§ 22.50.060. Off-street parking areas—Design requirements.

The following requirements shall apply to off-street parking areas accommodating four or more vehicles excluding single-family residential and duplexes:

A.

Each parking area shall be designed to enable ingress and egress without requiring the vehicle to back over sidewalks, onto any roadway with a speed limit over twenty-five miles per hour, or onto a roadway that may pose inherent risks to traffic and safety to be determined by the public works director.

B.

Parking areas shall be designed to:

1.

Utilize ninety degree parking if most efficient;

2.

Orient parking rows perpendicular to the building to enhance pedestrian safety when possible;

3.

Define stalls with white, or otherwise visible and uniform, striping a minimum of four inches wide to facilitate movement and to maintain an orderly parking arrangement;

4.

Maximize use of pervious materials and minimize unnecessary impervious surfaces, where feasible consider use of grass pavers or similar methods;

5.

Ensure access to public transportation through the design of internal roadways, parking areas, and pedestrian paths.

D.

Parking facilities should provide for pedestrian accessibility between uses for transportation efficiency.

E.

Sidewalks or walkways shall be designed to ensure pedestrian safety by separating any driveway or parking area from a building or roadway. Parking spaces must utilize approved wheel stops to prevent vehicles overhang of a sidewalk or walkway (see interlock reduction in Figure 22.50.060A).

F.

The surface of all parking and vehicle maneuvering areas shall be hardscape and may be constructed of approved impervious or pervious materials. Where gravel surfaces are approved and used, these surfaces shall be designed to not track material into the public right-of-way to the satisfaction of the director and shall have a hardscape surface apron a minimum of five feet wide adjacent to public roads.

G.

Landscaped islands or dividers shall be required at the end of parking bays to clearly define traffic and turning patterns.

H.

Parking facilities shall comply with the landscaping provisions set forth in Chapter 22.47.

I.

Parking facilities shall be designed and maintained in accordance with the parking standards in Figure and Illustration 22.50.060A.

J.

Accessible parking shall be provided in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Thurston County Building Code, Chapter 14.17.

K.

Required High Occupancy Vehicles. All employers required to operate high occupancy vehicles (HOV) shall mark the closest parking spaces to the building "Reserved for HOV." These spaces shall not displace required accessible parking.

L.

Parking lot lighting not exceeding twenty-four feet in height is required to provide safe access for pedestrians unless otherwise specified. All outdoor artificial light sources shall comply with Section 22.40.035, Exterior illumination.

M.

Employers with one hundred or more employees which use an administrative modification specified by Section 22.50.075(B) to increase parking must meet the following design elements:

1.

Double the amount of interior landscaping required under Chapter 22.47 within the parking lot. Fifty percent of this requirement, if proven to be maintained, may be an approved pervious surface.

2.

Purchase and install a transit shelter to meet Intercity Transit operation needs unless already available within one-quarter mile and on the same side of the right-of-way as a primary entrance to the building. Intercity Transit may waive this requirement if it finds it impractical or may change the distance depending on density or demand.

3.

Construct a transit pullout if subsection (L)(2) of this section is used, and if Intercity Transit finds it practical.

4.

If transit requirements in subsections (L)(2) and (L)(3) of this section are deemed impractical or infeasible, credit may be given for other Intercity Transit or Thurston Regional Planning Council demand management strategies to the satisfaction of the community development director.

5.

Construct a covered bicycle rack with secure bicycle lockers in accordance with Section 22.50.120.

6.

In those instances where site constraints impede these design elements, written findings of fact shall be made identifying site and project constraints, and shall be identified in the final project approval letter.

Figure 22.50.060A

Parking Design Standards
Angle	Stall Width (A)	*Stall Depth (B)	** Aisle Width (C)	Parking Module Width (D)	Interlock Reduction (E)
45°	9'0"	17'4"	12'3"	46'11"	2'0"
50°	9'0"	18'4"	12'9"	49'5"	1'10"
55°	9'0"	18'6"	13'3"	50'3"	1'7"
60°	9'0"	18'10"	14'3"	51'11"	1'4"
65°	9'0"	19'0"	15'2"	53'2"	1'2"
70°	9'0"	19'2"	16'1"	54'5"	0'11"
75°	9'0"	19'0"	17'6"	55'6"	0'8"
90°	9'0"	17'11" 18'0"	22'6"	58'4" 58'6"	N/A

 

( ) Definitions for letters in parenthesis appear in Illustration 22.50.060A.

* For ADA accessible parking standards, refer to the Building Code, Chapter 14.17 Thurston County Code.

* If parking aisle also serves as a required fire lane, the minimum unobstructed width shall be twenty feet.

Note— An applicant may propose a maximum of fifteen percent of parking stalls designed for compact vehicles, reflecting the overall privately owned vehicle fleet. Compact vehicles stalls shall be a minimum of eight feet wide and fifteen feet deep. The Director may approve alternative parking geometrics consistent with the most recent standards of the Institute of Transportation Engineers or the National Parking Association.

(Ord. 11669 § 4 (part), 1998; Ord. No. 14388, § 7, 8-3-2010; Ord. No. 14773, § 10(Att. I), 7-24-2012; Ord. No. 15390, § 1(Att. A, § AJ), 11-29-2016)

Illustration 22.50.060A