Accessory loading and unloading facilities shall be provided as a condition precedent to occupancy of all business, service and industrial buildings hereafter erected and altered to such uses. Such facilities shall be maintained as long as such building is occupied or unless equivalent facilities are provided in conformance with the regulations of this chapter.
(a) Allocation of Use. Space required and allocated for any off-street loading shall not, whole so allocated, be used to satisfy the space requirements for off-street parking. An off-street loading space shall not be used for repairing or servicing of motor vehicles, and it shall be available for its designated purpose when needed.
(b) Location of Facility. In an industrial district, a loading space or loading dock shall not be permitted in a front yard or constructed on any part of the front face of a building. A loading space or loading dock may be constructed on a side face of a building provided the loading dock is located at least fifty-five feet away from the front face of the building as measured from the side of the loading dock closest to the front face of the building to the closest part of the front face of the building. A loading space or loading dock may be located on the rear face of a building. In all situations, a loading space or loading dock shall be in accordance with side or rear yards as required for parking areas in Section 1218.04
. In a business district a required loading space shall be permitted as provided in Section 1216.06
.
(c) Access Driveways. Each required off-street loading space shall be designed for direct vehicular access by means of a driveway or driveways, to a public street in a manner which will least interfere with traffic movements. The access shall be located so that the driveway center line shall be not less than forty feet from the nearest intersecting street line.
(d) Improvements. All accessory off-street loading spaces shall be improved as required for parking areas as set forth in the Building Code.
(e) Minimum Size Criteria. Each required off-street loading space for buildings less than 20,000 square feet in gross floor area shall be at least ten feet wide by at least twenty-five feet in length. Each required loading space for a building of 20,000 square feet or more of floor area shall be not less than fourteen feet wide by sixty feet in length. The above areas shall be exclusive of the maneuvering space and each space shall have a vertical clearance of at least seventeen feet.
(f) Schedule of Required Loading Facilities. Buildings of less than 5,000 square feet of floor area shall be provided with sufficient off-street loading facilities so that a truck will not obstruct a public right of way. Buildings of 5,000 square feet or more shall be provided with accessory off-street loading spaces as follows:
Building, Use or Activity | Gross Floor Area of Building (in square feet) | Required Minimum Number of Spaces |
Retail stores, all types | 5,000 to 10,000 | 1 |
10,000 to 40,000 | 2 | |
40,000 to 100,000 | 3 | |
Printing, publishing warehouses, storage establishments | 5,000 to 40,000 | 1 |
40,000 to 100,000 | 2 | |
Servicing, cleaning, repairing, testing or manufacturing establishments | 5,000 to 40,000 | 1 |
40,000 to 100,000 | 2 | |
each additional 100,000 | 1 additional space | |
If a proposed use does not require the number of loading spaces as provided in the above schedule due to the nature of the business or industrial use, the Director of Inspections may permit the construction of a lesser number of spaces, provided however, the additional area required to provide the number of spaces in the schedule shall be reserved and held as open area (along with all required yards) for future construction of loading spaces in the event the use of the building is changed to require the additional loading spaces.
(Ord. 1987-91. Passed 6-18-87.)