The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards for the number and arrangement of parking, loading, and reservoir areas. Most of these provisions relate to commercial, office, and industrial uses. Parking lot design has often been criticized for creating large expanses of paved areas, separating the business from the public street. That arrangement makes it less attractive for pedestrians to access these buildings. The challenge is balancing the business community’s desire for ample visible parking to attract prospective customers with the community interest of encouraging safe, non-vehicular access, minimizing the visual impact of parking, and creating a more attractive streetscape and urban environment.

Most parking facilities in non-residential developments contain spaces which are infrequently used, available for the few days a year when parking is at a premium. For these spaces, permeable parking surfaces provide a suitable parking surface which can reduce surface runoff and increase water quality, as well as improve the aesthetic appearance of the parking lot. West Linn encourages the use of permeable parking surfaces in appropriate situations. (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

A.    At the time a structure is erected or enlarged, or the use of a structure or unit of land is changed within any zone, loading areas and reservoir areas shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of this chapter unless other requirements are otherwise established as a part of the development approval process.

B.    The provision and maintenance of off-street parking and loading spaces are the continuing obligation of the property owner.

C.    No building or other permit shall be issued until plans are approved that show the property that is and will remain available for exclusive use as loading space as required by this chapter.

D.    Parking spaces and loading areas shall be improved to the standards contained in this chapter and shall be available for use at the time of the final building inspection except as provided in CDC 46.150. (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1636 § 30, 2014; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

For any application requiring design review approval, which includes parking areas, the applicant shall submit, within the design review package, a plan drawn to scale showing all the elements necessary to indicate that the requirements of Chapter 55 CDC are met and it shall include but not be limited to:

A.    The delineation of individual parking and loading spaces and their dimensions;

B.    The identification of compact parking spaces;

C.    The location of the circulation area necessary to serve spaces;

D.    The access point(s) to streets, alleys, and properties to be served;

E.    The location of curb cuts;

F.    The location and dimensions of all landscaping, including the type and size of plant material to be used, as well as any other landscape material incorporated into the overall plan;

G.    The proposed grading and drainage plans and the slope (percentage) of parking lot;

H.    Specifications as to signs and bumper guards;

I.    Identification of disabled parking spaces;

J.    Location of pedestrian walkways and crossings;

K.    Location of bicycle racks;

L.    A tree canopy plan developed in coordination with the local electric utility, including pre-design, design, and building and maintenance phases that includes:

1.    Confirmation, such as a signature or email, from electric utility showing they reviewed and support the plan.

2.    Site plan depicting canopy coverage at maturity to meet CDC 46.150(F).

3.    Planting specifications to meet CDC 46.150(F).

4.    Narrative responses to show compliance with CDC 46.150(F); and

M.    Narrative responses and site plan depicting location of required electric vehicle charging conduit per CDC 46.150(G). (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

Approval shall be based on the standards set forth in this chapter and Chapter 48 CDC, Access, Egress and Circulation; Chapter 52 CDC, Signs; and Chapter 54 CDC, Landscaping. (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

A.    Joint use of parking spaces may occur where two or more uses on the same or separate sites are able to share the same parking spaces because their parking demands occur at different times. Joint use of parking spaces on separate sites shall submit the following documentation as part of a building or zoning permit application or land use review:

1.    The names and addresses of the owners or tenants that are sharing the parking and the uses at those locations.

2.    The location and number of parking spaces that are being shared.

3.    A legal instrument that guarantees access to the parking for the shared spaces. (Ord. 1547, 2007; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

Parking spaces shall be available for the parking of passenger automobiles of residents, customers, patrons and employees only, and the parking spaces shall not be used for storage of vehicles or materials or for the parking of trucks connected with the business or use with the exception of small (under one-ton) delivery trucks or cars. (Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

A.    Off-street parking spaces for single-family dwellings shall be located on the same lot with the dwelling.

B.    Parking areas must provide the following, wherever applicable:

1.    Employee parking areas for carpools and vanpools shall be located closer to the entryway to the building than general employee parking.

2.    Stacked or valet parking is allowed if an attendant is present to move vehicles. If stacked parking is used for parking spaces, the applicant shall ensure that an attendant will always be present when the lot is in operation. The requirements for maximum spaces and all parking area development standards continue to apply for stacked parking.

3.    All disabled parking shall be placed closest to building entrances than all other parking. Appropriate ADA curb cuts and ramps to go from the parking lot to the ADA-accessible entrance shall be provided unless exempted by ADA code.

