Newtown Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXIV
Off-Street Parking and Loading Facilities
[Amended 10-9-1978 by Ord. No. 1978-9]
§ 172-131 General requirements.
Any building or other structure erected, enlarged or used and any lot used or occupied for any of the purposes set forth in this chapter shall be provided with minimum off-street parking spaces as set forth in this article, together with adequate passageways, driveways or other means of circulation and access to and from a street or way. Such space shall be readily accessible to and within a reasonable distance from the buildings served thereby and shall be on the same lot as the main buildings or lot adjacent thereto, except when authorized as a special exception. No parking space required by this article shall have a maximum slope of greater than 6%.
A.
Construction. Unless otherwise specified, all parking spaces shall be paved in accordance with all Township ordinances and regulations.
B.
Maintenance of parking areas.
(1)
The surface of any parking space, loading space or access to facilities used by the public shall be continuously maintained free of any potholes or other obstruction which would constitute a safety hazard. Upon notification from the Township, the property owner of any parking facilities with such conditions shall abate the condition by patching and repairing the facility to its original grade within 10 days of written notification from the Township.
(2)
All parking areas, loading areas, and driveways shall be graded and surfaced with asphalt or other suitable materials to prevent dust and erosion. Such area shall also be drained in conformance with municipal standards to prevent excessive water flow onto streets to adjoining properties. All parking spaces and parking areas shall be clearly line-striped and maintained.
C.
Plan approval. Plans for all new stand-alone parking facilities in excess of eight parking spaces shall be submitted to the Township's Planning Commission for review and shall meet generally accepted design standards for parking layouts and be approved by the Board of Supervisors as a land development. All other parking in excess of four spaces shall be on a measured drawing submitted to the Building Official and Zoning Officer for review.
D.
Location of parking spaces. Required off-street parking spaces shall be on the same lot or premises with the principal use served. However, in all cases where it is sought to utilize adjacent premises for parking facilities, the applicant or owner shall be required to enter into an appropriate agreement, duly acknowledged, for recording, reciting that the property upon which the aforesaid establishment is erected and the said adjacent premises are both owned by the applicant, that they are to be used with relation to each other, as above provided, and that neither property shall be separately sold or encumbered, unless other provisions for compliance with this chapter shall have first been entered into, in writing, and approved by the Board of Supervisors.
E.
Handicapped persons parking. All uses shall designate reserved parking spaces for handicapped persons as close as possible to the main entrance of the building, with the exception of single-family or twin dwellings, service stations, garages, cemeteries or any other use for which 10 or fewer spaces are required under this chapter. Said spaces shall be considered as part of the required spaces and shall be appropriately marked with signs to designate handicapped use, as approved by the Board of Supervisors. (For shopping center requirements, see other provisions of this chapter.)
F.
In a residential district, all vehicles must be parked on a paved surface. All parked vehicles must have a current inspection. Nonregistered vehicles are not permitted. Registered vehicles without a current inspection must be registered as or eligible to be registered as antique or classic vehicles and must be stored on a paved surface and in a garage, shed or carport. These regulations are promulgated because of the safety concerns surrounding uninspected vehicles or those with a potential to cause ground contamination caused by leaking oil-based products, fuels and leaded fuels.
§ 172-132 Required number of parking spaces.
Below is the minimum parking spaces to be provided for various uses. Where multiple uses occur at a single facility, minimum parking shall be the total of the required parking specified for each separate use. Where fractions occur, they shall be rounded to the highest whole parking space.
A.
Dwellings:
(1)
For all dwelling units, other than multiple dwellings, two off-street paved parking spaces per family unit, plus one additional parking space for every 200 square feet devoted to a home-based business.
(2)
For apartment units and other multifamily units, two off-street paved parking spaces per dwelling unit, plus adequate space for loading and unloading, guest parking and handicapped parking in accordance with other provisions of this chapter.
