(a) Design. Off-street parking space may be open to the sky, or enclosed in a building or structure, either above or below ground level. Off-street parking areas and ingress and egress, shall comply with such design standards relating to curb, driveway width, island width, barriers, and drainage as may be established from time to time by the City Engineer. In no case shall off-street parking spaces or driveways providing access to off-street parking lots, for other than single or two-family residences, be designed so as to require motor vehicles to back into public streets in order to exit from the off-street parking space or off-street lot.
(Ord. 0-27-2008. Passed 3-16-09.)
(b) Surfacing. All open off-street parking areas, including associated driveways, driveway extensions, aisles and circulation areas shall be graded, and provided with a hard surface of bituminous asphalt or Portland cement concrete or with a comparable all weather surface acceptable to the Director.
(Ord. 0-2-2010. Passed 2-1-10.)
(c) Separation. All open off-street parking areas shall be separated from public street rights-of-way or setback lines that have been established by this Zoning Code by a wall, fence, or similar structure or by a strip of ground at least ten (10) feet in width, and a six (6) inch high poured-in-place concrete curb shall be provided on the parking lot side of ten (10) foot width, extending below grade not less than eighteen (18) inches. Additionally, all off-street parking areas shall be located a minimum of four (4) feet from adjoining properties.
(d) Screening. When any open off-street parking area containing more than two (2) parking spaces (except parking accessory to a single-family residence) is adjacent to a lot in an Agricultural, Residence or Office-Residence District, or is separated only by a dedicated street or alley, an effective buffer or screen consisting of a solid wall, solid fence, or dense living hedge shall be provided at the lot line to protect the privacy of the adjoining residential uses. Such wall, fence, or hedge shall be not less than six (6) feet in height, except as regulated by Section 521.07 of the Codified Ordinance.
(Ord. 0-27-2008. Passed 3-16-09.)
(e) Lighting. If the off-street parking area consists of more than twenty-five (25) parking spaces, it shall be provided with lighting in accordance with Section 1157.06 through 1157.09. Any lighting used to illuminate off-street parking areas shall be equipped with suitable shielding or be so designed as to avoid casting direct light upon any other property located in a residential district. (Ord. 0-2-2010. Passed 2-1-10.)
(f) Signs. The Zoning Administrator may require the installation of directional signs.
(g) Drainage. All open off-street parking areas shall be provided with adequate drainage facilities as approved by the City Engineer.
(h) Interior Design. All parts of open off-street parking areas which are unusable, either for parking or for traffic, shall be landscaped with plantings of grass, flowers, shrubs, or trees, which shall be continuously maintained.
(i) Marking. Designated parking spaces shall be marked on the surface of the parking area with white paint or permanent marking materials and maintained in clearly visible condition. Other paint, marking, or signs shall be placed in accordance with the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and approved by the City Engineer.
(j) Landscape Design. No parking facility shall be constructed or enlarged until a landscape plan for such facility has been reviewed and approved by the Director. City staff may seek the assistance of the City Beautification Committee in review of such landscape plan. The primary landscaping materials used in such parking facilities shall be trees which shall be eight (8) feet to ten (10) feet in minimum overall height upon planting and which provide shade or are capable of providing shade at maturity.
(1) Shrubbery, hedges and other planting materials may be used to complement the tree landscaping. A guide of planting types deemed acceptable for landscaping purposes is on file in the office of the planning division of the Engineering Division and should be consulted prior to design of any parking facility.
(2) In addition to trees, a wall, hedge, or other durable landscape barrier shall be required. Specific delineation of location and height is found in Section 1155.08 (d) of this Zoning Code. Walls, as defined in this section, shall mean wood slat (vertical, horizontal, or basket-weave), brick, stone, and concrete or masonry, but only if the latter is cement plaster coated. Other materials, earthen berms, or topography may be used or considered on the merits of the particular project.
(3) The interior dimensions of any planting area or planting median shall be sufficient to protect the landscaping materials planted therein and to insure proper growth. In those instances where plant material exists on a proposed parking facility prior to its development, such landscape material may be used to meet the requirement of this Zoning Code.
(4) Interior Requirements. Within interior vehicular use areas ten thousand (10,000) square feet or greater in size, and for each additional ten thousand (10,000) square foot unit or a proportional fraction thereof, a minimum total of five hundred (500) square feet of landscape area shall be provided, irrespective of the peripheral requirements. For individual parking lots with more than five parking spaces, five (5) percent of the vehicular use area, irrespective of the perimeter requirements, shall be devoted to landscaping. Planting which is required for screening along peripheral areas of parking facilities shall not be considered as part of the interior coverage requirement. A minimum of two (2) trees, each a minimum size of one and three-quarters (1-3/4) inches in trunk diameter, shall be provided for each ten thousand (10,000) square foot unit of interior vehicular use area. The minimum distance from a tree to a vehicular use area shall be four (4) feet measured from the trunk of the tree.
(5) The interior landscape area and trees required for each ten thousand (10,000) square foot vehicular use area unit or fraction thereof shall be located within that vehicular use area unit or fraction thereof. In areas where the Director has determined that the strict application of this Section will interfere with the function of a vehicular use area, the unused portion of the required interior landscaping shall be relocated elsewhere on the property so as to emphasize a landscaping feature.
(6) If in the judgment of the Director it has been deemed appropriate, credit may be received on the interior landscaping plan by preserving existing trees capable of tolerating adjacent construction. In order to maintain any tree deemed eligible for credit, the ground area under and within the drip line of the tree shall be preserved from the trunk out to the edge of the drip line and shall be maintained in either vegetative landscape material or pervious surface cover, except when the Zoning Administrator determines that lesser areas and other ground cover treatment will provide sufficient nourishment for the continued growth of the preserved type of tree. The required number of new trees may be reduced in accordance with the following schedule in exchange for preserving existing trees:
Diameter of Existing Crown Spread of Preserved Trees | Diameter Tree Trunk of Preserved Tree (*2) | Number of Trees Credited |
(*l) | ||
90 ft. or greater | 36 inches of greater | 7 |
60-89 ft. | 30-35 inches | 6 |
50-59 ft. | 26-29 inches | 5 |
40-49 ft. | 20-25 inches | 4 |
30-39 ft. | 13-19 inches | 3 |
20-29 ft. | 8-12 inches | 2 |
16-19 ft. | 4-7 inches | 1 |
(*1) Rounded off to the nearest whole foot.
(*2) Measured to a height of four and one-half (4½) feet above the natural grade and rounded off to the nearest whole inch.
(7) Peripheral Requirements. The width of the peripheral landscape strip of all parking facilities that abut adjoining property that is not street right-of-way shall be governed by applicable sections under Section 1149, buffer strips. In addition, the landscape strip ten (10) feet in width shall be required along all sides of parking facilities that abut street rights-of-way. Such landscape strip shall contain a combination of planting and complementary materials as noted above. Materials that compose the barrier requirement shall be no more than three (3) feet in height and shall be installed at the edge of the landscape strip most distant from the street right-of-way. One (1) tree shall be planted for each forty (40) feet lineal of the landscape strip at a minimum distance of six (6) feet from the street right-of-way.