The off-street parking facilities herein required shall be provided in at least the amount and maintained in the manner herein set forth; provided, however, that off-street parking facilities need be neither provided nor maintained for land actually used or for structures actually existing (whether occupied or vacant) on the effective date of this chapter unless, after the effective date of this chapter such land, structures, or uses are enlarged, expanded or changed, in which event, the land, structures and uses hereby excluded shall not be used, occupied or operated unless there is provided for the increment only of such land, structures, and uses, and maintained as herein required at least the amount of off-street parking facilities that would be required hereunder if the increment were a separate land, structure, or use.

(Ord. No. 1501, § VI, 7-24-73)

Parking stall dimensions shall be in accordance with the following requirements.

(a)

Width. A minimum width of nine (9) feet shall be provided for each parking stall, with only the following exceptions:

(1)

Compact parking stalls shall be not less than eight (8) feet wide.

(2)

Parallel parking stalls shall be not less than eight (8) feet wide.

(3)

Accessible parking stalls shall be designed in accordance with the most current ADA Standards for Accessible Design issued by the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal, currently the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

(b)

Length. A minimum length of twenty (20) feet shall be provided for each parking stall, with only the following exceptions:

(1)

Compact parking stalls shall be not less than eighteen (18) feet.

(2)

Parallel parking stalls shall be not less than twenty-two (22) feet.

(Ord. No. 4833, § 1, 8-11-20)

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 4833, adopted August 11, 2020, amended § 12-5042 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former § 12-5042 pertained to size; location, and derived from Ord. No. 1501, adopted July 24, 1973; Ord. No. 2670, adopted June 13, 1995; and Ord. No. 2720, adopted January 9, 1996.

Off-street parking facilities shall be constructed, maintained and operated in accordance with the following specifications:

(a)

Drainage and surfacing. They shall be properly graded for drainage, surfaced with concrete, asphaltic concrete, or gravel and maintained in good condition, free of weeds, dust, trash and debris.

(b)

Access. Vehicular access to individual parking spaces shall be provided by aisles not less than twelve (12) feet wide for zero-degree parallel parking, twelve (12) feet wide for forty-five-degree angle parking, sixteen (16) feet wide for sixty-degree angle parking and twenty-four (24) feet wide for ninety-degree (perpendicular) parking.

(c)

Blocks. Blocks of parking bays containing not more than three hundred (300) parking spaces shall be established if the total number of parking spaces to be provided exceeds three hundred (300). Such blocks shall be defined by landscaped strips at least fifteen (15) feet wide. Each such landscaped strip shall be raised and protected by curbs and shall contain a four-foot wide pedestrian walk extending the full length of the strip. Vehicular access aisles within the block shall be connected to one or more roadways at least twenty-four (24) feet wide or such greater width as may be required to accommodate the volume of traffic anticipated and along which no parking spaces shall be provided or allowed.

(d)

Lighting. Lighting shall be provided in all parking facilities accommodating ten (10) or more vehicles, and such lighting shall be so arranged that the source of light does not shine directly into adjacent residential properties and does not interfere with traffic.

(e)

Striping. Except for a private garage or parking area for the exclusive use of a single-family dwelling, parking stalls are required to be striped

(f)

Other uses. Other uses such as the sale, repair, dismantling or servicing of vehicles, equipment, materials or supplies shall not be conducted within required off-street parking facilities.

(g)

Residential districts. In residential districts off-street parking facilities shall be used only by the following:

(1)

DOTD Class 1 to Class 4 vehicles which are both intended for and which are used solely for personal and/or recreational use or purposes.

(2)

DOTD Class 1 to Class 3 vehicles which are intended for or are used for any commercial or industrial use or purposes.

(h)

[Exceptions.] Except as otherwise permitted under an approved special plan for location or for sharing of facilities, off-street parking facilities shall be located on the same parcel on which the use or structure for which they are provided is located.

(i)

[Multifamily dwelling parking.] Required off-street parking facilities for the use of a multifamily dwelling shall not occupy any part of a required front yard.

(j)

Compact stall to standard stall ratio. The maximum ratio of compact stalls to standard stalls in any parking area shall not exceed one to twenty (20).

(Ord. No. 1501, § VI, 7-24-73; Ord. No. 1643, § 7, 4-12-77; Ord. No. 2720, § 2, 1-9-96; Ord. No. 4833, § 2, 8-11-20)

(a)

Spaces required. At least the following amounts of off-street parking facilities shall be provided:

(b)

Classification of uses. The classifications of uses shall be deemed to include and apply to all uses, and if the classification of any use for the purpose of determining the amount of off-street parking facilities to be provided is not readily determinable, hereunder, the classification of the use shall be fixed by the office of zoning administration.

(c)

Combination of uses. Where there is a combination of uses, the square footage allocated to each use shall be determined and the required number of parking spaces shall be the sum of the parking spaces required for each use.

