(a) Applicability of Parking Requirements. For all buildings and uses established after the effective date of this Ordinance, off-street parking shall be provided as required by this chapter. In addition, the following shall also apply:
(1) Whenever use of a building or lot is changed to another classification of use, off-street parking facilities shall be provided, as required by this chapter for that use.
(2) If the intensity of use of any building or lot is increased, through the addition of floor area, increase in seating capacity, or other means, additional off-street parking shall be provided, as required by this chapter.
(3) Off-street parking facilities in existence on the effective date of this ordinance shall not be reduced below the requirements of this chapter, nor shall nonconforming parking facilities that exist as of the effective date of this Ordinance be further reduced or made more nonconforming.
(4) An area designated as required off-street parking shall not be changed to another use, unless equal facilities are provided elsewhere in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Location. Off-street parking facilities required for all uses other than single and two-family dwellings shall be located on the lot or within 300 feet of the building(s) or use they are intended to serve, as measured from the nearest point of the parking facility to the nearest public entry of the building(s) or use served. Off-street parking facilities required for single-and two-family dwellings shall be located on the same lot or plot of ground as the dwelling they are intended to serve, and shall consist of a driveway, parking strip, parking apron, and/or garage.
(c) Shared/Common Parking.
(1) Two (2) or more buildings or uses may share a common parking facility; provided, the number of parking spaces available shall equal the required number of spaces for all the uses computed separately.
(2) Parking facilities for a church, place of worship or similar intermittently used facility may be used to meet up to fifty percent (50%) of the off-street parking for uses lying within 300 feet of the facility, as measured from the nearest edge of the parking area to the nearest public entry point of the building or use; provided, the church, place of worship or similar facility makes the spaces available and there is no conflict between peak times when the uses are in need of the parking facilities.
(3) A request for shared parking that will result in fewer than the total number of spaces required for all uses separately may be approved as part of administrative, concept or final site plan review. In any case, the continued availability of required parking, either shared or by other means, shall be made a condition of any site plan approval and/or conditional use approval, as provided by this Ordinance. The following documentation shall be provided in conjunction with such a request:
A. A shared parking analysis shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator that clearly demonstrates the feasibility of shared parking. The study must be provided in a form established by or acceptable to the Zoning Administrator. It must address, at a minimum, the size and type of the proposed development or combination of uses, 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.
B. A shared parking plan shall be enforced through written agreement among all owners of record and included in the development agreements filed with the City. The agreement shall be in recordable form, be perpetual and provide that the provisions of the agreement run with the land and may be enforced by any owner of the affected property, or the City of Lorain, if violated.
(4) An attested copy of the shared parking agreement between the owners of record shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator to be recorded in a form established by the City Attorney. The agreement must be recorded before issuance of a building permit or certificate of zoning compliance for any use to be served by the shared parking area. A shared parking agreement may only be revoked if all required off-street parking spaces will be provided on-site. The City shall void the written agreement if other off-street facilities are provided in accord with these zoning regulations.
(d) Modification of Parking Requirements. Cumulative parking requirements for mixed-use developments or planned unit developments may be reduced by the City Council, as part of concept plan review, or by the Planning Commission, as part of final site plan review, where it can be determined that one or more of the following conditions is met:
(1) Other forms of travel (such as transit, bicycle or pedestrian) are available and likely to be used and the site design will incorporate both bicycle parking facilities and pedestrian connections.
(2) Shared parking is available to multiple uses where there will be a high proportion of multipurpose visits or where uses have peak parking demands during differing times of the day or days of the week and meeting the following requirements:
A. Pedestrian connections shall be maintained between the uses.
B. Unless the multiple uses are all within a unified business center, office park or industrial park all under the same ownership, shared parking agreements shall be filed by the Zoning Administrator with the City Clerk after approval and recording.
(3) Available municipal off-street parking or on-street spaces are located within 300 feet of the subject property and one (1) or more of the following conditions exist:
A. A number of the on-street spaces are currently routinely available and can reasonably be expected to be available to the use for which the waiver is requested;
B. The nature of the proposed use is such that its peak demand occurs at times when the on-street parking is not likely to be used; or
C. The on-street parking would not be the primary parking area for the use and may be considered a temporary option in support of deferred parking, as provided in Section 1149.02(e).
(4) Expectation of walk-in trade is reasonable due to sidewalk connections to adjacent residential neighborhoods or employment centers. To allow for a parking space reduction, the site design shall incorporate pedestrian connections to the site and on-site pedestrian circulation, providing safe and convenient access to the building entrance.
(5) Where the applicant has provided a parking study, conducted by a qualified transportation engineer, demonstrating that another standard would be more appropriate based on actual number of employees, expected level of customer traffic, or actual counts at a similar establishment.
(6) A parking study may be required, at the sole discretion of the reviewing authority, to document that any one or more of the criteria in subsections (d)(1) through (4) above would be met.
(e) Deferred Parking.
(1) Where a reduction in the number of parking spaces is not warranted, but an applicant demonstrates that the parking requirements for a proposed use would be excessive, the City Council, for concept plans, and Planning Commission, for final plans, may defer a portion of the required parking. A site plan shall designate areas of the site for future construction of the required parking spaces, meeting the design and dimensional requirements of this chapter. Any area so designated shall be maintained in a landscaped appearance and not occupy required buffers, greenbelts or parking lot setbacks, or be used for any other purpose.
(2) The deferred parking shall meet the requirements of this chapter, if constructed. Construction of the additional parking spaces within the deferred parking area may be initiated by the owner or required by the City, based on parking needs or observation, and shall require approval of an amended site plan which may be approved by the Zoning Administrator.
(f) Temporary Parking. It is recognized that there may be special events or situations that occur infrequently which would result in a temporary reduction in the availability of required parking spaces or create a need for temporary off-site parking. Such events may include, but are not limited to, outdoor vehicle sales, festivals or fairs, church/school car washes, sporting events or garage sales. In those instances, the Zoning Administrator may authorize the use of a portion of the required parking area for other purposes on a temporary basis or permit temporary off-site parking, upon a demonstration by the applicant that:
(1) The loss of the required parking spaces may be off-set by requiring employees or customers to park elsewhere or that due to the time of year or nature of the on-site business, the required spaces are not needed;
(2) All or part of the displaced parking may be accommodated on unpaved areas of the site;
(3) Permission has been granted by neighboring property owners or operators to use their parking facilities;
(4) The duration of the special event is so short or of such a nature as to not create any appreciable parking shortage for the normal operation of the existing on-site use;
(5) Temporary off-site parking is located and designed to ensure safe and efficient circulation for both pedestrians and vehicles (a site plan may be required to demonstrate this); and
(6) The proposed special event satisfies all other applicable city regulations.
(g) Maximum Allowed Parking. In order to minimize excessive areas of pavement that detract from aesthetics, contribute to high rates of storm water runoff and generate reflective heat, the minimum parking space requirements of this section shall not be exceeded by more than ten percent (10%), unless approved by the City Council, as part of concept plan review, or the Planning Commission, as part of final plan review, or if the parking spaces are located within a multi-level parking structure. In approving additional parking space, the review authority shall determine that the parking is necessary, based on documented evidence, to accommodate the use on a typical day. Further, the review authority may require that parking spaces provided in excess of ten percent (10%) over the minimum requirement shall only be located on permeable surfaces.
(Ord. 4-21. Passed 1-4-21.)