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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWorkshop - Parking Lot.pdf REQUEST FOR PLANNI NG COMMISSION ACTION Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Description The Commission will receive information from staff on recommended updates to the City’s off-street parking ordinances designed to improve management of storm water run-off. Background As part of the City’s ongoing efforts to pr omote best practices in the reduction of storm water run-off and the improvement of water quality, staff recommends amending Sections 113-314 and 113-315 of the City Code to reduce the amount of impervious surface required for parkin g and to allow alternative designs for parking lot margins. These measures are en couraged by the Metropolitan Council. The proposed changes are a redu ction in parking space size from 9’ x 20’ to 9’ x 18’ and a reduction in minimum required wi dth of parking lot aisles to 24 feet, dimensions in line with today’s stan dards and the recommendations of the Metropolitan Council. The amendment wo uld also allow alternate curbing and pavement edge designs to direct runoff water to filtration basins and rain gardens at the discretion of the zoning administrator and city engineer. Budget Impact Unknown Attachment(s)  Portions of Falcon Heights City Code, Sections 113-314 and 113-315  Parking Lot Design BMP – Metropolitan Council  Parking Stalls and Driveway Design Gu idelines – City of Menlo Park, CA  Parking Lot Design (excerpt) – publicat ion of Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa Action(s) Requested  None at this time. The purpose of this workshop is to provide information and background in preparation for a public hearing and Commission action in June. The ordinance amendment draft will be provided prior to the hearing. Meeting Date May 22, 2012 Agenda Item Workshop Title Orientation on potential parking requirement changes related to storm water management Submitted By Deborah Jones, Staff Liaison Subdivision II. - Off-Street Parking … Sec. 113-314. - Miscellaneous provisions. … (c) Parking spaces. (1) Each parking space shall not be less than nine feet wide and 20 feet in length exclusive of an adequately designed system of a ccess drives. Smaller spaces for parking to be used only by compact cars may be permitted if approved by the city council. (2) Parking lots that separate vehicles based on size may be designed with parking spaces less than or greater than nine feet wide and 20 feet in length depending upon the size of the vehicle as long as adequate space is provided for easy and safe ingress and egress for the vehicle. (3) Proposed reductions in or additions to the parking space size must be submitted in a dimensioned site plan with the sizes of the vehicles to use parking spaces indicated to the zoning administrator for review and approval. (4) Signs specifying the vehicle size to use the parking space may be required by the zoning administrator. (5) Parking spaces for the handicapped shall not be less than 12 feet wide and 20 feet in length. … (Code 1993, § 9-13.04(5); Ord. No. 0-91-10, § 1, 6-19-1991; Ord. No. 0-96-01, § 4, 2-28-1996) Sec. 113-315. - Design and maintenance of off-street parking areas. … (b) Calculating space. When the calculation of the number of off-street parking spaces required results in a fraction, such fraction shall require a full space. … (f) Curbing and landscaping. All open off-street parking area designed to have head-in parking along the property line shall provide a bumper curb not less than five feet from the side property line or a guard of normal bumper height no less than three feet from the side property line. When said area is for six spaces or more, a curb or screening not over four feet in height shall be erected along the front yard setback line and grass or planting shall occupy the space between the sidewalk and curb or screening. Wheel guards as approved by the zoning administrator may be utilized. … (k) Determination of areas. The parking space per vehicle shall not be less than 350 square feet of parking and maneuvering area or an area equal to the width of the parking space multiplied by the length of the parking space plus 15 feet. … Community Development Dept.701 Laurel Street Menlo Park, CA 94025 650.330.6740 PARKING STALLS AND DRIVEWAY DESIGN GUIDELINES On March 18, 1996, the Planning Commission adopted guidelines for parking stalls and driveways. The guidelines standardize parking stall width dimensions and establish design criteria for review of driveway and parking lot circulation requests. General Considerations Parking Stall Dimensions: Changes in the vehicle size have changed the parking space dimensions necessary to accommodate large cars and small cars. These vehicle changes have also reduced the aisle width requirements to access a parking