(3)
For hotels and motels, 1 1/2 paved parking spaces for each rental or dwelling unit, plus adequate space for loading and unloading, guests and the handicapped as otherwise provided in this chapter. Parking for a restaurant and employees must also be provided in accordance with this chapter.
B.
Community service facilities:
(1)
For auditoriums, assembly or meeting rooms or other similar places of public or private assembly, one paved parking space for every four seats or stacked chairs available for assembly.
(2)
For community centers, libraries, museums or other similar places, one parking space for every 800 square feet of floor area in public use. Where the usable spaces within are being used for purposes set forth in Subsection B(1) above, the parking requirements of that provision will be applied.
(3)
For stadiums, one parking space for every two seats.
(4)
For hospitals, one parking space per bed, plus one parking space for each employee on the largest work shift, with a minimum of two parking spaces assigned for employees or 1 3/4 parking spaces per bed, including employees.
(5)
For institutional homes or for retirement centers, two parking spaces for each dwelling unit or room or 1 1/2 parking spaces for each bed, whichever is greater.
(6)
For a skilled nursing home facility providing skilled, intermediate and residential care, 1/2 a parking space per bed.
[Amended 5-14-1984 by Ord. No. 1984-4]
C.
Commercial and other uses, other than shopping centers. For each of these uses, in addition to the parking spaces required below, one parking space shall be provided for each employee on the largest work shift, with no fewer than two parking spaces assigned for all employees:
(1)
For retail stores, banks and other commercial buildings, one parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area. However, no more than 4 1/2 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, including employee parking provisions, shall be required under this article.
(2)
For bowling alleys, three parking spaces for each bowling lane.
(3)
For movie theaters and other similar places of paid admission, one parking space for every two seats.
(4)
For funeral homes, one parking space for every 75 square feet of gross floor area.
(5)
For restaurants which do not provide for carrying out of food, one parking space for every two seats. For restaurants providing carry-out service as well as sit-down service, two additional parking spaces shall be provided for each service window or cashier.
(6)
For public garages, automobile and gasoline service stations and repair facilities, at least one parking space for each 100 square feet of gross floor area, which shall be in addition to the space allocated to normal storage of motor vehicles being repaired or serviced.
(7)
For car wash operations, 25 parking spaces per washing unit, including storage or stacking lanes.
(8)
For open areas used for commercial purposes, at least one parking space for each 1,000 square feet of ground (example: car dealers, nurseries, etc., but not including driving ranges and golf courses which shall require the following: two parking spaces for each tee in a driving range and five parking spaces for each golf hole at a golf course). Vehicle storage for vehicle sales agencies shall be in conformance with the definition of "spacing" found in § 172-2.
D.
Offices, wholesale and industrial uses:
(1)
For office buildings, wholesale and industrial uses, one parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area. Where the office building exceeds 1,000 square feet, there shall be 4 1/2 parking spaces for each multiple of 1,000 square feet, and the provision of parking spaces where fractional shall increase to the next highest level.
(2)
For laboratories, 1.1 parking spaces for every employee or one parking space for every 200 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is less.
(3)
For a corporate headquarters office building, 0.85 parking spaces per employee or one parking space for every 450 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is greater. In order to qualify for a corporate headquarters office building, the following conditions must be satisfied:
(a)
Such building or aggregate of buildings must contain a minimum of 250,000 square feet of gross floor area; and
(b)
At least 70% of the building or aggregate of buildings must be occupied by a single corporate or other business entity, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
(4)
For any of the uses set forth above, if parking spaces are to be separately designated (other than handicapped spaces required to be so designated by law), then visitor parking or customer parking must be designated. If a large parking lot is present for an office building complex or corporate headquarters, directional signs to visitor or customer parking must be made part of a plan submitted to the Township.
E.
