The Planning Director shall be authorized to approve alternatives to providing the number of off-street parking spaces required by Table 7.8-1 in accordance with the following standards:
(A) Shared Parking
The Planning Director may approve shared parking facilities for developments or uses with different operating hours or different peak business periods if the shared parking complies with all of the following standards:
(1) Location
(a) Where the principal use is located in the Town Center Zoning District, shared parking facilities shall be located within one thousand two hundred (1,200) feet of the main entrance of the principal use for uses classified as Public/Institutional in Table 5.1-2, and eight hundred (800) feet from the main entrance of the principal use for all other uses in the Town Center unless remote parking shuttle bus service is provided.
(b) Where the principal use is located in any zoning district other than the Town Center District, shared parking facilities shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of the main entrance of the principal use unless remote parking shuttle bus service is provided. In addition, adequate and safe pedestrian access must be provided from and to the shared parking areas.
(2) Zoning Classification
Shared parking areas must be located on a site with the same or a more intensive zoning classification than required for the primary uses served.
(3) Shared Parking Study
Those wishing to use shared parking as a means of satisfying off-street parking requirements must submit a shared parking request to staff that justifies the feasibility of shared parking. Justification should include information on the size and type of the proposed development, the composition of tenants, the anticipated rate of parking turnover, and the anticipated peak parking and traffic loads for all uses that will be sharing off-street parking spaces.
(a) The maximum reduction in the number of parking spaces required for all uses sharing the parking area shall be thirty-five (35) percent.
(b) Directional signage which meets the requirements of this Ordinance must be added to direct the public to the shared parking spaces. It is preferable for the employees of an establishment to utilize these spaces.
(4) Agreement for Shared Parking
A shared parking plan will be enforced through written agreement among all owners of record. An attested copy of the agreement between the owners of record must be submitted to the Planning Director for recordation. Recordation of the agreement must take place before issuance of a building permit for any use to be served by the shared parking area. A shared parking agreement may be revoked only if all required off-street parking spaces will be provided in accordance with the requirements of Table 7.8-1.
(B) Off-Site Parking
If some or all of the off-street parking spaces required by this section cannot reasonably be located on the same lot as the principal use, then such spaces may be located on a separate parcel(s) as follows:
(1) Location
(a) Where the principal use is located in the Town Center Zoning District, off-site parking shall be located within one thousand two hundred (1,200) feet of the main entrance of the principal use for uses classified as Public/Institutional in Table 5.1-2, and eight hundred (800) feet from the main entrance of the principal use for all other uses in the Town Center.
(b) Where the principal use is located in any zoning district other than the Town Center District, off-site parking shall be located within five hundred (500) feet of the main entrance of the principal use.
(2) Measurement
The separation of the use from the parking shall be measured from the main entrance to the nearest parking lot space following a reasonable and safe walking route.
(3) Approval Criteria
(a) The land on which the parking facilities are provided shall be owned by the same person or persons as the principal use.
(b) Such land shall not be separated from the principal use by a thoroughfare or collector street unless both the use and the parking area shall be located within the Town Center District or are specifically approved by the Transportation Director based on safe pedestrian crosswalks linking the parking with the principal use.
(c) Such land shall be located in a zoning district within which the principal use would be allowed as a permitted or special use.
(e) There shall be a pedestrian walkway or sidewalk connecting the parking area to the use it serves.
(f) The provision for off-site parking, whether the spaces are new or existing, shall be indicated and reviewed as part of the development plan approval process.
(C) Parking Structures
The off-street parking required by or provided under this section may be located in a parking structure, whether on the same or on a different lot than the uses which it serves. Ground floor parking provided in a parking structure shall be screened, insofar as practicable, from surrounding uses and from public view. In addition, for uses located on the same lot as the structure, the conditions required under subsection 7.8.3(A) above shall apply. For uses located on a different lot as the structure, the conditions required under subsection 7.8.3(B) shall apply.
(D) Valet and Tandem Parking
(1) The Planning Director may approve an off-street parking program utilizing limited tandem parking for commercial and industrial uses provided that the development requires seventy-five (75) or more parking spaces. No more than thirty (30) percent of the total number of spaces shall be designated as tandem. In addition, a valet parking attendant must be on duty during business hours.
(2) Tandem parking may be utilized for up to twenty (20) percent of the on-site or off-site fleet-parking component of a private transportation service use. Provisions of (D)(1) above shall not apply to such fleet-parking component.
(E) Other Eligible Alternatives
The Planning Director may approve any other alternative to providing off-street parking spaces on the site of the subject development if the applicant demonstrates that the proposed plan will protect surrounding neighborhoods, maintain traffic circulation patterns, and promote quality urban design to at least the same extent as would strict compliance with otherwise applicable off-street parking standards. The Planning Director may approve different parking requirements for mixed use projects. The different parking requirement must be based on studies and documentation validated by national studies and/or research and recommendations from nationally accredited institutions.