Skippack Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VII
Off-Street Parking and Loading Regulations
§ 200-95 Required off-street parking facilities.
A.
Declaration of legislative intent. In expansion of the general intent and community development objectives found in Article I of this chapter, the primary purpose of the off-street parking and loading regulations is as follows:
(1)
To set reasonable standards and provide reasonable controls to assure sufficient parking capacity for the uses or potential uses of land in the Township;
(2)
To prevent hazards to public safety caused by the intrusion of parking upon public rights-of-way; and
(3)
To provide design standards that will minimize the impact of parking lots on adjoining property owners.
B.
Any building, structure or use of any property in any district shall be provided with off-street parking facilities as set forth in this article.
C.
All off-street parking spaces, driveways, passageways and access lanes shall be constructed to the standards listed in the SALDO, both as to size and specification of materials. ADA spaces shall be provided in accordance with the governing codes. The number of spaces to be provided shall be in accordance with the following table. For uses or combinations of uses not listed in the table, the applicant shall be required to provide a detailed study prepared by a traffic engineer that establishes the parking requirement. The study will be subject to acceptance by the Township Traffic Engineer.
(1)
Each dwelling of any type: three spaces, provided that approved dwelling units for the elderly shall have 1 1/2 spaces per occupied unit.
(2)
Rooming house: one parking space for each room rented, plus three spaces.
(3)
Religious assembly or meeting room, or other similar place of religious assembly: one parking space for every five seats provided for religious assembly.
(4)
Public auditorium, funeral home, assembly or meeting room, or other similar place of public or private assembly: one parking space for every three seats provided for public assembly.
(5)
Stadium or other similar place of assembly: one parking space for every three seats.
(6)
Hospital, convalescent home or sanitarium: one parking space for every four beds.
(7)
Community center, library, museum or other similar place: one parking space for every 500 square feet of floor area in public use.
(8)
Retail store or shop: one parking space for every 100 gross square feet of store floor space.
(9)
Department store: one parking space for every 75 square feet of store sales floor space.
(10)
Indoor theater: one parking space for every three seats.
(11)
Inn/bed-and-breakfast, hotel, motel or tourist home: one parking space for each rental unit plus one space for each employee.
(12)
Restaurant, cafe or tea room: one parking space for every 50 square feet of floor space devoted to patron use plus one space for each employee.
(13)
Laboratory or any industrial establishment: two parking spaces for every three employees.
(14)
Business office and personal service office: one parking space per 150 square feet.
(15)
Barbershop or beauty parlor: two parking spaces for each chair or stall provided.
(16)
Any medical or related office: five parking spaces for each practitioner plus one space for each employee.
(17)
Laundromat: one parking space for each washing or dry-cleaning machine.
(18)
Drive-in bank: three parking spaces for each inside teller window and not fewer than eight tandem spaces for each drive-through window.
(19)
Wholesale distributor or warehouse: one parking space for each 500 square fee of area devoted to sales.
(20)
Antique shops: one parking space for each 200 square feet of area used for sales display.
(21)
Gasoline service stations: five parking spaces per service bay.
(22)
Shopping center: four parking spaces for each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area.
[Amended 1-7-2008 by Ord. No. 311]
D.
Design of facilities shall be in accordance with the following:
(1)
All parking shall be located on the same property as the use it serves. As a special exception, two or more properties may structure a sharing agreement, provided said agreement is recorded against both deeds.
(2)
On corner lots driveways shall be located on the lesser class street as far from the corner as possible.
(3)
No parking or driveway areas shall be used for loading or unloading.
(4)
Existing parking facilities shall not be reduced below the requirements of this section.
(5)
No part of any parking area or driveway shall protrude into any required parking setback, nor closer than five feet to any property line, except for that minimum portion of the driveway required for access to and exit from the site.
E.
Reserve parking areas may be designated on a plan during the land development review process, provided that:
(1)
A traffic engineer report supports the lesser number of spaces to be provided.
(2)
All stormwater facilities are designed for the required number of spaces.
(3)
The spaces shall be constructed immediately upon the direction of the Township.
(4)
Acceptable security is provided to enable construction of the spaces should they be required in the future.
(5)
The grading and landscaping required for the parking area in reserve shall be constructed in the initial construction phase.
§ 200-96 Off-street loading requirements.
Required off-street loading and unloading facilities shall be provided in accordance with the following:
A.
All nonresidential land uses shall be required to provide off-street loading and unloading facilities. The parking lot, driveway or any public way shall not be used for loading or unloading, and, the facilities shall not be constructed in any required yard.
B.
The facilities shall be designed to support the needs of the particular use as evidenced by credible evidence and subject to the following restrictions:
(1)
Access and egress shall not involve any backing into or out of a public right-of-way.
(2)
Use of the facilities shall not cause interference or disruption of the use of the parking lot, the operation of the building or any public area.
(3)
The facilities shall be located in an inconspicuous position with screening.
C.
Trash facilities shall be construed to be the equivalent of loading and unloading facilities and shall be regulated by this section.