A.   Purpose: These regulations are intended to require adequate off street parking and loading facilities for new land uses and enlargement of existing uses, proportional to the need created by each use, in order to alleviate traffic congestion. Design standards are included to ensure the usefulness of parking and loading facilities, protect the public safety, and, where appropriate, to mitigate potential adverse impacts on adjacent land uses. Except as otherwise noted, the regulations of this chapter shall apply to all uses in all districts.

   B.   Applicability: The regulations of this chapter apply to vehicular areas used for the display, parking, or storage. All off street parking and loading facilities for new, changed, or expanded uses shall be constructed according to a site plan submitted to the building official and approved as a condition of the building permit. Any existing building or use hereafter enlarged or structurally altered to the extent of increasing the floor area or use area less than or equal to fifty percent (50%) of the existing floor or use area shall be provided additional off street parking and loading facilities only for the added floor or use area in conformance with the applicable standards. Any existing building or use hereafter enlarged or structurally altered to the extent of increasing the floor area or use area more than fifty percent (50%) of the existing floor or use area shall be provided additional parking and loading facilities for the entire building in conformance with the applicable standards. The provisions of subsection 11-13-2C of this chapter shall apply to all existing and new parking and loading areas and drives as a condition of building permits for any remodeling or expansion, as well as for new construction.

   C.   Location: The entire off street motor vehicle loading facilities required by this chapter shall be located on the same lot as the principal building or use being served, and the entire off street motor vehicle parking facilities required by this chapter shall be located on, or within five hundred feet (500') of, the property that uses the spaces. Public street and alley widths shall not be counted in calculating compliance with the five hundred foot (500') limitation. All off street parking facilities located in an R-1, R-2, R-2M, or R-3 district shall be intended to serve a use permitted in said districts. Required parking spaces may be provided in a carport or garage, provided that such is utilized and maintained in accordance with the provisions of this section.

   D.   Ownership: The ownership of land upon which the required off street parking is located shall be the same as the ownership of land on which the principal use is located, except as may be otherwise permitted in accordance with the collective parking provisions of subsection 11-13-3A of this chapter.

   E.   Utilization: Required accessory off street parking facilities provided for the uses hereinafter listed shall be only for the parking of motor vehicles in operating condition of patrons, occupants, or employees of such uses, and shall be maintained for the duration of the use requiring such areas. The type and size of motor vehicles allowed to be parked in accessory off street parking areas in residential districts shall be limited in accordance with the applicable provisions of section 11-5-1 of this title. Required accessory off street parking and loading facilities shall not be used for the sale, display, or storage of merchandise, except in accordance with section 11-5-3 of this title, nor shall such facilities be used for the storage, repair, or dismantling of vehicles or equipment for profit.

   F.   Maintenance: All parking and loading facilities, including garages, shall be maintained to assure desirability and usefulness of the facility. Such facilities shall be kept free of holes, mud, dust, trash, and other debris, and shall at all times be available for the off street parking or loading use for which they are required or intended. Further, all required landscaping and screening shall be maintained or replaced as necessary to assure continued conformance with the applicable standards. (Ord. 5916, 8-9-1999)

   A.   Access: Each required or provided off street parking space shall open directly upon an aisle or driveway of such width and design as to provide safe and efficient means of vehicular access to such parking space in accordance with the standards of this chapter and applicable standards of title 11, chapter 15 (Access Management). Off street loading spaces not abutting a public street or alley shall be provided an access drive of at least ten feet (10') in width. Curb cuts on public streets shall be designed, approved, and constructed in accordance with the city code.

      1.   Standard Parking: Parking areas for full size vehicles shall be subject to the minimum requirements set forth in table 11-13-2.1.

 

   2.   Small Car Parking: Parking areas designated specifically for compact cars shall be subject to the minimum requirements set forth in table 11-13-2.2.

 

   3.   Handicapped Parking:

      a.   Car parking spaces for the disabled shall be eight feet (8') wide minimum and van parking spaces shall be eleven feet (11') wide minimum, shall be marked to define the width, shall have an adjacent access aisle with a minimum width of five feet (5'), shall be located in an area not exceeding a two percent (2%) slope, and shall be located near or convenient to a level or ramped entrance not exceeding an eight and three-tenths percent (8.3%) slope to the facility served by the parking space.

      Exception: Van parking spaces shall be permitted to be eight feet (8') wide minimum where the access aisle is eight feet (8') wide minimum.

      b.   Access aisles shall adjoin an accessible route, shall extend the full length of the parking spaces they serve, and be marked so as to discourage parking in them. Two (2) parking spaces shall be permitted to share a common access aisle.

(Ord. 5916, 8-9-1999; amd. Ord. 6337, 12-11-2023)

   A.   Computation: The total number of off-street parking spaces provided for any proposed or expanded use should be proportional to the need created by said use and the availability of on-street or shared parking nearby. The computation of parking spaces should be a collaboration between the owner and city staff in lieu of a standard minimum requirement. The absence of mandatory parking minimums shall not be intended of be construed to be a waiver of responsibility by the owner to provide sufficient and adequate parking for his or her customers and employees. The city reserves the right to require the owner to seek relief from the Board of Adjustment for a significant reduction in recommended off-street parking spaces as provided for in section 11-17-7 5. (Special Exceptions)

   B.   Exemptions: Businesses and property located within the Central Business District are exempt from off street parking requirements.

   C.   Small Car Parking: A proportion of the total spaces for each particular use may be designated for small cars as set forth in table 11-13-3.1.

 

 

   D.   Handicapped Parking: A proportion of the total spaces provided for each use must be designated for use by the handicapped as set forth in table 11-13-3.2. One (1) in every six (6) spaces provided for handicapped parking, but not less than one (1), shall be designated as a van parking space and shall comply with the design requirements of section 11-13-2 3.

 

 

   E.   Off Street Parking: Off street motor vehicle parking spaces accessory to the various land and building uses shall be provided to equal or exceed the minimum recommended requirements set forth in table 11-13-3.3.

 

   F.   Off Street Loading: Every building or structure constructed in any district for commercial or industrial purposes requiring the receipt or distribution by vehicles of material or merchandise shall have provided and maintained on the same lot with such use at least one off street loading space for each ten thousand (10,000) square feet of gross floor area, or major fraction thereof. The number of loading spaces may be reduced for a particular use normally requiring at least three (3) spaces whereby a loading space at least eleven feet wide and sixty feet long (11' x 60') may be substituted for two (2) minimum-sized spaces that would otherwise be required.

(Ord. 5916, 8-9-1999; Ord. 6337, 12-11-2023)