§ 20.44.020. Parking standards.

When off-street parking is required pursuant to TCC 20.44.030, then the following provisions and standards shall apply:

1.

Review. Required parking facilities shall be shown on the site plan for building permit or hearing examiner approval. This requirement shall not apply when a proposed permit is for single-family detached or for two-family structures with an attached garage for each unit.

2.

Access to Parking Areas.

a.

All parking facilities shall be provided with safe and convenient access to a street. Ingress and egress to public streets shall be provided only through driveway openings of such dimension, location and construction as may be approved by the public works department. Driveway openings onto collector and arterial streets shall conform to adopted standards limiting encroachments onto such streets and shall be combined where possible.

b.

Parking areas for uses other than single-family detached and two-family structures with attached garages shall have access from a clearly limited and defined driveway not less than ten feet wide if for one-way traffic and twenty feet wide if for two-way traffic, and not more than thirty-five feet wide. Exceptions may be granted by the approval authority provided public safety is assured.

c.

Within the Grand Mound, Tenino, Rainier and Yelm unincorporated urban growth areas, access driveways to parking areas described in Section 20.44.020(b), above, shall be surfaced with asphalt, concrete, or other approved non-gravel hard surface so as to provide a surface that is durable and dust free, and shall be so graded and drained as to properly dispose of all surface water. Access driveways may be surfaced with gravel if both of the following criteria apply;

i.

The access driveway and parking area contains only one or two parking spaces; and

ii.

The shortest feasible route between the road access and the parking area is at least one hundred feet in length.

3.

Location of Parking Areas.

a.

Required off-street parking for other than residential uses shall be either on the same lot or within three hundred feet of the building or use it is intended to serve, measured from the nearest point of the building or use to the nearest point of the required off-street parking facility.

b.

On collector or arterial streets, parking areas shall not be located across the street from the use to which they pertain. Exceptions may be granted by the public works director provided public safety is assured.

4.

Use of Designated Parking Areas.

a.

Parking facilities shall be used solely for the parking of vehicles in operating condition. No motor vehicle repair work except emergency service shall be permitted in association with such a parking facility.

b.

Any area once designated as required off-street parking shall not be changed to any other use unless and until equal facilities are provided elsewhere and the approved site plan, if applicable, has been amended to reflect the change or the principal use served by the parking no longer requires such off-street parking.

5.

Landscaping and Lighting.

a.

When parking facilities exceed five thousand square feet, a minimum of ten percent of the total internal parking area shall be set aside for landscaping.

b.

Landscaping islands within parking facilities shall be designed to maximize their ability to function as conveyance, detention, and/or treatment systems for storm water. All parking facilities shall comply with the provisions for landscaping as set forth in Chapter 20.45.

c.

Plant Selection. No tree, shrub, or plants shall be proposed for use within a parking area that has been identified as a noxious weed, as defined by Chapter 16-750 WAC, or an Invasive Species, as defined in TCC 24.03.010.

d.

Landscaping within parking areas shall be regularly maintained to ensure they continue to properly function as stormwater systems.

e.

All parking facilities shall comply with the provisions for lighting as set forth in Chapter 20.40.

6.

Pre-existing Uses.

a.

Whenever an existing building or use requiring off-street parking is increased in floor area, the number of additional parking spaces required shall be based upon the addition only.

b.

Off-street parking for existing uses shall not be reduced to an amount less than hereinafter required for a similar new building or new use.

7.

Joint and Shared Parking Facilities.

a.

When two or more adjoining land uses or uses within a building have operating hours of users that do not conflict (e.g., an office and a church), total parking may be reduced to the amount required for the more intensive use. Evidence of joint use agreements, assurance from all parties regarding nonconflicting hours of operation or other items may be required by the approval authority prior to such reductions.

b.

When two or more adjoining land uses or uses within a building have similar or overlapping hours of operation, parking requirements may be reduced by no more than fifty percent of the least intensive use. Evidence of joint use agreements, assurance from all parties regarding hours of operation or other items may be required by the approval authority prior to such reductions.

8.

Within the Grand Mound urban growth area, the Grand Mound Development Guidelines dated March 9, 1998 and updates thereto, are adopted and incorporated in this chapter by reference as fully set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 11804 § 97, 1998; Ord. 11653 § 7, 1998: Ord. 11398 § 3 (part), 1997: Ord. 7274 § 1 (part), 1982)

(Ord. No. 14773, § 10(Att. I), 7-24-2012; Ord. No. 15355, 1(Att. A, § SS), 10-18-2016)