11-14-1979 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 27, 1979 Page Two South - Single family dwelling (113 foot wide lot) - zoned R -1 West - Single family homes (3), vacant parcel - question as to zoning district boundary (Tract P is B -2 and possibly a portion of Tract 0) ISSUES AND ANALYSIS The applicant has requested to expand the shopping center property 38 feet southward, using the added area for parking. He has purchased the property just south of the shopping center, intending to remove the existing garage, split the residential lot, adding 38 feet to the commercial property while leaving a conforming 75 foot single family lot. He has indicated that he is willing to make any other improvements the City may require in con- junction with the expansion. Also, he has offered to place protective covenants or deed restrictions on the 38 foot parcel to assure that it will remain used for parking and not for building expansion. In evaluating this request, a number of issues are raised: 1 . Parking. The shopping center currently has parking space available for approximately 25 cars at most. This includes some space at the rear of the building, however, due to poor circulation, this area is considered underutilized. Additionally, a semi- trailer used for storage currently uses up potential parking space. Since the City has recently referenced the parking requirements contained in the draft Zoning Ordinance revision, these requirements will be used in this report to evaluate the applicant's property. Based on one space per 200 square feet of floor area, the existing shopping center requires at least 47 spaces - nearly twice what exists. Upon field checking the site, a parking shortage was very apparent, even though it was mid - afternoon. Presumably the situation would worsen during rush hours. The improvements proposed by the applicant would result in an ultimate parking capacity of approximately 38 spaces. As can be seen by the Proposed Improvements graphic attached, the additional 38 feet of parking space requested for rezoning would allow parking along the south edge of the property, as well as creating a driveway to the back of the building. This driveway is viewed as improving circulation in the rear and thus should encourage use of the area available there for parking. It should be noted that the width of the expanded parking area is considered a little tight for a row of 90 degree parking plus driveway. Only 40 feet has been allowed while normally 42 -44 feet would be preferred. This was done to ensure that the residential lot to the south would still have 75 feet of width and remain conforming. There are two ways to ensure maximum efficiency in spite of the 40 foot width: 1) The parking stalls should be designed and striped to be 10 feet wide rather than 8 1/2 or 9 feet. This allows someone backing into the driveway enough room to begin turning before he is all the way into the drive; and 2) The businesses occupying the shopping center should encourage employees to park in the rear and southeast corner parking areas, freeing spaces in the front for customer parking.