot. Such landscaping shall be in addition to that which may be required along the property line and, at the Planning Board's option, shall include at least one tree for every eight parking spaces. Such landscaping shall be maintained in perpetuity by the site owner, his lessees or assigns.

No public or private garage accommodating more than five vehicles and no automotive service or filling station shall be located or shall have an entrance or exit within 150 feet of the entrance to a public or a parochial school, private school, public library, theater, assembly hall, church, hospital, semipublic institution, public park, playground or fire station.

All public garages and automotive service and filling stations shall be so arranged and all gasoline pumps shall be so placed as to permit all services to be rendered entirely within the lot lines. No gasoline or oil pump shall be placed within 10 feet of any street line or side lot line nor within 20 feet of any residence district boundary line.

Nonapplicability to existing buildings and uses. The provisions of §§ 57-47 to 57-50, inclusive, shall not apply to any building, structure or use lawfully in existence at the effective date of this chapter, whether continued as a permitted or a nonconforming use or thereafter converted or changed without enlargement to a different lawful use.

General waiver of requirements for nonresidential uses. The Zoning Board of Appeals, subject to the applicable provisions of § 57-65, may waive the requirements, in whole or in part, for accessory parking areas stipulated in §§ 57-49 and 57-51.