Parking areas shall be designed so as to maximize accessibility and convenience, while ensuring that parking does not dominate the streetscape and site design and shall be subject to the following conditions:
(a) The design of parking facilities shall define spaces for safe pedestrian movement and spaces where people change modes of travel. Parking areas in excess of one-hundred (100) parking spaces must provide pedestrian walkways that are separate and distinguished from parking or vehicular circulation. Walkways may cross parking aisles or driveways if distinguished from driving surfaces through the use of durable, low maintenance surface materials such as pavers, bricks, scored concrete or scored and painted asphalt to enhance pedestrian safety and comfort. When appropriate, crosswalks may be required to be a "Table Top" design. The Zoning Administrator shall, at their discretion, approve the location, materials and design of all walkways and crosswalks.
(b) Placing large amounts of parking between the front door of buildings and the adjacent street contributes to a formless arrival experience for users, and creates a detached relationship between the primary building and the street. When not prohibited by another section of this code, the placement of all off-street parking between the front facade of the principal building and the primary abutting street(s) shall be avoided unless approved at the discretion of the City Administrator and Zoning Administrator. If the Zoning Administrator approves off-street parking spaces to be located between the front facade of the principal building and the Primary Street(s) abutting the site, then additional landscaping, mounding and/or buffering between the parking area and the primary street(s) may be required as a condition of this approval.
(c) In order to reduce the scale of parking areas, no single parking area shall exceed one hundred (100) spaces unless divided into two or more sub-areas separated from each other by a buffer strip consisting of landscaping, access drives or public streets, pedestrian walkways, or buildings. This requirement is in addition to the requirements imposed by Chapters 1145 (Minimum Landscape Requirements) and 1141 (Off-Street Parking and Loading). Safe and clearly defined pedestrian walkways, leading to store entrances, must be provided within large parking lots.
(d) Large parking areas in multiple building developments shall be divided into small lots related to the buildings served.
(e) Site design shall include an external orientation to the public street, and an internal orientation to the surrounding neighborhood with connected open space and pedestrian pathways.
(1) The primary entrance of the building(s) shall be located on the facade facing the street.
(2) Site design emphasis should be given to the pedestrian, rather than the auto through placement of parking to the side or rear of the building, rather than in front.
(3) When physical site limitations such as topography; existing trees or other natural features or special circumstances prevent the main entrance from being located on the street-facing facade, the Zoning Administrator may, at their discretion, approve the building oriented to a courtyard or other feature with a prominent pedestrian entrance and clear connection to the public sidewalk.
(Ord. 093-2020. Passed 7-6-20.)