CHAPTER 14-800. PARKING AND LOADING

§ 14-801. Purpose, Applicability, and General Standards.

(1) Purpose. 873

This section establishes off-street parking requirements as a necessary part of the development and use of land, to ensure the safe and adequate flow of traffic in the public street system, and to ensure that parking areas are designed to perform in a safe, efficient manner. It is also the intent of this section to manage the adverse visual, environmental, and economic impacts of parking areas. Specific purposes include to:

(a)   Ensure that off-street parking, loading, and access demands will be met without adversely affecting nearby land uses and neighborhoods;

(b)   Provide for vehicle and pedestrian circulation and safety in parking areas, and create a safe and more pedestrian-friendly environment;

(c)   Improve the visual appearance of public street corridors by encouraging buildings and other attractive site features to become more prominent relative to parking areas;

(d)   Provide for better pedestrian movement and encourage alternative modes of transportation by reducing the expanses of parking that must be traversed between destinations;

(e)   Support a balanced transportation system that is consistent with cleaner air and water, greater transportation choices, and efficient infill and redevelopment; and

(f)   Allow flexibility in addressing vehicle parking, loading, and access issues, including providing alternatives to standard required surface parking.

 

Notes

873	Amended, Bill No. 120431 (approved June 27, 2012), effective August 22, 2012.

(2) Applicability.

(a)   New Construction and Additions.

The provisions of this Chapter 14-800 apply to structures that are newly-erected or expanded, except for the following:

(.1)   Development that increases by twenty-five percent (25%) or less the number of dwelling units in the structure or the gross floor area of the structure, where there is no change of use; and

(.2)   Structures that are destroyed, as set forth in § 14-305(10) (Reconstruction of Destroyed Structures).

(b)   Change of Use.

(.1)   The parking and loading requirements of this section are applicable to any change of use that requires more parking and loading spaces than the existing use as set forth by this Zoning Code, except as set forth in § 14-801(2)(b)(.2) and § 14-801(2)(d), below. 874

(.2)   The minimum parking and loading requirements listed within § 14-802 (Motor Vehicle Parking Ratios), § 14-804 (Bicycle Parking Ratios and Standards), and § 14-806 (Off-Street Loading) do not apply to any change of use within a structure constructed before the effective date of this Zoning Code, provided that the changes is to a permitted or approved special exception use for the zoning district where the lot is located. 875

(c)   More Specific Standards Elsewhere in the Zoning Code.

When an individual zoning district or the rules and exceptions for the zoning districts in another section of this Zoning Code contain parking and/or loading requirements that are different than the requirements of this section, the requirements in those sections shall take precedence over this section.

(d)   Historic Structures. 876

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Zoning Code, no parking or loading spaces shall be required for any portion of a building or structure that, pursuant to Chapter 14-1000, has been designated as historic; or that is located in a district that has been designated as historic and that contributes, in the Historical Commission's opinion, to the character of such district. Expansions to such buildings or structures, as well as portions of such buildings or structures that are not designated as historic or considered contributing by the Historical Commission, shall be subject to a reduction of fifty percent (50%) of the minimum parking or loading requirement, which may be met off-site under the conditions of § 14-802(9) (Off-Site Parking).

(e)   Parking Landscape and Screening.  877

The requirements of § 14-803(5) (Parking Landscape and Screening) shall apply to the entirety of all principal or accessory use parking lots, loading spaces, and drive-through driveways, as well as all outdoor Personal/Commercial Vehicle Sales and Rentals uses, except for any of the following:

(.a)   Those accessory to single-family and two-family uses.

(.b)   Where development increases by twenty-five percent (25%) or less the number of dwelling units or the gross floor area on the property.

(.c)   Where there is a change of use, but no associated development:

(.1)   The property is 50,000 sq. ft. or less in area; or

(.2)   The property is greater than 50,000 sq. ft. in area, but the change of use affects less than seventy-five percent (75%) of existing gross floor area;

(.d)   Parking lots that are the subject of a Philadelphia Water Department stormwater retrofit grant project.

(.e)   In no case shall newly constructed parking spaces or lots be subject to the exemptions in (.a), (.b), or (.c), above.

 

Notes

874	Amended, Bill No. 190611-A (approved November 12, 2019), effective January 1, 2020.
875	Amended, Bill No. 220418 (approved November 30, 2022).
876	Added, Bill No. 190611-A (approved November 12, 2019), effective January 1, 2020; amended, Bill No. 210637 (approved November 17, 2021).
877	Added, Bill No. 220414 (approved September 13, 2022). For effective date provisions, see note 165.

(3) Location.

Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Zoning Code, required off-street parking, loading, and vehicle stacking spaces shall be located on the same lot as the principal use and must have adequate access to a street or driveway connecting to a street.