Worcester Township City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XXII
Off-Street Parking and Loading
§ 150-153 Required off-street parking facilities.
[Amended 1-15-2014 by Ord. No. 248; 8-20-2025 by Ord. No. 303]
Any building or other structure erected or used and any lot used or occupied in any district in which the following uses exist or are permitted shall be provided with minimum off-street parking spaces as set forth below, together with separate loading space, if applicable, and shall be provided with adequate passageways, driveways or other means of vehicular circulation and access to and from a street or way.
B.
For any of the following uses, the required spaces shall be paved and curbed:
(1)
Church, school, public auditorium, assembly or meeting room or similar place for public or semipublic assembly: one space for every three seats provided for assembly. In the case of a school with indoor and outdoor assembly, the outdoor and indoor spaces shall be counted separately, and the greater of the two numbers shall be utilized to compute the school's parking requirement. In addition, the indoor and outdoor assembly areas shall not be used simultaneously in a manner which renders the available parking on the property inadequate.
(2)
Stadium or theater: one space for every three seats.
(3)
Hospital or convalescent home: one space for every three beds, plus one space for every employee on the two largest shifts.
(4)
Community center or library: one space for every 500 square feet of floor space in public use, plus one space for every employee on the two largest shifts.
(5)
Institutional home: one space for every three occupants, plus one for every employee on the two largest shifts.
(6)
Retail store or shop:
(a)
As an individual establishment and not a large drugstore, department store or a supermarket and not in a group of other stores: one space for every 100 square feet of sales area.
(b)
A combination of not more than three of such establishments served by common off-street parking shall provide one space for every 150 square feet of combined sales areas.
(7)
Shopping center: for four or more retail establishments using common off-street parking space: 5 1/2 spaces for every 1,000 square feet of sales area.
(8)
Department store, supermarket and large drugstore selling a variety of merchandise, as an individual establishment and not a part of a combination of other stores or shopping center: one parking space for every 250 square feet of sales area.
(9)
Motel: one space for every rental unit, plus one for every employee on the two largest shifts, plus one space for every three seats in the meeting and dining rooms.
(10)
Office building: one space for every 250 square feet of office rental space, excluding halls and lavatories in common usage, shafts, elevators, stairs and utility rooms.
(11)
Restaurant, cafe, diner and tearoom: two parking spaces for every 50 square feet of floor space devoted to patron use.
(12)
Laboratory or any industrial establishments: one parking space for every 1,000 square feet of floor area, or fraction thereof, however, not less than one for every employee on the two largest shifts.
(13)
Childcare center: one space per employee, plus one space per 15 children enrolled, plus overflow parking equal to 25% of the total required parking.
§ 150-154 Location of off-street parking.
Off-street parking for uses listed under § 150-153 shall be located on the same lot as the use to which it refers; provided, however, that two or more establishments in any commercial district may combine off-street parking areas and, where five or more establishments are so combined, the total of such combined spaces may be reduced in number by 10%, the requirements of § 150-153 to the contrary notwithstanding.
§ 150-155 Ingress and egress.
Off-street parking areas shall be so designed and so located that:
A.
No vehicle is required to back out directly onto a nonresidential street.
B.
For single-family dwellings the driveways shall be located as far away from any street intersection as possible, and for corner lots onto the lower classification street. In no case shall the driveway be closer to the intersection than 100 feet.
C.
[1]Driveways for all nonresidential uses shall be located not less than 300 feet from a street intersection measuring from the near side of the driveway to the near curbline of such street.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection C, regarding the maximum number of driveways, was repealed 12-15-1999 by Ord. No. 175. Said ordinance also provided for the relettering of former Subsection D as Subsection C.
D.
A double-access driveway serving a single-family home shall be permitted only as a special exception when the following dimensional criteria are met:
[Added 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 212]
(1)
Double-access driveways shall be limited to ingress and egress to rural, residential or secondary street classifications which have an ultimate right-of-way of 60 feet or less.
(2)
All double-access driveway lots must have a minimum street frontage of 250 feet.
(3)
Double-access driveway lots shall have a minimum lot size of 80,000 square feet.
(4)
For new building lots, the double-access driveways shall be constructed a minimum of 25 feet from the side property lines.
(5)
For an existing lot improved with a house, the new access driveway shall be a minimum of 25 feet from the side property line.
§ 150-156 Required off-street loading and unloading facilities.
[Amended 4-17-1996 by Ord. No. 146]
In addition to required off-street parking spaces, every nonresidential use permitted in this chapter shall be provided with off-street loading and unloading space which shall be completely separate and distinct from the required off-street parking spaces.
§ 150-157 Reduction of facilities.
Facilities for off-street parking and off-street loading and unloading existing at the effective date of this chapter shall not subsequently be reduced to an amount less than that required herein, and such facilities provided to comply with the provisions of this article shall not subsequently be reduced below the requirements of this chapter.
§ 150-158 Design requirements.
All facilities required under this article shall be constructed in accordance with the standards set forth in the Land Development and Subdivision Ordinance of Worcester Township,[1] with respect to size, arrangement, construction, specifications, layout, drainage and provisions for the handicapped.
§ 150-159 Reserve areas.
The Supervisors may approve, as a conditional use, in accordance with Article XXV, the placing of open space in reserve for use as future parking areas. Under such conditions, the applicant may construct reduced parking facilities, in accordance with the demonstrated needs, provided that space is reserved for the construction of the parking facilities necessary to satisfy the requirements of this chapter.
§ 150-160 Oversized vehicles.
Where an approved use will regularly involve the accommodation of oversized vehicles such as but not limited to buses, trucks, vans, trailers or recreational vehicles, the applicant shall submit a plan showing proper accommodation of the documented project need in every regard.