stall. Large cars typically need approximately 9 feet of stall width to provide sufficient door opening width, and small cars need approximately 8 feet of stall width. The one-size-fits-all designs are easier to execute for several reasons: 1) most drivers do not know the size of the vehicle or whether it is a la rge or small car; 2) most drivers take the first available space regardless of size; and 3) large cars parked in small-car spaces create problems by encroaching on adjacent spaces and possibly on the adjoining aisles. • The Parking guidelines utilize a one-size-fits-all width of 8 feet 6 inches. Driveway Design: The safety and efficiency of a street depends on the amount and character of interference affecting vehicles moving along it. Significant interference is caused on most roads by vehicles entering, leaving, or crossing at intersecting streets and driveways. In order to minimize accidents and to assure best overall use of the road by the general public, it is necessary to regulate vehicle movements in and out of abutting developments and cross streets. • The conflict effect of driveways is a function of traffic and pedestrian flow along the street and at the driveway. • A low volume driveway causes relatively little conflict on a major street, and a high volume driveway causes little conflict on a minor route. • In areas of high pedestrian activity, designs for low speed vehicular entry and exit may be based on radii and restricted total widths. • Driveways should be designed for curb lane access with minimal encroachment on travel lanes. • Design elements of each driveway (location, spacing, sight distance, throat width, radii, angles, and grades) should be based on expected volumes and vehicle characteristics. • For right-turn entry and exit, the driveway r adius should be consistent with the design vehicles sweep path requirements. • Most driveway design elements are directly rela ted to the layout of the parking area, amount of reservoir space, types of loading facility, circulation pattern, and building placement within the site. Please refer to the attached Parking Area Design Guidelines, Handicap Parking Design Guidelines, Driveway Design Guidelines, and Driveways Grade Guidelines information sheets for specific ations and detailed information. v:\handouts\parking guidelines.doc Chapter 5 Parking Lot Design GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS The parking lot is the first - and the last -part of a building complex to be viewed by the user. It is the gateway through which all customers, visitors, and employees pass. This first impression is very important to the overall feeling and atmosphere conveyed to the user.Developers want their new facilities to be attractive, well designed, and functional.Though many hours are spent on producing aesthetically pleasing building designs, the same design consideration for the parking area is often overlooked. Pavements in parking areas that are initially under-designed can experience excessive maintenance problems and a shortened service life.When properly designed and constructed,parking areas can be an attractive part of the facility that is also safe, and most important,usable to the maximum degree. In addition,parking areas should be designed for low maintenance costs and easy modification for changes in use patterns.Parking Lot Design 5-1 P arking Lot Design 5-2 The information in this chapter will pr ovide a general guide to pr oper parking ar ea design,constr uction, and facility layout. Minimum pavement thickness designs ar e given for various size parking lots, heavily-loaded ar eas,and industrial parking lots. In addition, this chapter gives comparable designs for both full depth asphalt pavements and asphalt over untr eated aggr egate base.General Planning In developing the parking ar ea plan, several important details should be consider ed. First and for emost in the mind of the developer may be pr oviding the maximum parking capacity in the available space while ensuring conveni -ence and safety .If the locality does not have a zoning or dinance identifying specific r equir ements for of f-str eet parking, the general r ecommenda -tions in T able 5-1 may be useful.Rules have been developed for optimizing parking ar ea space. Among them ar e the following:1.Use r ectangular ar eas wher e possible.2.Make the long sides of the parking ar eas parallel.3.Design so that parking stalls ar e located along the lots perimeter .4. Use traf fic lanes that serve two r ows of stalls.T ab le 5-1.Recommended Parking Requirements Land Use Spaces/Unit Residential Single-Family 2.0/Dwelling Multifamily Efficiency 1.0/Dwelling 1 -2 Bedroom 1.5/Dwelling Larger 2.0/Dwelling Hospital 1.2/Bed Auditorium/Theater/Stadium 0.3/Seat Restaurant 0.3/Seat Industrial 0.6/Employee Church 0.3/Seat College/University 0.5/Student Retail 4.0/1000 GFA Office 