(a)

Intent of parking provisions. It is the intent of this chapter that off-street parking spaces shall be provided and adequately maintained by each property owner in every zoning district for the use of occupants, employees and patrons of each building and premises constructed, altered or enlarged after the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived.

(b)

Definitions. The term "floor area," as applied to offices, merchandising or service types of uses, shall mean the gross floor area used or intended to be used for services to the public as customers, patrons, clients, patients, or tenants, including those areas occupied for fixtures and equipment used for display or sale of merchandise, but excluding floor areas which are used exclusively for storage, for housing of mechanical equipment integral with the building, for maintenance facilities, or for those areas where customers, patients, clients, salespersons, and the general public are denied access. Floor area shall be measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings.

(c)

Fractional spaces. When units of measurement determining the number of required parking spaces result in a fractional space, any fraction up to and including one-half shall be disregarded and fractions over one-half shall require one parking space.

(d)

Requirements for a use not mentioned. In the case of a use not specifically mentioned, the requirements of off-street parking facilities for a use which is mentioned and which is most similar to the use not listed shall apply.

(e)

Use of parking areas. No commercial repair work, servicing, or selling of any kind shall be conducted on any parking area. Required parking space shall be used only for the parking of vehicles used to service the establishment to which it is accessory and by its patrons.

(1)

No charge shall be made for customers, employees or other visitors utilizing the parking facilities.

(2)

No advertising sign shall be erected on required parking areas except that not more than one directional sign at each point of ingress or egress may be erected which may also bear the name of the enterprise the lot is intended to serve. Such signs shall not exceed 20 square feet in area and shall not project beyond the property line of the premises.

(f)

Building additions or other increases in floor area. Additional parking shall be provided and maintained in proper ratio to any increased floor area or building use capacity.

(g)

Joint use of parking areas. The joint use of parking facilities by two or more uses is recommended and may be granted by the board of appeals whenever such use is practical and satisfactory to each of the uses intended to be served and when all requirements for location, design and construction can be satisfied.

(1)

Computing capacities. In computing capacities of any joint use, the total space requirement is the sum of the individual requirements that will occur at the same time. If space requirements for individual uses occur at distinctly different times, the total of such off-street parking facilities required for joint or collective use may be reduced below the sum total of the individual space requirements.

(2)

Record of agreement. A copy of an agreement between joint users shall be filed with the application for a building permit and recorded with the register of deeds of the county. The agreement shall include a guarantee for continued use of the parking facility for each party to the joint use.

(h)

Parking space requirements. The number of required off-street parking spaces in all districts for every residential, recreational, institutional, cultural, business and industrial use shall be provided in accordance with the following minimum requirements:

Off-Street Parking Requirements

(i)

Location of parking areas. All off-street parking areas required in this chapter shall be located on the same lot, on the immediate premises of the developed site, and in the same district as the use they are intended to serve, with the exception of the following uses:

(1)

Uses in B-1 General Business Districts: Parking on the premises or within 500 feet measured from the nearest point of the parking area to the nearest point of the building.

(2)

Uses in M-1 Industrial Districts: Parking on the premises or within 800 feet of walking distance from a normal entrance.

(3)

Public and quasi-public buildings, places of assembly, private clubs, associations and institutions: Parking on the premises or within 500 feet measured from the nearest point of the parking area to the nearest point of the building.

(j)

Plot plan review. Whenever four or more vehicles are required for a given use under the requirements of this section, plans and specifications for the construction or alteration of an off-street parking area shall be submitted to the zoning administrator before a building permit can be issued. Such plans and specifications should show the location, basis of capacity calculation, size, site design, surfacing, marking, lighting, drainage, curb cuts, entrances, exits and any other detailed feature essential to the complete design and construction of the parking area. Furthermore, any off-street parking area proposed adjacent to a county primary road, a state or interstate limited access highway, state truck line of interchange, it shall be incumbent upon the applicant to show that the proposed site location and design shall not cause unsafe traffic congestion resulting at or in conjunction with the above-mentioned roadways, and the applicant shall request and submit with his application written recommendations from the Traffic Division of the Michigan Department of State Highways and Transportation and/or from the county road commission regarding the relationship between the proposed use and the roadway concerned, from whichever is the body responsible for the road.

