19.606 PARKING AREA DESIGN AND LANDSCAPING

The purpose of Section 19.606 is to ensure that off-street parking areas are safe, environmentally sound, aesthetically pleasing, and that they have efficient circulation. These standards apply to all types of development except for middle housing, single detached dwellings, and residential homes.

19.606.1  Parking Space and Aisle Dimensions

A.    The dimensions for required off-street parking spaces and abutting drive aisles, where required, shall be no less than in Table 19.606.1. The minimum dimensions listed in Table 19.606.1 are illustrated in Figure 19.606.1.

Figure 19.

Parking Dimension Factors

B.    The dimension of vehicle parking spaces provided for disabled persons shall be according to federal and State requirements.

C.    Parking spaces shall be provided with adequate aisles or turnaround areas so that all vehicles may enter the street in a forward manner.

D.    Drive aisles shall be required in parking areas greater than 5 spaces. Drive aisles shall meet the minimum width standards of Subsection 19.606.1. Where a drive aisle or portion thereof does not abut a parking space(s), the minimum allowed width for a one-way drive aisle shall be 8 ft and the minimum allowed width for a two-way drive aisle shall be 16 ft.

19.606.2  Landscaping

A.    Purpose

The purpose of the off-street parking lot landscaping standards is to provide vertical and horizontal buffering between parking areas and adjacent properties, break up large expanses of paved area, help delineate parking spaces and drive aisles, and provide environmental benefits such as stormwater management, carbon dioxide absorption, and a reduction of the urban heat island effect.

B.    General Provisions

1.    Parking area landscaping shall be required for the surface parking areas of all uses, except for middle housing and single detached dwellings. Landscaping shall be based on the standards in Subsections 19.606.2.C-E.

2.    Landscaped areas required by Subsection 19.606.2 shall count toward the minimum amount of landscaped area required in other portions of Title 19.

3.    Parking areas with 10 or fewer spaces in the Downtown Mixed Use Zone are exempt from the requirements of Subsection 19.606.2.

4.    Required trees shall be species that, within 10 years of planting, will provide a minimum of 20-ft diameter shade canopy. Compliance with this standard is based on the expected growth of the selected trees.

5.    Implementation of this section is in addition to, and must be coordinated with, Chapter 16.32 Tree Code.

C.    Perimeter Landscaping

The perimeter landscaping of parking areas shall meet the following standards which are illustrated in Figure 19.606.2.C.

1.    Dimensions

The minimum width of perimeter landscape areas are shown in Table 19.606.2.C.1. Where a curb provides the border for a perimeter landscape area, the dimension shall be measured from the inside of the curb(s). The Planning Director may reduce the required minimum width of a perimeter landscaping area where existing development or site constraints make it infeasible to provide drive aisles, parking spaces, and the perimeter landscaping buffer width listed in Table 19.606.2.C.1.

2.    Planting Requirements

Landscaping requirements for perimeter buffer areas shall include one tree planted per 30 lineal ft of landscaped buffer area. Where the calculation of the number of trees does not result in a whole number, the result shall be rounded up to the next whole number. Trees shall be planted at evenly spaced intervals along the perimeter buffer to the greatest extent practicable. The remainder of the buffer area shall be grass, ground cover, mulch, shrubs, trees, or other landscape treatment other than concrete and pavement.

Figure 19.606.2.C

Perimeter Landscaping Areas

3.    Additional Planting Requirements Adjacent to Residential Uses

In addition to the planting requirements of Subsection 19.606.2.D.2, all parking areas adjacent to a residential use shall have a continuous visual screen in the landscape perimeter area that abuts the residential use. The area of required screening is illustrated in Figure 19.606.2.C.3. The screen must be opaque throughout the year from 1 to 4 ft above ground to adequately screen vehicle lights. These standards must be met at the time of planting. Examples of acceptable visual screens are a fence or wall, an earth berm with plantings, and other plantings of trees and shrubs.

