Purpose. It is the purpose of the off-street parking and loading regulations to reduce the congestion on streets due to excessive use for parking and loading of motor vehicles. The requirements apply uniformly to all buildings and uses, regardless of the districts in which they are located.

Street automobile storage or parking shall be provided on any lot on which any of the following uses are hereafter established:

Such space shall be provided with vehicular access to street or alley and shall be considered required open space associated with the permitted use. It shall not be reduced or encroached upon in any manner after the use is established. Where such space cannot reasonably be provided on the same lot with the principal use, the Council, with the approval of the Planning Commission, may permit such space to be located on other off-street property if the space is within five hundred (500) feet of the permitted use, measured along lines of public access.

In any commercial or industrial district, space for parking and loading vehicles shall be provided on the same lot for every building used or designed to be used for commercial purposes and any required yard may be used for that purpose. One (1) loading space at least ten (10) by twenty-five (25) feet shall be provided for each twenty thousand (20,000) square feet of floor area in the building. Where such space is completely enclosed within a building by walls and doors which close, a height clearance of at least twelve (12) feet nine (9) inches shall be provided. Where such space is located wholly or in part outside of the building and is not completely enclosed, a height clearance of at least fourteen (14) feet shall be provided. Where approach ramps are sloped so as to necessitate clearance in addition to that herein specified, this clearance shall be adequate to allow the free passage of a semi-trailer twelve (12) feet six (6) inches in height and with a wheel base of twenty-one (21) feet. These requirements may be increased, modified or waived on appeal where conditions of circumstances justify such action.

The Council recognizes that, due to the particularities of any given development, the inflexible application of the parking standards set forth in this Article may result in a development either with inadequate parking space or parking space far in excess of its needs. The former situation may lead to traffic congestion or parking violations in adjacent streets as well as unauthorized parking in nearby private lots. The latter situation wastes money as well as space that could more desirably be used for valuable development or environmentally useful open space. Therefore, as suggested in this Article, the permit-issuing authority may permit deviations from the presumptive requirements of this Article and may require more parking or allow less parking whenever it finds that such deviations are more likely to satisfy the standard set forth in this Article.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the permit-issuing authority may allow deviations from the parking requirements set forth in this Article when it finds that:

Whenever the permit-issuing authority allows or requires a deviation from the presumptive parking requirements set forth in this Article, it shall enter on the face of the permit the parking requirement that it imposes and the reasons for allowing or requiring the deviation.

If the permit-issuing authority concludes, based upon information it receives in the consideration of a specific development proposal, that the presumption established by Section 400.895 for a particular use is erroneous, it shall initiate a request for an amendment to the Parking Requirements in accordance with the procedures set forth in Article V of this Chapter.

Subject to Subsections (B) and (C), each parking space shall contain a rectangular area at least nineteen (19) feet long and nine (9) feet wide. Lines demarcating parking spaces may be drawn at various angles in relation to curbs or aisles, so long as the parking spaces so created contain within them the rectangular area required by this Section.

In parking areas containing ten (10) or more parking spaces, up to twenty percent (20%) of the parking spaces need contain a rectangular area of only seven (7) feet in width by fifteen (15) feet in length. If such spaces are provided, they shall be conspicuously designated as reserved for small or compact cars only.

Wherever parking areas consist of spaces set aside for parallel parking, the dimensions of such parking spaces shall be not less than twenty-two (22) feet by nine (9) feet.

Parking area aisle widths shall conform to the following table which varies the width requirement according to the angle of parking.

Driveways shall be not less than ten (10) feet in width for one-way traffic and eighteen (18) feet in width for two-way traffic, except that ten (10) feet wide driveways are permissible for two-way traffic when: