SECTION 42 - PARKING AND LOADING

42.1     General: It is the purpose and intent of this Section to assure that parking spaces and loading spaces are provided off the street in such number and location and with suitable design and construction to accommodate the motor vehicles of all persons normally using or visiting a use, building or other structure at any one time. Off-street parking and loading spaces, required to be provided by this Section, shall be permanently maintained and made available for occupancy in connection with and for the full duration of the use of land, buildings and other structures for which such spaces are herein required. If any existing use of land, buildings or other structures, conforming to the requirements of this Section, is changed to a use requiring additional off-street parking or loading spaces to comply with this Section, the additional spaces shall be provided for the new use in accordance with the standards hereinafter specified. All off-street parking and loading spaces hereafter established, whether required to be provided by this Section or not, shall conform to the design and construction standards specified in this Section as well as to any standards and conditions for approval of a site plan or special use under these Regulations.

42.2     Required Off Street Parking Spaces: The following chart specifies the minimum parking requirement for each land use. Parking must be located on the same lot as the use it serves unless the Commission approves off-site parking as part of a site plan or special use application. In no case shall parking be located more than 500 feet from the use it serves. These parking requirements shall not be subject to variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

RESIDENTIAL

COMMERCIAL USES AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES

INDUSTRIAL USES

Other Uses Not Covered in this Section

The Commission shall determine the number of parking spaces required to preserve the intent of Section 42.

42.3     Community Shopping Center: The Parking requirements which shall apply to a Community Shopping Center as defined in Section 6 of these Regulations shall be computed on the basis of the “gross floor area” built therein, without regard to the specific use of each store, bay, or other leasable unit contained therein. The parking required for a community shopping center shall be one standard-size parking space for each 165 square feet of gross floor area. Paved areas shall contain areas of landscaped islands constituting no less than l0% of the aggregate total of all paved surfaces on the site.

42.4     Classification of Uses: Whenever two or more classifications provided in Paragraph 42.2 shall apply to a use of land, buildings or other structures, the standard requiring the larger number of parking spaces shall apply, but where separate parts of a building or structure are used for purposes requiring a different number of parking spaces, the number of required spaces shall be determined by adding the number of spaces required for each part.

42.5     Joint Use of Parking Area: Except where off-street parking spaces are required under Paragraph 42.2 to be located on the same lot with the building, joint parking areas may be established by the owners.

42.6     Mixed Use Shared Parking: Whenever two or more classifications listed in Paragraph 42.2 apply to a use of land, buildings or other structures, the Commission may reduce the total parking requirement to a level adequate to accommodate the combined peak period of all uses on the subject property. Approval of such parking requirement shall be made as part of the site plan or special use approval of the subject property.

42.6.1  Calculating Parking for Mixed Use Development: The applicant shall calculate the peak parking space requirement by following these steps:

1.      Determine the minimum amount of parking required for each land use as though it were a separate use, using the requirements of Paragraph 42.2;

2.      Multiply each amount by the corresponding percentage for each of the five time periods, shown in the chart below;

3.      Calculate the column total for each time period;

4.      The column total with the highest value is the parking space requirement.

42.6.2  Residential Uses: No parking spaces specifically assigned to residents shall be counted toward meeting the mixed use shared parking requirement. A residential use approved as a “dwelling for the elderly”, per paragraph 6.14.1, shall not be considered as a use eligible for mixed use shared parking reduction.

42.7     Parking Exemption Area: The Commission may delineate areas which shall be exempt from the provision of off— street parking spaces required under Paragraph 42.2. Delineation of a parking exemption area shall be approved by the Commission as a Special Exception in accordance with the procedure described in Section 32, “Special Exceptions”. Any change in use which increases parking demand within a parking exemption area will require Commission approval as for a new Special Use Permit. In making its decision, the Commission shall consider, in addition to the general Site Plan standards (paragraph 31.5) the impact of the following factors in meeting parking needs and accomplishing Town Center development objectives:

a.       Reduction of peak parking demand by:

1.      development of a land use mix with non-overlapping peak demand periods,

2.      provision of facilities to encourage pedestrian, bicycle and public modes of transportation,

3.      implementation of measures to reduce on-site employee parking such as carpool incentives, provision of off-site employee parking, designation of time-limited parking areas for customers/clients in the more convenient locations.

b.      Improvement of circulation within the Town Center by:

1.      provision for vehicular access and/or shared parking among adjacent properties by public easement or other means,

2.      provision for pedestrian access to sidewalks, streets, and building entry ways.

c.       Enhancement of Town Center aesthetic quality in terms of:

1.      Landscaping

2.      Architectural features of rear entries

3.      Streetscape amenities

4.      Availability of public parking.

42.8     Loading Spaces - Number and Location: Each building having a ground floor area in excess of 5,000 square feet shall have one (1) off-street loading space for each 40,000 square feet of gross floor area, or fraction thereof, excluding basements, and located on the same lot with the building.

42.9     Design and Construction Standards: Each off-street parking and loading space, whether required to be provided by this Section or not, shall conform to the following design and construction standards:

42.9.1  Dimensions: Each parking space shall constitute an area with such shape, vertical clearance, access and slope as to accommodate an automobile having an overall length of 20 feet and shall contain an area of not less than 180 square feet, except that the minimum area may be reduced to 160 square feet for spaces located in or on a building or structure. Each loading space shall constitute an area with such shape, vertical clearance, access and slope as to accommodate trucks of the type servicing the lot; at a minimum, such space shall be not less than 12 feet in width and 30 feet in length, with a vertical clearance of 14 feet.

42.9.2  Access: Each parking space shall be provided with adequate area for aisles and access lanes, so that an automobile, having an overall length of 20 feet, can approach the space and execute any necessary backing and turning movements without need to use any part of the right-of-way of a street and can exit onto the street in a frontward direction; the requirement for frontward exit shall not apply to parking spaces provided in connection with a dwelling containing one (1) or two (2) dwelling units, rooms to rent in a dwelling unit or a permitted professional office in a dwelling unit. No loading space, including any truck loading bay, ramp or dock, shall be arranged in a manner that trucks must back within any part of the right-of-way of a street in order to use such space. Entrances and exits from parking areas and loading spaces onto streets shall be located and arranged in such a manner as to minimize hazards to pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the street.

42.9.3 Improvement: All parking and loading spaces shall be suitably improved, graded, stabilized and maintained so as to cause no nuisance or danger from dust or from storm water flow onto any street. Any parking or loading spaces, and any aisles and access lanes in connection therewith, located within 10 feet of any street line, shall be separated from such street line by a concrete curb, a fence, a wall or continuous hedge planting or by an embankment not less than 24 inches in height, and shall be provided with the curb, fence, wall, hedge or embankment in such a manner that vehicles will not overhang the street line.

42.9.4  Waiver of Immediate Installation: With respect to the installation of parking spaces required by this Section, the Commission may, upon request by any property owner or other applicant, waive the immediate installation of not more than 25% of the required number of parking spaces upon the following conditions:

a.       that the parking plan submitted to the Commission show the layout for the full parking requirement and identify those spaces for which waiver of immediate installation is requested;

b.      that the Commission find the reduced number of parking proposed to be installed will adequately serve the proposed development;

c.       that the owner file with the Commission and note on the parking plan an agreement obligating the owner, his heirs or successors and assigns to install such remaining parking spaces within six (6) months after the date of any request by the Commission to do so; and

d.      that the agreement herein before referred to be incorporated by reference as a covenant in any special permit, the parking for which is affected by this subparagraph, and shall be so recited in the document evidencing such special permit recorded on the land records.