Figure 19.606.2.C.3

Additional Planting Requirements Adjacent to Residential Uses

D.    Interior Landscaping

The interior landscaping of parking areas shall meet the following standards which are illustrated in Figure 19.606.2.D.

1.    General Requirements

Interior landscaping of parking areas shall be provided for sites where there are more than 10 parking spaces on the entire site. Landscaping that is contiguous to a perimeter landscaping area and exceeds the minimum width required by Subsection 19.606.2.C.1 will be counted as interior landscaping if it meets all other requirements of Subsection 19.606.2.D.

2.    Required Amount of Interior Landscaped Area

At least 25 sq ft of interior landscaped area must be provided for each parking space. Planting areas must be at least 120 sq ft in area and dispersed throughout the parking area.

3.    Location and Dimensions of Interior Landscaped Areas

a.    Interior landscaped area shall be either a divider median between opposing rows of parking, or a landscape island in the middle or at the end of a parking row.

b.    Interior landscaped areas must be a minimum of 6 ft in width. Where a curb provides the border for an interior landscape area, the dimension shall be measured from the inside of the curb(s).

4.    Planting Requirements for Interior Landscaped Areas

a.    For divider medians, at least 1 shade or canopy tree must be planted for every 40 linear ft. Where the calculation of the number of trees does not result in a whole number, the result shall be rounded up to the next whole number. Trees shall be planted at evenly spaced intervals to the greatest extent practicable.

b.    For landscape islands, at least 1 tree shall be planted per island. If 2 interior islands are located contiguously, they may be combined and counted as 2 islands with 2 trees planted.

c.    The remainder of any divider median or landscape island shall be grass, ground cover, mulch, shrubs, trees, or other landscape treatment other than concrete and pavement.

Figure 19.606.2.D

Location and Dimensions of Interior Landscaped Areas

5.    Additional Landscaping for Large Parking Areas

Parking areas with more than 100 spaces on a site shall not have more than 15 spaces in a row without providing an interior landscaped island. See Figure 19.606.2.D.5.

Figure 19.606.2.D.5

Additional Landscaping for Large Parking Areas

E.    Other Parking Area Landscaping Provisions

1.    Preservation of existing trees is encouraged in the off-street parking area and may be credited toward the total number of trees required, based on staff’s review.

2.    Installation of parking area landscaping shall be required before a certificate of occupancy is issued, unless a performance bond is posted with the City. Then landscaping shall be installed within 6 months thereafter or else the bond will be foreclosed and plant materials installed by the City.

3.    Parking area landscaping shall be maintained in good and healthy condition.

4.    Required parking landscaping areas may serve as stormwater management facilities for the site. The Engineering Director has the authority to review and approve the design of such areas for conformance with the Public Works Standards. This allowance does not exempt the off-street parking landscape area from meeting the design or planting standards of Subsection 19.606.2.

5.    Pedestrian walkways are allowed within perimeter and interior landscape buffers if the landscape buffer is at least 2 ft wider than required in Subsections 19.606.2.C.1 and 19.606.2.D.3.b.

19.606.3  Additional Design Standards

A.    Paving and Striping

Paving and striping are required for all required maneuvering and standing areas. Off-street parking areas shall have a durable and dust-free hard surface, shall be maintained for all-weather use, and shall be striped to show delineation of parking spaces and directional markings for driveways and accessways. Permeable paving surfaces may be used to reduce surface water runoff and protect water quality.

B.    Wheel Stops

Parking bumpers or wheel stops, of a minimum 4-in height, shall be provided at parking spaces to prevent vehicles from encroaching on the street right-of-way, adjacent landscaped areas, or pedestrian walkways. Curbing may substitute for wheel stops if vehicles will not encroach into the minimum required width for landscape or pedestrian areas.

