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17.48.050 Development standards.

        The following development standards shall apply to all parking areas with six or more spaces:

        A.    Location.

        1.     Required parking facilities shall be on the same lot as the structure they are intended to serve, except that with proper legal agreement, the planning commission may approve parking on a separate lot. In no event shall required parking be farther than three hundred (300) feet from the use it is required to serve. This distance shall be measured along a legal and safe pedestrian path from the parking space to the nearest entrance of the building or use for which the parking is required.

        2.     The required parking spaces may be located in interior side and rear setbacks. Except for schools and public safety facilities, no parking space, either required or otherwise, shall be located in any required front or street-side setback area, unless regulations provide otherwise.

        B.     Access. There shall be a minimum ten (10) foot wide, three-inch thick, asphaltic or cement concrete, paved, vehicular accessway from a public street or alley to off-street parking facilities.

        C.     Screening.

        1.     Where a parking area abuts or is across the street from a residential district, it shall be separated therefrom by a solid masonry wall not less than forty-two (42) inches in height. The planning commission may waive this wall requirement if additional setback and screening planting, or landscaped berms are to be provided.

        2.     Where a parking area is across the street from a residential district, there shall be a border of appropriate landscaping not less than five feet in depth, measured from the street right-of-way line, along the street frontage.

        3.     Parking areas shall be screened from view from all designated highways.

        D.    Layout and Paving.

        1.     Parking areas shall provide for a twenty-five (25) foot outside turning radius within the facility and a thirty (30) foot outside turning radius into public alleys.

        2.     Except in residential parking facilities with less than six spaces, parking spaces shall be arranged so that vehicles need not back onto or across any public sidewalk.

        3.     Off-street parking facilities shall be designed so that a vehicle within the parking facility shall not be required to enter a street to move from one location to any other location within that parking facility. Separate noncontiguous parking facilities may be provided with independent entrances for employee and visitor parking, provided the use of each lot is clearly identified on proposed plans and at the entrances to each lot.

        4.     No dead end parking aisles serving more than five stalls shall be permitted unless the aisle is provided with a turnaround area installed in a manner meeting the approval of the director.

        5.     Tire stops shall be provided within all parking areas.

 

        6.     All parking areas shall be surfaced with asphaltic or cement concrete paving which is at least three inches thick or permeable paving of comparable load-carrying capacity and durability.

        7.     Parking stalls shall be at least nine feet by twenty (20) feet minimum, and shall be marked with lines or indicated with special paving materials. The access lanes shall be clearly defined and shall include directional arrows to guide internal movement traffic. Compact parking spaces are permitted, but shall not exceed twenty (20) percent of the total number of required spaces. Compact stalls shall be a minimum of eight feet by fifteen (15) feet six inches and shall be marked for compact use only.

        8.     Off-street parking facilities shall be designed so that provision is made, to the satisfaction of the director, for the accommodation of vans, motorcycles, and bicycles.

        E.     Landscaping.

        1.     A landscaped planter bed of at least five feet in width with a six-inch high cement concrete berm shall be installed along the entire perimeter except for those areas devoted to perpendicular accessways.

        2.     A minimum of five percent of the paved parking area shall be devoted to interior planting areas. Extensive use of trees is encouraged. All planting areas shall be at least three feet wide. Perimeter planting shall not be considered part of this required interior planting.

        3.     Where topography and gradient allow, parking lots should be depressed and/or screened from view by landscaped berms and hedges.

        4.     Where trees already exist on the property, the design should make the best use of this growth and shade. Such trees shall be protected by a tree well with a diameter sufficient to insure their continued growth.

        5.     Planting areas should be distributed throughout the lot as evenly as possible, but variations from this pattern may be granted by the director when a different pattern would result in the overall aesthetic improvement of the project. Innovation in design and materials is encouraged.

        6.     Wherever a center divider separates parking stalls facing each other, tree wells shall be established not more than fifty (50) feet apart for large trees (exceeding twenty (20) feet spread at maturity), or not more than thirty (30) feet for small and medium-sized trees.

        7.     All plantings shall be permanently and regularly maintained free of debris and in conformity with the accepted practices for landscape maintenance.

        8.     Required landscaping shall be irrigated with greywater, where feasible.

        F.     Lighting. Lighting, where provided to illuminate a parking area, shall be hooded and so arranged and controlled so as not to cause a nuisance either to highway traffic or to adjacent properties.

        G.    Usability. The required off-street parking facilities and driveways shall not be used for any purpose other than as required by this chapter. Unless otherwise provided by an approved use permit, no owner or tenant shall lease, rent or otherwise make such required parking available to any person who does not occupy the premises for which the parking is required.

        H.    Seasonal or Peak Parking Areas. With the approval of the planning commission, the above development standards may be waived or conditionally waived for a portion of the required parking spaces where applicant can show that such spaces are required only on a periodic basis. (Ord. 373 § 6, 2013; Ord. 93 §§ 58, 59, 1993; Ord. 86 § 3, 1993; prior code § 9334)