4.    Parking for cottage clusters may be further than 200 feet, if a pedestrian pathway is provided with the following conditions:

a.    Pedestrian walkways from the parking area to the main entrances of cottages is paved and meets standard ADA width and slopes to ensure the most direct path.

b.    Pedestrian scaled lighting is provided along the path. (Ord. 1547, 2007; Ord. 1736 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

Repealed by Ord. 1754. (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1636 § 31, 2014; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

A.    Maximum parking. Parking spaces shall not exceed the following amounts:

1.    For land uses with more than 65,000 square feet of floor area, surface parking may not consist of more area than the floor area of the building.

2.    Non-surface parking, such as tuck-under parking, underground and subsurface parking, and parking structures may be exempted from the calculations in this section.

3.    For land uses not listed in the table above, maximum parking will be calculated based on the most similar land use in the table.

B.    For office, industrial, and public uses where there are more than 20 parking spaces for employees on the site, at least 10 percent of the employee parking spaces shall be reserved for carpool use before 9:00 a.m. on weekdays. The spaces will be the closest to the building entrance, except for any disabled parking and those signed for exclusive customer use. The carpool/vanpool spaces shall be clearly marked “Reserved – Carpool/Vanpool Before 9:00 a.m.”

C.    Existing developments along transit streets or near transit stops may redevelop the existing parking spaces to provide transit-oriented facilities, including bus pullouts, bus stops and shelters, park and ride stations, and other similar facilities. (Ord. 1291, 1990; Ord. 1391, 1996; Ord. 1408, 1998; Ord. 1425, 1998; Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1499, 2003; Ord. 1547, 2007; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1623 § 4, 2014; Ord. 1650 § 1 (Exh. A), 2016; Ord. 1675 § 38, 2018; Ord. 1736 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)

Repealed by Ord. 1754. (Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

All uses providing drive-in service as defined by this code shall provide, on the same site, a reservoir space a minimum of 15 feet long for each car, as follows:

(Ord. 1401, 1997; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

Any school or other meeting place which is designed to accommodate more than 25 people at one time shall provide a 15-foot-wide driveway designed for continuous forward flow of passenger vehicles for the purpose of loading and unloading passengers. Depending on functional requirements, the width may be increased with Planning Director approval. (Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

Buildings or structures to be built or substantially altered, which receive and distribute material or merchandise by truck, shall provide and maintain off-street loading and maneuvering space. The dimensional standard for loading spaces is a minimum of 14 feet wide by 20 feet long or proportionate to accommodate the size of delivery trucks that typically serve the proposed use as follows:

(Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

Repealed by Ord. 1754. (Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1638 § 3, 2015; Ord. 1675 § 39, 2018; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023)

The following standards apply to the design and improvement of areas used for vehicle parking, storage, loading, and circulation:

A.    Design standards.

1.    “One standard parking space” means a minimum for a parking stall of eight feet in width and 16 feet in length. These stalls shall be identified as “compact.” To accommodate larger cars, 50 percent of the parking spaces shall have a minimum dimension of nine feet in width and 18 feet in length (nine feet by 18 feet). When multifamily parking stalls back onto a driveway, as opposed to a drive aisle within a parking lot, the stalls shall be nine feet by 20 feet. Parking for development in water resource areas may have 100 percent compact spaces.

2.    Disabled parking and maneuvering spaces shall be consistent with current federal dimensional standards and subsection B of this section and placed nearest to accessible building entryways and ramps.

3.    Repealed by Ord. 1622.

4.    Service drives for non-residential development shall be designed and constructed to facilitate the flow of traffic, provide maximum safety of traffic access and egress, and maximum safety of pedestrians and vehicular traffic on the site.

5.    Each parking and/or loading space shall have clear access, whereby the relocation of other vehicles to utilize the parking space is not required, except where stacked parking is permitted pursuant to CDC 46.070(B)(4) or 46.090(A).

6.    Except for single-family attached and detached residences, any area intended to be used for off-street parking as contained in this chapter shall have all parking spaces clearly marked using a permanent paint. All interior drives and access aisles shall be clearly marked and signed to show direction of flow and maintain vehicular and pedestrian safety. Permeable parking surface spaces may have an alternative delineation for parking spaces.

7.    Except for residential parking, and parking for public parks and trailheads, at least 50 percent of all areas used for the parking and/or storage and/or maneuvering of any vehicle, boat and/or trailer shall be improved with asphalt or concrete surfaces according to the same standards required for the construction and acceptance of City streets. The remainder of the areas used for parking may use a permeable paving surface designed to reduce surface runoff. Parking for public parks or trailheads may use a permeable paving surface designed to reduce surface runoff for all parking areas. Where a parking lot contains both paved and unpaved areas, the paved areas shall be located closest to the use which they serve.

