The purpose of this regulation is to insure the reasonable provision of future off-street parking facilities within the City of North Charleston. Any use not enumerated herein below shall provide off-street parking facilities in the proportion required of the enumerated use which most closely is related to it.

(a)

Off-street parking requirements: At the time of the erection of any building or structure or at the time any structure is enlarged, increased in capacity, or reoccupied, the following minimum off-street parking spaces are required on every lot on which the erection, enlargement or re-occupation occurs, or on a parking facility the title to which and/or easement for the use of which runs with and/or is appurtenant to the title to such building so erected and enlarged. Each fraction occurring in the total spaces required for a particular use shall be construed as one (1) additional space.

1.

One-family dwellings, duplexes, townhouses, rowhouses, patio houses, garden and cluster units, and mobile homes: Two (2) spaces per dwelling unit;

2.

Multi-family dwellings: Studio/efficiency units: One (1) space per dwelling unit; one-bedroom units: One and one-quarter (1.25) spaces per dwelling unit; two-bedroom units and larger units: two (2) spaces per dwelling unit;

3.

Group homes and senior independent living housing: One (1) space for each living unit;

4.

Hotels: One (1) space for each three (3) guest bedrooms;

5.

Motels and tourist courts: One (1) space for each guest bedroom;

6.

Mobile home park: Two (2) spaces for each accommodation;

7.

Hospitals: One (1) space for each two (2) beds;

8.

Sanitariums, rest, convalescent or nursing homes: One (1) space for each six (6) beds;

9.

Home for aged or orphanage: One (1) space for each six (6) beds;

10.

High schools; public, private and parochial: One (1) space for each four (4) seats in the main assembly hall plus one (1) space for each classroom;

11.

Kindergarten, elementary and junior high schools: Two (2) spaces for each employee;

12.

Church or other place of worship, fraternal hall, arena, armory, assembly hall, community center, concert hall, convention hall, dance hall, skating rink, public hall, stadium or theater, or other place of public assembly: One (1) space for each four (4) seats in the main auditorium, assembly room, seating area, or one (1) space for each fifty (50) square feet of floor area usable for seating where seating is not fixed;

13.

Bowling alley: Five (5) spaces for each alley;

14.

Business and professional offices including public offices: One (1) space for each three hundred (300) square feet of total floor area;

15.

Banks: One (1) space for each two hundred (200) square feet of total floor area;

16.

Restaurants and similar establishments serving food and beverage: One (1) space for each one hundred (100) square feet of total floor area including areas for outdoor seating;

17.

Automobile repair garage: One (1) space for each two (2) employees at maximum employment on a single shift, plus one (1) space for each two hundred fifty (250) square feet of auto repair or maintenance space;

18.

Service station: Two (2) spaces for each grease rack or similar facility plus one (1) space for each employee at period of greatest employment;

19.

Funeral homes: One (1) space for each four (4) seats in all assembly rooms, plus two (2) spaces for each employee;

20.

General business, commercial or personal service establishments catering to the retail trade: One (1) space for each three hundred (300) square feet of total floor space;

21.

Commercial, manufacturing and industrial establishments not catering to the retail trade: One (1) space for each two (2) employees at maximum employment on a single shift;

22.

College or other institution of higher learning, business, trade, or other school, accessory uses to such facilities, libraries: One space for each one hundred (100) square feet of total inside floor space;

23.

Carnivals: One (1) space for each one hundred (100) square feet of activity space; activity space is to be measured around the perimeter or the total activity area. If carnival is operating on premises of a shopping mall, ten (10) per cent of the required parking may be shared with the shopping mall's required parking. Based on the shopping mall's hours of operation and types of buses, the building official may increase the total shared amount of required parking to a maximum of twenty (20) per cent;.

24.

Catering kitchens with no on-site sales: One (1) space per five hundred (500) square feet of total floor area plus one (1) space for each two (2) employees at maximum employment on a single shift;

25.

Marinas: One (1) space per three (3) boat slips;

26.

Recreation facilities:

a.

Fitness centers and health clubs: One (1) space per three hundred (300) square feet of total floor area;

b.

Airsoft and paintball: One (1) space per two thousand (2,000) square feet of play area;

c.