Shopping center and similar uses, including the C-2 District:
(1)
Five paved car parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area of stores in the shopping center, and, in addition, there shall be provided a minimum of one unpaved car parking space per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area of stores in the shopping center, and, with regard to the unpaved car parking spaces (parking reserve area):
(a)
Within five years of the issuance of the last certificate of occupancy relating to the final completion of the shopping center, the Board of Supervisors has the right to require the owner, developer or builder to pave the unpaved car parking spaces at any time within the aforesaid period.
(b)
The unpaved car parking spaces shall not, for purposes of the C-2 Commercial District, be calculated as green area, as defined in § 172-75C(2), nor may they be used for future development.
(2)
A minimum of three paved car parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area of office buildings in the shopping center shall be provided in addition to the space required for other specific uses.
(3)
A minimum of one paved parking space for every 10 seats of a theater in the shopping center.
(4)
For motel and related facilities, a minimum of 1 1/2 paved parking spaces for each motel rental unit.
(5)
For commercial and other uses, see § 172-132C above.
(6)
Notwithstanding the specific requirements set forth above, an owner may use the guideline of 4 1/2 parking spaces for 1,000 square feet of leasable area, if the leasable area exceeds 1,000 square feet, for all uses within the center if the spaces are reasonably distributed, upon approval by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception.
(7)
The applicant may submit an alternative plan for a lesser number of spaces than set forth above to the Board of Supervisors as part of a traffic and parking management plan subject to conditional use approval.
(8)
Any additional space developed subsequent to the original development must add parking spaces in accordance with that specified in this chapter for the particular uses, or the applicant must present a traffic management and parking plan as an alternative to the Board of Supervisors for conditional use approval.
(9)
"Gross leasable area" is the total floor area designed for tenant occupancy, including basements, mezzanines and upper floors, if any, expressed in square feet, measured from center lines of joint partitions and exteriors of outside walls. The gross leasable area does not include the area of any common walkways or public facilities and does not include areas used exclusively for basement storage.
F.
Motor vehicles sales agency use.
[Added 9-10-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-04]
(1)
A motor vehicles sales agency shall provide the following minimum parking spaces:
(a)
One parking space for each employee on the shift of greatest employment (employee parking);
(b)
One parking space for every 800 square feet of building floor area accessible to the public and devoted to the sale of motor vehicles (customer parking), or 10 customer parking spaces, whichever is greater.
(c)
One parking space for every inventory vehicle that is displayed for sale and accessible to customers (inventory parking). Inventory parking may be stacked in rows no more than three cars deep, with only one row having direct access to a drive aisle. Rear rows of vehicles can gain access to the drive aisle by moving vehicles in front. Inventory parking inside the building showroom shall be serviced by an accessway of sufficient width and height to allow sequential movement of display inventory vehicles in and out of the showroom. Display motor vehicles may be placed in the showroom in any manner that accommodates sequential movement of such vehicles by employees in and out of said showrooms; and
(d)
In connection with motor vehicles being serviced, two parking spaces per service bay, in addition to any spaces that are provided in the service bay (service parking). Service parking may be stacked in rows no more than three cars deep, with only one row having direct access to a drive aisle. Rear rows of vehicles can gain access to the drive aisle by moving vehicles in front.
(2)
Inventory vehicles that are not displayed for sale and are not accessible to customers shall be considered inventory storage, not parking areas or inventory parking. Inventory storage is to be marked as "off limits" to customers. The minimum requirements for parking spaces, the size of parking spaces and the design features for parking areas provided elsewhere in the Zoning Ordinance do not apply to inventory storage, except all buffer requirements shall be observed and as set forth in this section.
(3)
Parking spaces for customer parking shall measure 10 feet by 20 feet. Parking spaces for employee parking, inventory parking and service parking shall have a minimum size of nine feet by 18 feet.
(4)
Parking lot green area requirements of § 172-135 shall only apply for customer and employee parking. Chapter 172, Attachment 3, Figure 7, shall be met for customer and employee parking, but shall not apply to inventory parking, inventory storage and service parking. For inventory parking, inventory storage and service parking, the required parking lot green area under § 172-135 shall not apply; provided, however, that the ten-percent green area for any inventory parking, inventory storage and service parking is provided elsewhere on the property, in addition to any other green area or pervious coverage requirements for the property.
