In order to alleviate progressively or to prevent traffic congestion and shortage of curb spaces, 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. The number of parking spaces and the number of loading berths prescribed in this chapter or to be prescribed by the planning commission shall be in proportion to the need for such facilities created by the particular type of land use. Off street parking and loading areas are to be laid out in a manner which will ensure their usefulness, protect the public safety and, where appropriate, insulate surrounding land uses from their impact.
Provisions of this chapter 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: the difficulty in assembling land by private means; the often excessive time required in assembling land by private means; the varying financial capabilities and traffic generating characteristics among the various types of commercial enterprise; 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; the importance of prescribing regulations which will not inadvertently discourage private investment within the community, while alleviating or preventing traffic congestion; and 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 facilities. (Ord. 622, 9-2-1980)