Driving ranges and batting cages: One (1) space for each two (2) bays;

d.

Golf courses (including mini): Three (3) spaces per hole plus one (1) space per three hundred (300) square feet of total floor area of the clubhouse or office area.

(b)

Shared parking:

1.

Shared parking facilities may be provided subject to the approval of the zoning administrator where two (2) or more land uses can be joined or coordinated to achieve efficiency of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, economy or space and a superior grouping of buildings or uses.

2.

Shared parking spaces must be located within six hundred (600) feet of the primary entrance of all uses served, unless remote parking shuttle bus service is provided.

3.

Where vehicular access is provided between adjoining non-residential sites and the peak operating hours of adjoining uses do not overlap, the uses may share up to fifty (50) per cent of required parking spaces.

4.

An agreement providing for the shared use of parking areas, including an exhibit with the parking area depicted, executed by the parties involved, must be filed with the zoning administrator, in a form approved by the city attorney. Shared parking privileges will continue in effect only as long as the agreement, binding on all parties, remains in force. Agreements must guarantee long-term availability of the parking, commensurate with the use served by the parking. The minimum term for a shared parking agreement shall be ten (10) years. The parking agreement shall require that both parties to the parking agreement shall notify the city at least thirty (30) days prior to termination.

(c)

Exceptions and conditions regarding the reduction in area, number, and location of off-street parking spaces:

1.

The number of required parking spaces shall not be reduced except upon approval of the zoning board of appeals based upon a showing that, by reason of diminution in floor area, seating area, the number of employees, or change in other factors regulating the number of parking spaces, or by reason of the character of intensely developed surrounding properties, the continued enforcement of such requirement would prevent the reasonable use of the lot.

(d)

Design standards for off-street parking:

1.

Standard parking dimensions. Standard off-street parking spaces shall have a minimum dimension of nine (9) feet wide by nineteen (19) feet long, which is a total dimension of one hundred seventy-one (171) square feet. Parallel off-street parking spaces shall have a minimum dimension of eight (8) feet wide by twenty-two (22) feet long, which is a total dimension of one hundred seventy-six (176) square feet. Residential uses located on a non-conforming lot of record shall be permitted to provide parking spaces meeting a minimum dimension of eight (8) feet in width by fifteen (15) feet in length, which is a total dimension of one hundred twenty (120) square feet.

2.

Compact parking dimensions. Compact off-street parking spaces shall have a minimum dimension of eight (8) feet in width by fifteen (15) feet in length, which is a total dimension of one hundred twenty (120) square feet. The size of not more than twenty-five (25) per cent of the required parking spaces may be reduced to compact parking.

3.

Handicapped parking dimensions. Handicapped parking space size and quantity shall be determined by building code and federal regulations and not factored into the compact parking space calculation.

4.

Parking garages:

a.

Minimum width for standard parking spaces is eight (8) feet six (6) inches; for compact spaces seven (7) feet six (6) inches.

b.

Minimum parking bay depth (two (2) standard parking spaces and an aisle) is sixty (60′) feet for ninety (90°) degree parking; for sixty (60°) degree parking with one-way traffic, the minimum depth is fifty-four (54′) feet, for forty-five (45°) degree parking with one-way traffic, the minimum depth is forty-nine (49) feet.

c.

Parking garages may provide compact car spaces at a rate of up to forty (40) per cent of the total parking spaces provided.

d.

Handicapped parking space size and quantity shall be determined by building code and federal regulations and not factored into the compact parking space calculation.

5.

Electric vehicle charging station spaces. Parking spaces served by electric vehicle charging stations count toward fulfilling off-street parking requirements.

(Ord. No. 1987-19, 4-9-87; Ord. No. 1987-20, 4-9-87; Ord. No. 1990-36, 7-12-90; Ord. No. 1995-8, 3-23-95; Ord. No. 1999-13, 2-25-99; Ord. No. 2009-65, 11-24-09; Ord. No. 2018-069, 12-20-2018; Ord. No. 2020-015, 2-27-2020; Ord. No. 2021-061, Exh. A, 9-23-2021; Ord. No. 2023-043, Exh. A, 8-24-2023)