(5)
The minimum parking requirements, including, but not limited to, size and number of parking spaces, setbacks and any other design features set forth in Subsection F(1), (2), (3) and (4) hereof, or as may be set forth elsewhere in the Township Zoning Ordinance, may be modified, altered and/or reduced up to 25% by conditional use application filed with the Board of Supervisors under this Subsection F(5). The twenty-five-percent cap shall not apply to any conditional use relief requested in connection with any adjoining boundary line setback requirements for adjoining lots/parcels supporting a motor vehicle sales agency use and/or any component thereof. The Board in such cases shall be authorized to modify, alter, reduce or waive such requirements, notwithstanding the twenty-five-percent cap hereunder provided. The Board of Supervisors shall consider the following factors in an application for conditional use relief hereunder:
(a)
Whether or not the proposed motor vehicles sales agency requires the number of parking spaces and/or design as set forth by Township ordinances due to the nature and scope of applicant's specific business model, price and nature of vehicles sold or other factors affecting volume, need for parking;
(b)
Whether historical data and statistics of a comparable motor vehicles sales agency or agencies of similar nature supports the requested reduced parking or reduction or waiver of other Township ordinance requirements;
(c)
Whether the reduction in parking and/or parking design modifications are needed to accommodate the proposed motor vehicles sales agency development and operations;
(d)
Whether there would be any material adverse impact on surrounding properties which cannot be mitigated by alternate design features and improvements; and
(e)
Whether, after considering proposed mitigating improvements, the requested modification of any Township ordinance requirement will create on-site or off-site conditions which would interfere with emergency vehicles or otherwise pose a danger or have a material adverse impact on the public health, safety and welfare.
§ 172-133 Storage areas for drive-in facilities.
At least 200 linear feet of storage area for vehicles awaiting service shall be provided for drive-in facilities and uses. The 200 linear feet of driveway in one or more usable lanes shall be measured from the right-of-way line of a public street or from the cartway of any private way to the window or other place in the building where the vehicle must enter or pass for service. The storage area shall be so designed that vehicles awaiting service shall not back out into the street or way or create a stacking condition on a street or way.
§ 172-134 Loading and unloading facilities.
In addition to required off-street parking spaces, off-street loading and unloading space with proper access from a street or alley shall be provided on any lot on which a building for trade or business is hereafter erected or substantially altered.
§ 172-135 Required green area.
[Amended 6-9-1986 by Ord. No. 1986-10; 8-14-1989 by Ord. No. 1989-8]
A.
Where parking areas, loading and unloading facilities and accompanying access from a street or alley (collectively "paved area") are between 3,000 square feet and 150,000 square feet, a minimum of 10% of all paved area shall be devoted to green area. Where the paved area exceeds 150,000 square feet, a minimum of 15% of all paved area shall be devoted to green area.
[Amended 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-9]
B.
Where any part of the parking area is located adjacent to a building, a minimum of five feet of green area shall be provided between the building and the parking area, except at areas required for access to the building. This area is not included as part of the required green area for the parking area, but is to be included as part of the overall green area requirement for the site. However, an option to provide additional green area or buffer requirement between other uses or along a street or way may be used when granted by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception, but no less than the amount required by this subsection may be considered.
C.
For all off-street parking areas covered under this section, green areas shall be provided at the ends of rows, and, except for parking areas requiring a minimum green area of 15% of all paved areas, green areas shall be interspersed within the row of parking spaces. For parking areas requiring 15% green area, the green areas shall be interspersed within the parking area. Such green areas shall be a minimum of eight feet in width. Also, green areas may be provided between rows of parking spaces, and such area shall be a minimum of eight feet in width. Except in parking areas requiring 15% green area, there shall not be more than 90 feet of parking area in a continuous strip without adjacent green areas. However, an option to provide additional green area or buffer requirement between uses or along a street or way may be used when granted by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception, but no less than the amount required by this subsection may be considered.
