Article 6 — Parking and Loading Requirements

Sec. 603 - Off-street parking; when required.

Permanent off-street parking spaces shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of this Article whenever any of the following occurs:

Sec. 604 - Number of parking spaces required.

604 (a) Parking for residents, employees, customers and visitors.

Space for the parking of motor vehicles must be provided to serve every property that contains a principal use, for the safety and convenience of the people who live or work on the property, shop or do business on the property, or otherwise visit the property in the normal course of activity of the principal use.

The maximum number of outdoor off-street parking spaces to be provided for residents, employees, customers and visitors for each type of land use shall be determined according to

_____ Source: Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.

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Sec. 605 - Shared parking.

The parking spaces provided for separate uses may be combined in one parking lot, but the required spaces assigned to each use may not be assigned to another use, except as follows:

605 (a) Shared parking between day and night users.

One-half of the parking spaces assigned to a church, theater or assembly hall whose peak attendance will be at night or on Sundays may be assigned to a use that will be closed at night or on Sundays.

605 (b) Mixed use developments.

605 (c) Availability of shared spaces.

Parking spaces that are proposed to be shared among two or more uses must be clearly available to all uses collectively and not appear in any way to be serving a particular use, either through signage dedicating the spaces or through design techniques that would tend to orient use of the spaces to a particular business or building.

605 (d) Recordation of shared parking agreement.

Shared parking arrangements must be committed to writing in an instrument acceptable to the Development Services Director, and approved by the owners of each of the affected properties or uses.

The instrument must be approved by the Development Services Director and shall be recorded with the Clerk of the Superior Court, and a copy of the recorded document must be supplied to the Development Services Director. The document must be written to survive future changes in ownership in perpetuity, unless the agreement is dissolved with approval by the Board of Commissioners.

Sec. 606 - Proximity of off-street parking spaces to use.

606 (a) Location of parking spaces.

All parking spaces required to meet the minimum standards of this Article shall be located in proximity to the use that the spaces serve, as shown on Table 6.4.

Sec. 607 - Design requirements for parking lots and driveways.

The provisions of this Section apply to all off-street parking spaces and parking areas, whether 1) the parking is provided to serve a particular development or 2) the parking lot is operated as a principal use on a property and not dedicated to serving a particular development.

607 (a) Orientation to street.

All off-street automobile parking spaces and drives (except those on single-family dwelling lots in RA, R-LD and R-MD zones which do not feed into a major or minor thoroughfare as designated by the Douglas County Thoroughfare Plan), shall be so arranged so that vehicles can easily turn around on the space and/or drives and not have to back into the street upon leaving.

607 (b) Off-street parking lots for automobiles.

The provisions of this Subsection apply only to parking lots provided for residents, employees, customers and visitors under the requirements of Section 604 (a). Parking lots for company-owned vehicles, such as car sales lots, fleet parking and rental car storage lots, may be designed to the specifications of the business or property owner.

Automobile parking areas are encouraged to be located in the side and rear yards of buildings. Required front yard setbacks may be waived or modified as a special exception variance if required parking areas are located in the side or rear yard area. See the Appeals Article of this Code for procedures.

607 (c) Off-street truck parking areas.

Parking areas for trucks and tractor-trailers should be located only to the rear or non-street side of the buildings and not adjacent to any interstate highway, major arterial, or minor arterial. However, if there is no other location available, the Development Services Director may permit an alternate location and may impose special screening requirements based on the unique characteristics of the site.

607 (d) Driveway access.

With the exception of sign posts and other structures less than 8 inches in diameter, structures and landscaping shall not exceed 3 feet in height within a triangle measuring 20 feet along the edge of a driveway and 20 feet along the street right-of-way line. A larger vision clearance area, depending on street classification, may be required under the Project Design and Construction Standards Article of this Development Code.

607 (e) Setback requirements.

Sec. 608 - Inter-parcel access.

608 (a) Internal access easements required.