8.    Off-street parking spaces for single-family attached and detached residences shall be improved with a paved surface. Other parking facilities for single-family homes that are to accommodate additional vehicles, boats, recreational vehicles, and trailers, etc., need not be paved. All parking for multifamily residential development shall be paved with concrete or asphalt. Driveways shall measure at least 20 feet from the back of sidewalk to garage or the end of the parking pad to accommodate cars and sport utility vehicles without the vehicles blocking the public sidewalk.

9.    Access drives from the street to off-street parking or loading areas for non-residential development shall be designed and constructed to facilitate the flow of traffic and provide maximum safety for pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the site. The number of access drives shall be limited to the minimum that will allow the property to accommodate and service the anticipated traffic. Access drives for all development shall be clearly and permanently marked and defined through use of rails, fences, walls, or other barriers or markers on frontage not occupied by service drives.

10.    Access drives shall have a minimum vision clearance as provided in Chapter 42 CDC, Clear Vision Areas.

11.    Parking spaces along the boundaries of a parking lot or adjacent to interior landscaped areas or sidewalks shall be provided with a wheel stop at least four inches high located two feet back from the front of the parking stall. Such parking spaces may be provided without wheel stops if the sidewalks or landscaped areas adjacent the parking stalls are two feet wider than the minimum width.

12.    Off-street parking and loading areas shall be drained in accordance with City of West Linn Public Works Design Standards. Storm drainage at commercial sites may also have to be collected to treat oils and other residue.

13.    Artificial lighting on all off-street parking facilities shall be concealed or shielded with an Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) full cut-off style fixture with an angle not exceeding 90 degrees to minimize the potential for glare and unnecessary diffusion on adjacent property and so as not to create a hazard to the public use of any road or street. Examples of shielded light fixtures are shown below.

Examples of shielded light fixtures

14.    Directional arrows and traffic control devices which are placed on parking lots shall be identified.

15.    The maximum driveway grade for single-family housing shall be 15 percent. The 15 percent shall be measured along the centerline of the driveway only. Grades elsewhere along the driveway shall not apply. Variations require approval of a Class II variance by the Planning Commission pursuant to Chapter 75 CDC. Regardless, the last 18 feet in front of the garage must maintain a maximum grade of 12 percent as measured along the centerline of the driveway only. Grades elsewhere along the driveway shall not apply.

16.    Visitor or guest parking must be identified by painted “GUEST” or “VISITOR.”

17.    Parking spaces shall have less than a five percent grade. No drainage across adjacent sidewalks or walkways is allowed.

18.    Commercial, office, industrial, and public parking lots may not occupy more than 50 percent of the main lot frontage of a development site. The remaining frontage shall comprise buildings or landscaping. If over 50 percent of the lineal frontage comprises parking lot, the landscape strip between the right-of-way and parking lot shall be increased to 15 feet wide and shall include terrain variations (e.g., one-foot-high berm) plus landscaping. The defensible space of the parking lot should not be compromised.

19.    Areas of the parking lot improved with asphalt or concrete surfaces shall be designed into areas of 12 or less spaces through the use of defined landscaped area. Groups of 12 or less spaces are defined as:

a.    Twelve spaces in a row, provided there are no abutting parking spaces, as in the case when the spaces are abutting the perimeter of the lot; or

b.    Twelve spaces in a group with six spaces abutting together; or

c.    Two groups of 12 spaces abutting each other, but separated by a 15-foot-wide landscape area including a six-foot-wide walkway.

d.    Parking areas improved with a permeable parking surface may be designed using the configurations shown in subsections (A)(19)(a), (b) and (c) of this section except that groups of up to 18 spaces are allowed.

e.    The requirements of this chapter relating to total parking lot landscaping, landscaping buffers, perimeter landscaping, and landscaping the parking lot islands and interior may be waived or reduced pursuant to CDC 32.110(F) in a WRA application without a variance being required.

20.    Pedestrian connections through parking areas.

a.    Pedestrian walkways shall be provided in parking areas that are larger than one-half acre. The pedestrian walkways or sidewalks should provide access to building entrances, existing or planned pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way, and to accessible parking spaces.

b.    Walkways or sidewalks shall be constructed through parking lots where such parking lots lie between major buildings/activity areas (an example in multifamily housing: between recreation center, swimming pool, manager’s office, park or open space areas, parking lots, etc.) within a development and adjacent streets or adjacent transit stops. The walkways or sidewalks should also provide access to building entrances, existing or planned pedestrian facilities in the public rights-of-way, and to accessible parking spaces.

c.    Walkways through parking lots shall be constructed using a material that visually contrasts with the parking lot and driveway surface and that may have a contrasting surface texture (surface texture shall not interfere with safe use of wheelchairs, baby carriages, shopping carts, etc.). Walkways shall be physically separated from adjacent vehicle parking and parallel vehicle traffic through the use of grade separation, walls, curbs, and/or landscaping.

d.    Walkways shall be a minimum of six feet wide.