(k)

Site development requirements. All off-street parking areas shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the following standards and requirements:

(1)

A minimum area of 180 square feet, nine feet by 20 feet, shall be provided for each vehicle parking space; each space shall be definitely designated and reserved for parking purposes exclusive of space requirements for adequate ingress and egress.

(2)

Parking areas shall be so designed and marked as to provide for orderly and safe movement and storage of vehicles.

(3)

Adequate ingress and egress to the parking area by means of clearly limited and defined drives shall be provided.

a.

Except for parking space provided on single-family and two-family residential lots, drives for ingress and egress to the parking area shall be not less than 20 feet wide and so located as to secure the most appropriate development of the individual property.

b.

Each entrance to and exit from any off-street parking area shall be at least ten feet from any adjacent lot within a residential district.

(4)

Each vehicle parking space within an off-street parking area shall be provided adequate access by means of maneuvering lanes. Backing directly onto a street shall be prohibited. The width of required maneuvering lanes may vary depending upon the proposed parking pattern, as follows:

a.

For right angle parking patterns 75 to 90 degrees, the maneuvering lane width shall be 20 feet.

b.

For parking patterns 54 to 74 degrees, the maneuvering lane width shall be 15 feet.

c.

For parking patterns 30 to 53 degrees, the maneuvering lane width shall be 12 feet.

d.

All maneuvering lane widths shall permit one-way traffic movement, except for the 90-degree pattern which may provide for two-way traffic movement.

(5)

Parking areas with a capacity of four or more vehicles shall be surfaced with a material that shall provide a durable, smooth and dustless surface, and shall be graded and provided with adequate drainage facilities to dispose of all collected surface water.

(6)

Except for single-family and two-family residential lots, adequate lighting shall be provided throughout the hours when the parking area is in operation. Such lighting shall not exceed an intensity of five footcandles, nor shall it be less than 1.5 footcandles. All lighting shall be so arranged so as to reflect light away from any residential property adjacent to the parking area and any adjacent road or street so the light will not interfere with traffic.

(7)

Where a parking area with a capacity of four or more vehicles abuts a residential district or public right-of-way in a residential district, a buffer strip at least ten feet wide shall be provided between the parking area and the adjoining property and a vertical screen shall be erected consisting of structural or plant materials no less than four feet in height and spaced so as to effectively screen the parking area from the residential area.

(l)

Reduction, modification, waiver. The board of appeals may authorize reduction, modification, or waiver of these parking requirements under specified conditions by the issuance of a conditional permit when an appeal has been filed with them consistent with the requirements of sections 42-54(a) and 42-55(4).

(Zoning Ord. 1980, § 7.1)

(a)

Intent and purpose. In order to prevent undue interference with public use of streets and alleys, every manufacturing, storage, warehouse, department store, wholesale store, retail store, hotel, hospital, laundry, dairy, mortuary and other uses similarly and customarily receiving or distributing goods by motor vehicle shall provide space on the premises for that number of vehicles that will be at the premises at the same time on an average day of full use.

(b)

Additional to parking space. Loading space required under this section shall be provided as area additional to off-street parking space as required under section 42-153 and shall not be considered as supplying off-street parking space.

(c)

Space requirements. There shall be provided adequate space for standing, loading, and unloading services not less than 12 feet in width, 25 feet in length, and 14 feet in height, open or enclosed, for all uses listed in the following table, or for similar uses similarly involving the receipt of distribution by vehicles of materials or merchandise:

Loading and Unloading Space Requirements

(d)

Access. Access to a truck standing, loading and unloading space shall be provided directly from a public street or alley and such space shall be so arranged to provide sufficient off-street maneuvering space as well as adequate ingress and egress to and from a street or alley.

(e)

Site requirements. Off-street loading spaces and access drives shall be paved, drained, lighted and shall have appropriate bumper or wheel guards where needed. Any light used for illumination shall be so arranged as to reflect the light away from adjoining premises and streets. Where off-street loading space adjoins, or abuts a lot or premises used for residential, educational, recreational, or religious purposes, or abuts a residential district, there shall be provided a masonry wall or solid fence not less than four feet in height between the off-street loading space and said uses.

(Zoning Ord. 1980, § 7.2)