[Amended 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-9]
D.
The green area shall be covered with lawn grass, ground cover plants or low-growing plants or shrubs, with weed-free shredded hardwood or other approved mulch. In addition, green areas may be used as the location for planting of shade trees.
E.
Except for parking areas requiring 15% green area, refer to Figure 7 of this chapter.[1]
[Amended 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-4; 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-9]
[1]
Editor's Note: Figure 7 is included at the end of this chapter.
F.
The green areas required by this section shall not constitute a portion of any green area otherwise required by this article or any other ordinance or regulation of the Township. The exact design and location of green areas required by this section shall be disclosed on a development or subdivision plan or other similar plan and be permanently maintained as such.
G.
See also the buffer requirements set forth in the residential zoning districts of this chapter and the specific buffer requirements set forth in Chapter 148, Subdivision and Land Development, for all uses set forth in § 148-58I, which buffer requirements are specifically incorporated into this chapter.
H.
Buildings or uses other than those specified shall be made by the Building Official/Zoning Officer consistent with the standards set forth herein for comparable buildings or uses.
I.
All parking areas exceeding four spaces must be depicted on a measured drawing submitted to the Township as the official parking plan for a site.
§ 172-136 Curbs.
[Amended 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-9]
All parking areas, excluding those that require 15% green area and those serving single-family and two-family dwelling units, shall have curbs located in such a manner that at least one side of each parking space shall have a curb.
§ 172-137 Parking reserve areas.
The total number of parking spaces required by this article shall be clearly set forth and labeled as such on development, subdivision or other plans required to be filed by the owner and/or developer with the Township before the issuance of a building, use or occupancy permit. However, the number of spaces required to be constructed by this article may be reduced, and the land area equal to the reduction shall be denoted as "parking reserve area." Such reduction may be accomplished only upon compliance with each of the following conditions:
A.
The landowner or developer shall submit a plan of parking, meeting all the requirements of this article, for the use to which the lot or property is to be devoted, without any reduction.
B.
The landowner or developer shall mark upon his plan that portion of the total parking area to be specified as a "parking reserve area" and shall certify that the parking needs for the use to which the lot or property is to be devoted is less than those required by the terms of this article.
C.
The Board of Supervisors shall concur with the requested reduction or to a reduction of a lesser amount upon the recommendation of the Township's Planning Commission, upon the condition, however, that the reduction must be replaced if the proposed use is changed to another more intensive use.
D.
The parking reserve areas so created shall be utilized as green area and shall be maintained in accordance with terms and conditions as imposed at the time of approval of the Board of Supervisors. The green areas so created shall not constitute a portion of the green areas otherwise required by this article or any other ordinance or regulation of the Township. This parking reserve area shall contain sufficient area to provide the parking spaces and the ten-percent green area required in § 172-135.
E.
The parking reserve area shall be converted to parking area at such time as the Board of Supervisors shall determine. Upon notification of the Township to the owner and occupant of the land, such reserve areas shall be paved pursuant to applicable ordinances or regulations of the Township immediately after such notification and shall be completed within the time set forth by the Township in its notice, but in no case less than 30 days. The design of this area shall conform to this section.
§ 172-138 Existing parking facilities.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to be applied retroactively to existing land uses. In this regard, the minimum off-street parking space requirements to permit an enlargement of a use or building existing on October 9, 1978, shall be the sum total of the components set forth in Subsection B below, except that any expansion of the physical facility or use must satisfy the additional parking needs of that expansion and use.
A.
For the proposed enlargement to the existing facilities, the parking shall be calculated according to current provisions.
B.
For the existing facility, parking shall be calculated in accordance with Ordinance No. 1959-2 and Ordinance No. 1974-4, at the end of this chapter (Appendix A[1]).
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included at the end of this chapter.
