(A) Number, separation and width.
(1) The number, location and width of private access drives or roads onto public roads may be controlled and limited by the City Council in the interests of public safety and efficient traffic flow.
(2) The minimum separation between private driveways along a public street shall be:
(a) Local or collector street: two times the required side yard setback for a driveway;
(b) Arterial street: 50 feet;
(c) U-shaped driveways, any street: 50 feet between the inside edges of the driveway surface.
(3) The minimum distance between the point that any private driveway meets a public street and the nearest intersection of two public street curb lines shall be 60 feet.
(4) Residential driveways shall be a maximum of 28 feet in width at the property line with three foot wide flares (four foot minimum and eight foot maximum length) and maximum slope of 12% as depicted in Figure 15-1 below. Refer also to § 154.162 Parking in Residential Areas, Supplementary. Commercial, industrial, or institutional driveways shall be a maximum of 28 feet in width at the property line if two lanes, a maximum of 26 feet in width at the property line if three lanes and shall have a maximum slope of 10%. The City Engineer may, at their discretion, allow adjustments to commercial, industrial, and institutional driveway widths, flares, or radii to accommodate large trucks.
Figure 15-1: Residential Driveway Detail
(5) The maximum width of a driveway when located in front of the living portion of a house shall be 12 feet.
(B) Building access by fire emergency vehicles.
(1) Driveways shall be installed and sites shall be designed to meet the requirements of § 503 of the Minnesota Fire Code. Generally, this means that a fire truck must be able to park within working distance of a water source and still be within 150 feet of any portion of the exterior wall of a building as measured by the length of the attack hose. The all-weather paved access drive shall be at least 20 feet wide and capable of supporting the weight of the city fire truck.
(2) Buildings four to eight stories tall have additional access road requirements under § 503 of the Minnesota Fire Code.
(3) For buildings with an automatic sprinkler system, fire apparatus access roads need only be provided to an approved location, to the sprinkler system fire department connection and to any secondary on-site water supplies, per the Minnesota Fire Code.
(C) Driveways onto county roads. Access drives onto county roads shall require a review by the County Engineer, who may determine the appropriate location, size and design of the access drives and may limit the number of access drives in the interest of public safety and efficient traffic flow.
(D) Public road access required to each parcel. All lots or parcels shall have direct adequate physical access for emergency vehicles along the frontage of the lot or parcel from either an existing dedicated public roadway, or a private roadway or access drive approved by the City Council.
(E) Number of housing units allowed on a private internal access road. The maximum number of dwelling units allowed to be accessed by a single private internal circulation road or driveway is 16. Private streets are allowed only for multiple-family housing developments.
(F) Minimum length of driveways. Any driveway terminating at a garage shall provide at least 20 feet of parking space between the garage door and a property boundary line, a sidewalk or a private access road.
(Ord. 1040, passed 1-5-16; Am. Ord. 1109, passed 8-15-23)