C.    Site Access and Drive Aisles

1.    Accessways to parking areas shall be the minimum number necessary to provide access while not inhibiting the safe circulation and carrying capacity of the street. Driveway approaches shall comply with the access spacing standards of Chapter 12.16.

2.    Drive aisles shall meet the dimensional requirements in Subsection 19.606.1.

3.    Parking drive aisles shall align with the approved driveway access and shall not be wider than the approved driveway access within 10 ft of the right-of-way boundary.

4.    Along collector and arterial streets, no parking space shall be located such that its maneuvering area is in an ingress or egress aisle within 20 ft of the back of the sidewalk, or from the right-of-way boundary where no sidewalk exists.

5.    Driveways and on-site circulation shall be designed so that vehicles enter the right-of-way in a forward motion.

D.    Pedestrian Access and Circulation

Subsection 19.504.9 establishes standards that are applicable to an entire property for on-site walkways and circulation. The purpose of Subsection 19.606.3.D is to provide safe and convenient pedestrian access routes specifically through off-street parking areas. Walkways required by Subsection 19.606.3.D are considered part of the on-site walkway and circulation system required by Subsection 19.504.9.

1.    Pedestrian access shall be provided for off-street parking areas so that no parking space is further than 100 ft away, measured along vehicle drive aisles, from a building entrance, or a walkway that meets the standards of Subsection 19.606.3.D.2.

2.    Walkways through off-street parking areas must be continuous, must lead to a building entrance, and meet the design standards of Subsection 19.504.9.E.

E.    Internal Circulation

1.    General Circulation

The Planning Director has the authority to review the pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular circulation of the site and impose conditions to ensure safe and efficient on-site circulation. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, on-site signage, pavement markings, addition or modification of curbs, and modifying drive aisle dimensions.

2.    Connections to Adjacent Parking Areas

Where feasible, parking areas shall be designed to connect with parking areas on adjacent sites to eliminate the use of the street for cross movements.

3.    Drive-Through Uses and Queuing Areas

The following standards apply to uses with drive-through services and uses such as gas stations and quick vehicle service facilities where vehicles queue rather than park on the site. The Planning Director has the authority to determine when the standards apply to a proposed use.

a.    The drive-up/drive-through facility shall be along a building face that is oriented to an alley, driveway, or interior parking area, and shall not be on a building face oriented toward a street.

b.    None of the drive-up, drive-in, or drive-through facilities (e.g., driveway queuing areas, windows, teller machines, service windows, kiosks, drop-boxes, or similar facilities) are located within 20 ft of the right-of-way.

c.    Queuing areas shall be designed so that vehicles do not obstruct a driveway, fire access lane, walkway, or public right-of-way. Applicants may be required to submit additional information regarding the expected frequency and length of queues for a proposed use.

F.    Lighting

Lighting is required for parking areas with more than 10 spaces. The Planning Director may require lighting for parking areas of less than 10 spaces if the parking area would not be safe due to the lack of lighting. Lighting shall be designed to enhance safe access for vehicles and pedestrians on the site, and shall meet the following standards:

1.    Lighting luminaires shall have a cutoff angle of 90 degrees or greater to ensure that lighting is directed toward the parking surface.

2.    Parking area lighting shall not cause a light trespass of more than 0.5 footcandles measured vertically at the boundaries of the site.

3.    Pedestrian walkways and bicycle parking areas in off-street parking areas shall have a minimum illumination level of 0.5 footcandles, measured horizontally at the ground level.

4.    Where practicable, lights shall be placed so they do not shine directly into any WQR and/or HCA location. The type, size, and intensity of lighting shall be selected so that impacts to habitat functions are minimized. (Ord. 2218 § 2 (Exh. B), 2022; Ord. 2168 § 2, 2019; Ord. 2161 § 2, 2018; Ord. 2106 § 2 (Exh. F), 2015; Ord. 2051 § 2, 2012; Ord. 2036 § 3, 2011; Ord. 2025 § 2, 2011)