3.3/1000 GFA Shopping Center 5.5/1000 GLA Hotels/Motel 1.0/Room 0.5/Employee Senior High Schools 0.2/Student 1.0/Staff Other Schools 1.0/Classroom GFA, sq. ft. of gross floor area GLA, sq. ft. of gross leasable area P arking Lot Design 5-3 Special attention should be given to the flow of traf fic in and out of the lot as well as cir cu -lating r outes inside the lot. Keep entrances far away fr om busy str eet intersections and fr om lines of vehicles stopped at a signal or stop sign. Be sur e that the entering vehicles can move into the lot on an internal aisle, ther eby avoiding entering congestion caused by in -volvement with turning vehicles. A pedestrian traf fic-flow study is important to pr ovide in -formation about both safety and convenience.P arking Angle The most popular angles for parking stalls ar e 60 ¡, 45 ¡, and 90 ¡. The most common angle for parking is the 60 ¡angle because of the ease of operation it pr ovides. This angle permits r easonable traf fic lane widths and eases entry and exit of the parking stall.Wher e lot size r estricts the dimensions available for aisles and stalls, a 45 ¡angle may be used. The smaller change of dir ection r equir ed to enter and back-out of the stall space permits use of narr ower aisles. The 45 ¡angle r educes the total number of parking spaces for a given ar ea but is the only acceptable angle for a herringbone parking lot pattern.The 90 ¡parking angle pr ovides the most parking spaces for a given ar ea. The high degr ee of dif ficulty for entering and leaving these parking stalls makes this type of parking mor e suited to all-day parking, such as employee parking. This angle is generally not pr eferr ed for in and out lots such as those of fast food r estaurants and banks.P arking Space Dimensions T ypical parking stall dimensions vary with the angle at which the stall is arranged in r elation to the aisle. Stall widths (measur ed perpendicular to the vehicle when parked)range fr om 8-1/2 to 9-1/2 feet. The minimum width for public use parking spaces is 9 feet by 19 feet. Recommended stall dimensions for compacts and similar -sized vehicles ar e 7-1/2 feet by 15 feet. If a number of such spaces ar e to be pr ovided, they should be gr ouped together in a prime ar ea to pr omote their use.Stall widths for parking lots wher e shoppers generally have lar ge packages, such as supermarkets and other similar parking facilities, should be 9-1/2 feet or even 10 feet wide.Figure 5-1.P ar king lot angles P arking Lot Design 5-4 Figure 5-2.T ab le 5-2.Parking layout dimensions (ft) for 9 ft stalls at various angles.STALL LAYOUT ELEMENTS On Dimension diagram 45 °60 °75 °90 °Stall width parallel to aisle A 12.7 10.4 9.3 9.0 Stall length of line B 25.0 22.0 20.0 18.5 Stall depth to wall C 17.5 19.0 19.5 18.5 Aisle width between stall lines D 12.0 16.0 23.0 26.0 Stall depth, interlock E 15.3 17.5 18.8 18.5 Module, wall to interlock F 44.8 52.5 61.3 63.0 Module, interlocking G 42.6 51.0 61.0 63.0 Module, interlock to curb face H 42.8 50.2 58.8 60.5 Bumper overhang (typical)I 2.0 2.3 2.5 2.5 Offset J 6.3 2.7 0.5 0.0 Setback K 11.0 8.3 5.0 0.0 Cross aisle, one-way L 14.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 Cross aisle, two-way M 24.0 24.0 24.0 24.0 P arking Lot Markings Markings ar e a very important element of a good parking lot. The parking ar ea should be clearly marked to designate parking spaces and to dir ect traf fic flow . As specified in the Manual on Uniform T raf fic Contr ol Devices (MUTCD), parking on public str eets should be marked out by using white traf fic paint, except for danger ous ar eas, which should be marked in yellow .However , yellow lines ar e commonly used in of f-str eet parking lots. All pavement striping should be 4 inches in width.New asphalt surfaces can be marked with either traf fic paint or cold-applied marking tape. For best r esults with paint application,allow the Asphalt Concr ete to cur e for several days.Construction Practices Drainage Pr ovisions Drainage pr oblems ar e fr equently a major cause of parking ar ea pavement failur es. It is critical to keep water away fr om the subgrade soil. If the subgrade becomes saturated, it will lose str ength and stability , making the overlying pavement str uctur e susceptible to br eakup under imposed loads.Drainage pr ovisions must be car efully designed and should be installed early in the constr uction pr ocess. Parking ar ea surfaces should have a minimum slope of 2 per cent or 1/4 inch per foot. They should be constr ucted so water does not accumulate at the pavement edge. Ar eas of high natural permeability may r equir e an under drain system to carry water away fr om the pavement substr uctur e. Any soft or spongy ar ea encounter ed during constr uction should be immediately evaluated for under drain installation or for r emoval and r eplacement with suitable materials.