An existing portion of a parking garage in a commercial building may be enclosed and converted to storage space, and for the purposes of this chapter such enclosure shall not be counted as part of the floor area of the building, if the enclosure meets the following requirements:
A. Size: The area of the enclosure shall not exceed five thousand (5,000) square feet or five percent (5%) of the floor area of the building, whichever is less.
B. Minor Accommodation: Prior to construction, the property owner must obtain a minor accommodation permit pursuant to article 36 of this chapter. A reviewing authority may issue a minor accommodation permit if the reviewing authority finds that the proposed enclosure will not have a material adverse effect on the parking or circulation of the building or the surrounding streets. The director of planning and community development shall not serve as the reviewing authority for a minor accommodation to permit an enclosure in excess of two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet.
C. Maintenance Of Required Parking: The enclosure shall not reduce or remove any parking area or parking space that is required to be provided by this code. Prior to construction of the enclosure, the applicant shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the director of building and safety, that any parking spaces that will be reduced or removed are not obligated, by covenant or otherwise, to provide required parking for a building on a separate site.
D. Long Term Storage: The enclosure shall be used solely for long term storage purposes. Long term storage purposes include storage of files, storage of furniture and storage of seasonal displays. The enclosure shall not be used for warehousing of goods for sale, storage of mechanical equipment or tools, or similar uses. Prior to construction, the property owner shall submit, in form and content satisfactory to the city attorney, a recordable covenant which provides that the enclosure will be used solely for long term storage purposes and will be used for no other purposes. The covenant shall provide for immediate removal of the storage area upon violation of this use restriction. In addition, the property owner and the storage manager shall submit annual affidavits, in form and content satisfactory to the city attorney, attesting that the enclosure is being used solely for long term storage purposes and in accordance with the requirements of this section. The affidavit shall be submitted concurrently with the business license renewal application of the operator of the storage space. Failure to timely submit the affidavit may, without further notice, result in revocation by the director of planning and community development of the permit to maintain the enclosure. Upon revocation of the permit, the enclosure must be removed immediately.
E. Nonoccupiable: The enclosure shall be designed so that it is not occupiable, nor readily convertible to occupiable space, as the term "occupiable" is defined in the city's building code.
F. Lease: Any lease for storage space within the enclosure shall include a notice that the city has the authority to divest the lessee of the lessee's rights concerning the enclosure if the city's conditions regarding the enclosure are violated. (Ord. 95-O-2234, eff. 4-7-1995)