21.    Parking and circulation patterns shall be easily comprehended and defined. The patterns shall be clear to minimize traffic hazards and congestion and to facilitate emergency vehicles. Residential developments which are exempt from design review or subject to only clear and objective design review are not required to comply with this design standard.

22.    Parking spaces for residential development subject to clear and objective review shall be provided on the same lot. Parking spaces for non-residential development or for residential development subject to discretionary review shall be close to the related use.

23.    Permeable parking spaces shall be designed and built in compliance with the West Linn Public Works Design Standards.

B.    Accessible parking standards for persons with disabilities. If any parking is provided for the public or visitors, or both, the needs of the people with disabilities shall be based upon the following standards or current applicable federal standards, whichever are more stringent:

1.    Minimum number of accessible parking space requirements (see following table):

2.    Location of parking spaces. Parking spaces for the individual with a disability that serve a particular building shall be located on the shortest possible accessible circulation route to an accessible entrance to a building. In separate parking structures or lots that do not serve a particular building, parking spaces for the persons with disabilities shall be located on the shortest possible circulation route to an accessible pedestrian entrance of the parking facility.

3.    Accessible parking space and aisle shall meet ADA vertical and horizontal slope standards.

4.    Where any differences exist between this section and current Federal standards, those Federal standards shall prevail over this code section.

5.    One in every eight accessible spaces, but not less than one, shall be served by an access aisle 96 inches wide.

6.    Van-accessible parking spaces shall have an additional sign marked “Van Accessible” mounted below the accessible parking sign. A van-accessible parking space reserved for wheelchair users shall have a sign that includes the words “Wheelchair Use Only.” Van-accessible parking shall have an adjacent eight-foot-wide aisle. All other accessible stalls shall have a six-foot-wide aisle. Two vehicles may share the same aisle if it is between them. The vertical clearance of the van space shall be 96 inches.

C.    Landscaping in parking areas. Reference Chapter 54 CDC, Landscaping.

D.    Bicycle facilities and parking.

1.    Provisions shall be made for pedestrian and bicycle ways if such facilities are identified on pages 24-26 of the West Linn Transportation System Plan or in the 2013 West Linn Trails Plan.

2.    Bicycle parking improvements and location.

a.    Bicycle parking facilities shall either be lockable enclosures in which the bicycle is stored, or secure stationary racks which accommodate bicyclists’ locks securing the frame and both wheels.

b.    The nearest bicycle parking space shall be no more than 50 feet from the entrance to the building and shall be visible from the building entrance.

c.    Required parking shall be signed and reserved for bicycle parking only. If a bicycle parking area is not visible from the main building entrance, a directional sign shall be posted at the building entrance indicating the location of the bicycle parking area.

d.    Required bicycle parking shall be lighted to a minimum three foot-candles to allow secure use at night.

3.    Bicycle parking must be provided in the following amounts:

E.    (See Figures 1 and 2 below.)

Figure 1. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PARKING LOT LAYOUT

Figure 2. MINIMUM DISTANCE FOR PARKING STALLS

F.    The following requirements apply to any new development that includes more than one-half acre of new off-street surface parking on a lot or parcel. The new surface parking area shall be measured based on the perimeter of all new off-street parking spaces, maneuvering lanes, and maneuvering areas, including driveways and drive aisles:

1.    Tree canopy covering at least 40 percent of the new parking lot area at maturity but no more than 15 years after planting. Trees planted or preserved to meet parking area landscaping requirements in CDC 54.020 may count toward the tree canopy cover percentage.

2.    At a minimum, trees planted to meet canopy cover requirements must be planted at the standards and specifications no lower than the 2021 American National Standards Institute A300 standards.

G.    New construction or redevelopment for the following uses must include provision of electric service capacity, as defined in ORS 455.417 and in this Code, for a minimum percentage of vehicle parking spaces:

(Ord. 1425, 1998; Ord. 1463, 2000; Ord. 1513, 2005; Ord. 1547, 2007; Ord. 1590 § 1, 2009; Ord. 1604 § 46, 2011; Ord. 1622 § 25, 2014; Ord. 1623 § 4, 2014; Ord. 1635 § 24, 2014; Ord. 1736 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 1745 § 1 (Exh. A), 2023; Ord. 1754 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024)