(d)

Accessible spaces. Accessible spaces and passenger loading zones shall be provided in accordance with the building code. Passenger loading zones shall be designed and constructed in accordance with the most current ADA Standards for Accessible Design issued by the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal, currently the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

(Ord. No. 1501, § VI, 7-24-73; Ord. No. 1643, § 9, 4-12-77; Ord. No. 2157, 8-12-86; Ord. No. 2498, § 4, 10-13-92; Ord. No. 2654, §§ 1, 2, 5-9-95; Ord. No. 2832, § 1, 5-13-97; Ord. No. 3343, § 1, 9-9-03; Ord. No. 4405, § 1, 9-13-16; Ord. No. 4623, § 1, 12-11-18; Ord. No. 4833, § 3, 8-11-20)

In addition to required off-street parking spaces a minimum of one off-street loading facility shall be provided for all structures devoted to commerce, industry, manufacturing, storage, warehousing, professional purposes, hospitals and similar uses exceeding twelve thousand (12,000) square feet gross floor area.

(Ord. No. 1501, § VI, 7-24-73)

Pursuant to the procedure hereinafter set forth, either part or all of the required off-street parking facilities may be located on another site a distance no greater than four hundred (400) feet from the one occupied by the use or structure for which the facilities are provided; also, two (2) or more uses may share the same off-street parking facilities and each of such uses may be considered as having provided such shared space individually.

(1)

Applications for approval of special plan. An application for approval of a special provision hereunder shall be filed with the office of zoning administration by the owner or owners of the entire land area to be included within the special plan, and all encumbrances of such land area and structures. The application shall contain such information required by this chapter or deemed necessary by the office of zoning administration and shall include plans showing the location of the uses or structures for which off-street parking facilities are required and the location at which the parking zoning facilities are proposed to be located.

(2)

Review of application. Applications hereunder shall be reviewed by the office of zoning administration and either approved or disapproved; any approval may establish conditions and limitations, and shall be registered among the records of the office of zoning administration and shall thereafter be binding upon the applicants, their heirs, successors and assigns, shall limit and control the issuance and validity of permits and certificates and shall restrict and limit the use and operation of all land and structures included within such special plans to all conditions and limitations specified in such plans and the approval thereof.

(3)

Amendment or withdrawal of special plan. Pursuant to the same procedure and subject to the same limitations and requirements by which the special plan was approved and registered, any special plan may be amended or withdrawn.

(Ord. No. 1501, § VI, 7-24-73)

(a)

All off-street parking facilities on or for properties along major traffic routes, designated herein, and all other streets determined by the planning director to carry undue volume of traffic shall be provided with driveways (entrance and exits) so located as to result in no undue interference with or hazard to free movement of normal traffic and to prevent vehicles from backing into streets (other than residential driveways serving two-family dwellings or less). When possible, entrances and exits shall be developed on two (2) or more frontages to facilitate traffic movement on through streets and minimize congestion. These requirements shall apply to new development of new and existing facilities.

(b)

The permissible number, arrangement, and width of driveways (entrances and exits) is governed by the frontage of abutting private property. The number of driveways should be the minimum number required to adequately serve the needs of abutting property uses. Nonresidential and residential uses of frontages of less than seventy-five (75) feet are limited to:

(1)

One two-directional driveway; or

(2)

Two (2) one-directional driveways (minimum twelve (12) feet wide), and must comply with all other requirements. Where two (2) drives are provided for one frontage, the distance between drives measured along the right-of-way line shall not be less than:

a.

Residential, twelve (12) feet minimum;

b.

Nonresidential, twenty (20) feet minimum.

Normally not more than two (2) drives shall be provided to any single property frontage or business establishment. When more than two (2) are necessary to facilitate operations, the minimum distance between drives shall be increased to one hundred (100) feet. In case of a corner property with frontage on two (2) or more streets and requiring driveways on more than one frontage, the minimum distance between two (2) drives on one frontage may be reduced to seventy-five (75) feet, but must meet all other requirements.

(c)

The driveway width shall be adequate to handle properly the anticipated volume and type of traffic and shall conform within the range of dimensions below, measured at narrowest point parallel to right-of-way:

(d)

(1)

Radius of curves at the junction of driveway and street pavement must be greater than the frontage boundary line clearance and shall be developed within the following dimensions:

a.

Residential: Five-foot radius minimum, ten-foot radius maximum.

b.

Nonresidential: Ten-foot radius minimum, thirty-foot radius maximum.

The turn-out shall not extend across adjacent property lines.

(2)

Driveway shall be positioned to clear the frontage boundary lines (side lot line extension) by a distance of:

a.

Residential: Two-foot minimum.

b.

Commercial: Five-foot minimum.

(e)

Corner clearance at an intersecting street is the dimension measured along the edge of the pavement between a point opposite the street right-of-way lines and the tangent projection of the nearest edge of extend beyond the intersecting street right-of-way lines. Entrances and exits from nonresidential properties opposite "T" intersections shall coincide with the intersecting streets or be offset one hundred and twenty-five (125) feet from centerline to centerline. When a bridge, overpass, underpass, tunnel, or similar obstruction occurs within the right-of-way from which a driveway has access, that driveway shall offset the obstruction by a minimum of one hundred twenty-five (125) feet measured from the nearest point. In the event that the number of paved driving lanes within the frontage right-of-way should increase or decrease, driveway curb openings shall not be permitted nearer to any part of that transition area than twenty-five (25) feet.

(f)

In the event that this subsection is applicable to property with a lesser frontage dimension than needed to meet the minimum standards established in this subsection and such property was subdivided and held in separate ownership prior to the adoption of this subsection, one driveway access to the property shall be permitted upon approval of location by the planning commission.

(g)

The following is a listing of major traffic routes:

(Ord. No. 2700, § 1, 10-10-95)