§ 601. Findings and purposes.

(a)

Proper access. This article sets forth regulations designed to ensure property access to each lot and each development, via connection to the public street system.

(b)

Need for parking. Space for the parking of motor vehicles is needed 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. It is in the public interest to establish minimum off-street parking and loading areas in proportion to the need created by each use, considering reductions for the provision of alternative modes of travel.

(c)

Need for loading and unloading spaces. Space for the loading and unloading of equipment, supplies, and products is needed to serve properties engaging in such loading and unloading operations. If not required, adequate and proper loading spaces in acceptable locations tend not to be provided.

(d)

Environment. Poor design of parking lots can lead to damage to the environment and may require the community to subsidize the interests of a private property owner at the expense of the community's environment. It is reasonable to require good design of parking lots. Possible negative effects of parking and loading areas include changes to microclimate, isolation of pedestrians, increased stormwater runoff, and reduced stormwater infiltration into the ground.

(e)

Stormwater management. Parking lot surfaces such as asphalt and concrete contribute to the degradation of local water quality. Parking lots can be more compatible environmentally if protection measures are incorporated into design standards and regulations. Porous pavement and grass pavers reduce runoff by allowing it to pass through the paved surface and infiltrate back into the soil and groundwater. Utilizing porous pavements and grass pavers also reduces or eliminates land dedicated to surface storm water management facilities. Porous pavement designs and grass pavers are appropriate in some instances. Other types of stormwater management facilities are environmentally compatible, such as vegetative swales and bioretention. It is therefore appropriate to provide for alternative pavement materials, such as porous asphalt, turf block, gravel, and cobbles which have higher degrees of water quality effectiveness than conventional asphalt and pervious concrete.

(f)

Pedestrian mobility. Areas of paving are necessary to accommodate automobiles, but they can be unfriendly to pedestrians without specific regulations requiring that designers accommodate pedestrians. Large, open parking areas are conducive to high speeds and random maneuvers which can endanger pedestrians. Wide driveway aisles and access roads also increase speeds and discourage pedestrian travel. Street and parking lot design can balance the needs to accommodate automobile-centered standards with approaches that take into account the needs of pedestrians. It is in the public interest to establish on-site circulation patterns conducive to safe pedestrian as well as vehicular and truck access.

(g)

Overbuilding of parking lots. Off-street parking requirements, as conventionally implemented, have resulted in excess, unnecessary parking around commercial development because it remains unused for most of the year. Parking lot construction is a considerable factor in the cost of development. Reducing parking areas reduces development costs. Therefore, reductions in the size of paved parking and flexibility in the types of pavement and parking designs are beneficial to all concerned. It is in the public interest to establish maximum off-street parking limitations.

(h)

Connectivity. Abutting properties which do not provide interconnecting access to one another make it difficult, dangerous, and inefficient if not impossible, for motorists to travel between those properties. Between compatible uses, provisions requiring inter-parcel access meet substantial public purposes of convenience and safety. It is therefore in the public interest to promote and require inter-parcel access to facilitate movement of customers from business to business without generating additional turning movements on the public street, thus increasing public safety.

(i)

Public improvements. It is in the public interest to establish design and improvement specifications for the development of driveways and the connection of parking lots to public streets.

(Ord. No. 17-003 , § 1, 10-2-2017)