For any office or retail sales or services use, the property owner shall grant an access easement as described in this Subsection to each adjoining property that is zoned or used for an office or retail sales or services use. The purpose of the easement is to facilitate movement of customers from business to business without generating additional turning movements on the public street, thus increasing public safety.

608 (b) Access easement provisions.

The internal access easement shall permit automobile access from the adjoining property to driveways and parking areas intended for employee, customer or visitor use on each property; but parking spaces may be restricted to use by each owner's employees, customers and visitors only.

608 (c) Relief.

Where the proposed land use is such that adverse impact of the required easement on use of the property would outweigh the reduced impact on the public street provided by the reciprocal easements, the Development Services Director may waive the requirement for the access easements, in whole or in part, as a special exception variance.

Sec. 609 - Improvement of parking and areas.

609 (a) Surfacing and curbing; permanent lots.

609 (b) Landscaping

609 (c) Temporary parking lots.

Temporary parking lots may be approved for clearly temporary purposes for up to two years. Such lots shall have paved driveway aprons from the street to the right-of-way line, but may have a rolled and compacted gravel surface and need not be landscaped. At the end of the two-year period, the temporary lot must be removed from the property or replaced with a permanent parking lot meeting the requirements of this Section for surfacing, curbing and landscaping of permanent parking lots.

609 (d) Maintenance.

Off-street parking areas shall be maintained in proper repair with a dust-free surface.

609 (e) Permit required.

Construction of a new parking lot or loading area, or expansion of an existing parking lot or loading area, requires issuance of a development permit in accordance with the Procedures and Permits Article of this Ordinance.

For any use that will require a parking area of 5 spaces or more, or a loading area, to be newly constructed, added to, or altered in such a way as to affect drainage either on or off the site, storm water drainage plans, including grading plans, shall be submitted to and approved by the Engineering Department Director, prior to the issuance of a development permit.

609 (f) Time limit.

All required off-street parking areas shall be ready for use, including the above surfacing requirement, before occupancy of the property (in the case of a new building or addition) or within 45 days after the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (in the case of a change of occupancy in an existing building). An extension of time may be granted by the Engineering Department Director due to adverse weather conditions if the base and binder course have been installed.

Sec. 610 - Prohibited Parking 610 (a) Parking prohibitions for trucks.

The following parking prohibitions apply to heavy trucks, as defined in this Code:

No semi-trailer, truck body or truck tractor cab as defined in Article 15 of this Code shall be parked or stored unless otherwise authorized by this Code.

610 (b) Parking prohibitions for boats and recreational vehicles.

Except on a property occupied by a business offering boats or recreation vehicles for sale or lease, boats and recreation vehicles shall be located only in a side or rear yard of a property.

610 (c) Parking prohibitions for automobiles.

Local deliveries are exempted from this requirement, as long as the delivery vehicle is actively engaged in loading or unloading of goods for the adjoining property address.

Sec. 611 - Off-street truck loading; where required.

Any business or industrial building, hospital, institution, or hotel, in any zoning district, shall provide adequate off-street facilities for the loading and unloading of business merchandise, supplies, goods or freight within or adjacent to the building as deemed appropriate by the owner or occupants of the property. Such loading facilities, if provided, shall not obstruct freedom of vehicular traffic or pedestrian movement on the public streets and sidewalks.

Sec. 612 - Truck loading on public streets.

The loading or unloading of business merchandise, supplies, goods or freight within a street right-of-way is prohibited in all zoning districts. Loading or unloading of furniture, equipment, or fixtures for the purpose of a home or business relocation may be allowed within a street right-of-way if:

Sec. 613 - Location and improvement requirements for truck loading areas.

613 (a) Location of truck loading areas.

In all zoning districts, the following provisions shall apply:

However, if there is no other location available, the truck loading area shall be at least 150 feet from any street right-of-way (or 170 feet from the street center line, whichever is greater) and shall provide effective screening from the street as approved by the Development Services Director.

613 (b) Improvement of truck loading areas.