A. General Provisions:
1. Prospective Application Of Title: Any building improvements/modifications that change or expand the use of the affected property, or the development of land approved after the effective date hereof, shall obligate the owner to bring the applicable property into compliance with all requirements of this chapter.
2. Obligation: The requirements for off street parking and off street loading shall be a continuing obligation of the owner of the real estate on which any building or improvement is located, so long as the building or improvement is in existence and its use requiring vehicle parking or vehicle loading facilities continues. It shall be unlawful for an owner of any building or improvement to discontinue, change or dispense with the required vehicle parking or loading space, apart from the discontinuance, sale or transfer of such structure, without establishing alternative vehicle parking or loading space which meets with the requirements of and is in compliance with this title; or for any person to use such building without providing space for vehicle parking or loading space which meets with the requirements of and is in compliance with this title.
3. Joint Use Of Facilities: Nothing in this title shall be construed to prevent the joint use of off street parking or off street loading spaces for two (2) or more buildings or two (2) or more uses in one building if the total of such spaces when used together shall not be less than the sum of the requirements for the various individual uses computed separately.
4. Mixed Uses: The total off street parking and loading requirements shall be the sum of the various uses.
5. Establishment Of Required Facilities Not Deemed Dedicated To Public Use: The establishment of off street parking or loading facilities to meet the requirements of this title shall not be construed to be a dedication of such facilities to a public use. They shall remain appurtenant to the building or structure they are intended to serve only, so long as the use of such building or structure is such that such facilities are necessary for the convenience of its occupants or other persons using, entering, or visiting such buildings.
6. Regulation Of Adjacent On Street Parking And Loading: The owners or occupants of a building or structure for which sufficient off street parking space and loading space has been provided may request that the use of on street parking and/or loading immediately adjacent to the lot or parcel of land upon which such building or structure is located be prohibited, restricted or regulated for the purpose of relieving traffic congestion or promoting traffic safety. The manner in which on street parking under the authority of this title is prohibited, restricted, or regulated shall be approved by the town engineer and shall be enforced by the town in the same manner as other similar measures for regulation of traffic. This shall not be construed to limit in any way the power of the town to regulate traffic and parking upon the public streets.
7. Accessibility To Parking Required: All off street parking or loading facilities shall be accessible at all times, from a street, paved alley, or paved driveway intended to serve such off street parking and/or loading. Likewise, off street parking or loading facilities shall be available at all reasonable and appropriate times for the use of the occupants of the building or structure they are intended to serve, customers, visitors or any other persons who may use, visit or enter the building or structure.
8. Identification Signs: Off street parking or loading facilities may have posted signs identifying the building or structure and use to be served. The owners or occupants may use any legal means or method to prevent the use of such facilities by persons other than those for whose use the facilities are intended.
9. Fractional Measurements For Parking Spaces: When units or measurements determining the number of required off street parking and off street loading spaces result in a requirement of a fractional space, any fraction less than one-half (1/2) shall be disregarded and any fraction one-half (1/2) or over shall require one off street parking or off street loading space.
10. Proposed Plans For Facilities: For the purpose of converting parking or loading spaces into the required parking or loading area, plans must be submitted to the town engineer to show how the required parking or loading spaces shall be arranged in the area supplied for that purpose and to indicate sufficient space for parking maneuvers as well as adequate ingress and egress to the parking or loading area.
11. Waivers: Zoning and planning is hereby authorized and empowered, after a proper hearing thereon, with notice to the public, to permit waiver (by not more than 10 percent less than code requirements) or modification in the location, configuration, or amount of off street parking or off street loading spaces required by this title if, after investigation by zoning and planning, which investigation shall include receipt of written findings and recommendations of the town engineer, it is found that such waiver is necessary to prevent unreasonable hardship for all affected parties or to secure an appropriate development or modification of a specific parcel of land.
Requests for waivers for parking shall follow the procedures outlined in section 8-3-12 of this title.
B. Off Street Parking:
1. Compliance Required To Receive Certificate Of Occupancy: No certificates of occupancy shall be granted for any new building or change/expanded use until off street parking requirements hereunder have been confirmed through inspection and approved by the town engineer or his designee.
2. Tandem Spaces: Except for single-family residential purposes, no tandem parking space shall be counted as more than one off street parking space.
3. Sharing Of Off Street Parking Areas: No part of the off street parking area required for any building, or use shall be included as a part of an off street parking area required for another building, excluding a shopping center whose site plan has been approved by the town council, unless an executed sharing agreement is presented to the town engineer, approved by the town council, and meets the requirements of subsection A2 of this section.
4. Credit For Nonadjacent/Off Site Parking: In calculating total off street parking space requirements for all districts other than the residential districts hereinafter identified in subsection B5 of this section, credit may be granted if adequate off street parking space meeting all requirements of this section is available within a distance of four hundred feet (400') of the use. Application for such credit shall demonstrate that such parking space has been irrevocably secured for a minimum period of ten (10) years from the date of approval. In the general business district, credit may also be allowed when the owner or person in charge of the use has obtained the requisite number of off street parking spaces in an existing parking structure, or paid a cash contribution toward the construction of a parking structure. The maximum space that can be acquired by any one individual toward satisfying the town's off street parking requirements shall be determined by the town council.
5. Parking For R-1 Through R-3, R-5, And R-6 Districts: Parking for R-1 through R-3, R-5 and R-6 districts shall be located on the same lot or tract as the main structure is located.
6. Use Of Right Of Way: No off street parking space to be provided under the terms of this section shall be located within the right of way of any public street unless approval to the use is granted by the commission and council.
7. Configuration Of Commercial Lighting Facilities: Lighting facilities shall be so designed and installed that illumination will be directed away from abutting residential properties and will not interfere with traffic signals. Light poles shall not exceed thirty feet (30') in height unless approved as a waiver granted by the commission.
8. Uses Not Specified: Where parking requirements for any use are not specifically defined in section 8-4-3 of this chapter, such parking requirements shall be determined by zoning and planning after receiving written findings and recommendations of the town engineer.
C. Loading Space/Areas:
1. Businesses Requiring Off Street Loading Spaces: Every retail establishment, storage warehouse, industrial plant, manufacturing establishment, freight terminal, or wholesale establishment that has a gross floor area of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or more, intended for such use, shall provide loading docks or loading spaces. If loading spaces are used, one loading space of sixty feet (60') in length and ten feet (10') in width shall be required for each ten thousand (10,000) square feet of floor area.
If loading docks are used, one loading dock shall be required for each ten thousand (10,000) to fifty thousand (50,000) square feet of floor area. For each loading dock, one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet shall be provided for turnaround area and a twenty foot by sixty foot (20' x 60') ingress and egress shall be provided to the loading dock.
2. Minimum Required Off Street Loading Area: The minimum required loading area shall be not less than ten feet (10') in width and twenty five feet (25') in length and have an unobstructed height of not less than fourteen feet (14') and shall be adjacent to and accessible from a street, highway, or alley.
3. Location Of Facilities: Off street loading facilities shall be adjacent to the structure they serve. In no event, however, shall the required off street loading space be part of the area required for off street parking. (Ord. 2012-1, 4-17-2012)