(A) It is the purpose of this section to allow evaluation of off-street parking requirements for vehicles to prevent or lessen the traffic congestion and parking problems on public streets and to leave street parking available to persons making short-term visits for shopping, personal business and related activities. Off-street parking and off-street loading facilities shall be provided incidental to new land uses and major alterations and enlargements of existing land uses. Major land use development proposals will be expected to meet on-site parking requirements and, for customer satisfaction, should want to provide parking for their convenience. On-site parking is a normal part of land use development and satisfying Code requirement will be the rule and not the exception. Allowing large scale or high intensity land uses an exception to Code requirements, or to pay in-lieu fees, may have a tendency to over-load the city's existing parking inventory on at least a short-term basis, and in the case of some areas, exceed the city's ability to satisfy long-term needs. The number of parking spaces and the number of loading berths prescribed in this subchapter, or to be prescribed by the Planning Commission, shall be proportional to the need for such facilities created by the particular type of land use. Off-street parking and loading areas shall be laid out in a manner that will ensure their usefulness, protect the public safety, and, where appropriate, insulate surrounding land uses from their impact. The provisions of this subchapter are intended to:
(1) Provide clear standards for parking requirements;
(2) Provide parking requirements that are appropriate for specified land uses;
(3) Provide for flexibility in meeting parking requirements;
(4) Ensure that parking requirements are consistent with the land use goals of the community; and
(5) Discourage unnecessary curb cuts and the loss of on-street parking spaces through the construction of driveways downtown.
The provisions of this subchapter are also intended to deal with major problems, conditions, and needs which are apparent in attempting to provide sufficient off-street parking facilities in areas of intense commercial development, including:
(1) The difficulty in assembling land by private means;
(2) The often excessive time required in assembling land by private means;
(3) The varying financial capabilities and traffic generating characteristics among the various types of commercial enterprises;
(4) The importance of avoiding the development of a fragmented pattern of off-street parking facilities which may bear little relation to the needs of a commercial area as a whole;
(5) The importance of prescribing regulations which will not inadvertently discourage private investment within the community while alleviating or preventing traffic congestion; and
(6) The importance of achieving a reasonable distribution of burden among private interests and the public at large consistent with their individual and collective responsibilities to provide off-street parking and loading facilities.
(B) Every building hereafter erected in the city shall be provided with parking spaces as provided in § 10-3.1202 of this subchapter, subject to the other provisions of this subchapter. Such parking spaces shall be made available and shall be maintained for parking purposes according to the required use of the building.
(C) Every building hereafter reconstructed, remodeled, or structurally altered shall be provided with parking spaces as required by the new use of the building. The parking spaces required by this subsection shall be determined by subtracting the number of parking spaces required by the provisions of § 10-3.1202 of this subchapter for the building as used prior to its reconstruction, remodeling, or structural alteration from the number of spaces required by § 10-3.1202 for the building for its proposed use after its reconstruction, remodeling, or structural alteration. Such parking spaces shall be made available and shall be maintained for parking purposes according to the required use of the building. For buildings other than dwellings, if the number of parking spaces thus determined does not exceed the number of spaces required by the provisions of § 10-3.1202 for the building as used prior to its reconstruction, remodeling, or structural alteration by at least 10% or by five spaces, whichever is greater, no additional parking space need be provided by reason of the reconstruction, remodeling, or structural alteration of the building. In the event it is not possible to determine the number of parking spaces required for a particular building in the manner set forth in this subsection, the Commission shall determine an adequate number of parking spaces for such a building based on standards comparable to those set forth in § 10-3.1202.
('61 Code, § 10-3.1201) (Ord. 26 C.S., passed 4-16-62; Am. Ord. 721 C.S., passed 9-20-00)