Article 6: Off Street Parking and Loading Standards Table of Contents page Sec. 601 Purpose of Article 6.... 6-1 Sec. 602 Off-street parking; when required.... 6-1 Sec. 603 Number of parking spaces required.... 6-1 603 (a) Parking for residents, employees, customers and visitors...6-1 603 (b) Parking for company-owned vehicles not included...6-1 603 (c) Maneuvering lanes not considered parking....6-2 603 (d) Handicap accessible parking spaces...6-3 Table 6.2: Handicap Accessible Spaces Required... 6-4 603 (e) Dedication to parking use...6-4 603 (f) Reduction of off-street parking spaces....6-4 Sec. 604 Shared parking.... 6-4 604 (a) Shared parking between day and night users....6-4 604 (b) Mixed use developments....6-5 604 (c) Availability of shared spaces....6-5 604 (d) Recordation of shared parking agreement...6-5 Table 6.3: Percentage of Required Parking Spaces by Time Period... 6-5 Sec. 605 Off-site Parking... 6-6 Sec. 606 Design requirements for parking lots... 6-6 606 (a) Orientation to street....6-6 606 (b) Separation from walkways and streets....6-6 606 (c) Off-street parking spaces....6-7 606 (d) Access and circulation....6-7 Figure 6.1: Parking Illustration... 6-7 606 (e) Lighting of parking areas...6-8 Sec. 607 Improvement of parking areas.... 6-8 607 (a) Surfacing and marking...6-8 607 (b) Drainage and maintenance....6-9 Sec. 608 Off-street loading.... 6-9 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-i
Article 6 Off Street Parking and Loading Standards BLANK PAGE 6-ii Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008
Sec. 601 Purpose of Article 6. Article 6. Off Street Parking and Loading Standards Sec. 601 Purpose of Article 6. The purpose of this article is to ensure the provision of off-street parking in sufficient quantity to satisfy the demand generated by any given land use, and subsequently reduce the impact of development (requiring parking) on the public transportation system. Sec. 602 Sec. 603 Off-street parking; when required. Permanent off-street parking spaces shall be provided in accordance with the requirements of this Article whenever any of the following occurs: (1) At the time of the establishment of any use, or erection of any building. (2) At the time of occupancy of a building by a new use. (3) Whenever a building or use, constructed or established after the effective date of these regulations is changed or enlarged in floor area, number of employees, number of dwelling units, seating capacity or otherwise, to create a need for an increase of ten percent (10%) or more in the number of existing parking spaces, such spaces shall be provided on the basis of the enlargement or change. Number of parking spaces required. 603 (a) Parking for residents, employees, customers and visitors. Space for the parking of motor vehicles must be provided on every property that contains a principal use, for the safety and convenience of the people who live or work on the property, shop or do business on the property, or otherwise visit the property in the normal course of activity of the principal use. (1) Minimum number of parking spaces required. The minimum number of off-street parking spaces to be provided for residents, employees, customers and visitors for each type of land use shall be determined by the following Table 6.1, rounded up to the nearest whole parking space. Developments containing two or more of the uses listed on Table 6.1 shall provide the number of spaces required for each use (except as may be reduced under Shared Parking, below). (2) For any use not shown on Table 6.1, the Director of Community Development shall determine the appropriate minimum parking requirements for the use based on the requirements for similar uses, the operating characteristics of the use, or such other data, surveys or information upon which the Director deems relevant. Such an interpretation shall be considered an administrative decision for the purposes of appeal under the provisions of Article 13 of this Development Standards Ordinance. 603 (b) Parking for company-owned vehicles not included. Every business that stores vehicles owned by the business on site overnight (such as a company fleet), or maintains a stock of vehicles as part of its business activities (such as a car sales lot, a salvage and wrecking yard, car rental agency, etc.), shall provide for adequate parking or storage for the vehicles such that no parking occurs in a public right-of-way or in an area that has not been improved as a parking lot or storage yard. Such parking spaces shall be in addition to those required for residents, employees, customers and visitors. Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-1
Sec. 603 Number of parking spaces required. 603 (c) Maneuvering lanes not considered parking. Areas designated for temporary occupancy of vehicles while maneuvering on a site, such as queuing lanes for a drive-in window, are not considered parking spaces. Table 6-1: Off-Street Parking Standards Principal Use Required Off-Street Parking Auditorium, theater, places of public assembly, places of worship Auto service station, full service Auto service station, self-service Auto service station, self service with Convenience store Bowling Alley Child care center Rooming and boarding houses and group dwellings Dwelling unit Funeral home Grocery or supermarket Grocery convenient One (1) space for each four (4) seats based on maximum capacity One (1) space for each gasoline pump, plus three (3) for each service rack or wash rack One (1) space for each gasoline pump One (1) space for each gasoline pump, plus One (1) space for each 150 sq. ft of gross floor area Five (5) spaces for each lane One (1) space for each four (4) children per maximum capacity One (1) space for each bedroom or sleeping room 1.5 spaces for each one (1) bedroom unit, and two (2) spaces for each 2 or more bedroom unit Five (5) spaces minimum, plus one (1) space for each four (4) seats in the main assembly room 3.5 spaces for each 1,000 sq. ft. gross floor area One (1) space for each 200 sq. ft. gross floor area Hospital One (1) space for each patient bed, plus one (1) space for each 300 sq. ft. of office and administrative area Hotel, motel, or motor court Industrial, manufacturing, and processing uses Nursing home Office and professional building Office, medical or dental Public or private club, not dispensing alcoholic beverages Public utility building Restaurants and other establishments dispensing food, including drive-ins 1.1 spaces per rental unit, plus requirement for any use associated with the establishment One (1) space per 600 sq. ft. of gross floor area 1. 1 spaces for each patient bed One (1) space per 300 sq. ft. of gross floor area Ten (10) spaces per doctor or dentist One (1) space per 300 sq. ft. of gross floor area One (1) space per 300 sq. ft. of gross floor area One (1) space for each 150 sq. ft. of gross floor area Principal Use (cont d) Required Off-Street Parking (cont d) 6-2 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008
Sec. 603 Number of parking spaces required. Retail store and personal service shops Sales and service not listed elsewhere Elementary, Middle school, and Junior high Schools Senior high Schools, business, Vocational, and college Shopping center Taverns, discos, night clubs, and/or public or private clubs dispensing alcoholic beverages Wholesaler and distribution operations One (1) space per 300 sq. ft. of gross floor area One (1) space per 300 sq. ft. of gross floor area Two (2) spaces per classroom, plus two (2) spaces per office One (1) space for each vehicle owned or operated by or for the school, plus two (2) spaces per office, plus (1) space for every four (4) seats of maximum seating capacity in the main assembly room One (1) space for each 250 sq. ft. of gross floor area Parking spaces equal to thirty (30%) percent of capacity in persons 1.5 spaces for each 1,000 sq. ft. gross floor area 603 (d) Handicap accessible parking spaces. (1) Handicapped spaces are to be provided as required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act for all multi-family and nonresidential uses. (2) Handicap accessible parking spaces shall be counted as part of the total number of parking spaces required under this Article. (3) Handicap accessible parking spaces shall have an adjacent aisle 5 feet wide, and one in every 8 handicapped spaces shall be adjacent to an aisle 8 feet wide and the space shall be signed van accessible. Handicapped parking space aisles shall be clearly demarcated by lines painted on or otherwise applied to the parking lot surface. (4) Handicap accessible parking spaces shall be located on a surface with a slope not exceeding 1 vertical foot in 50 horizontal feet (1:50). Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-3
Sec. 604 Shared parking. (5) Handicap accessible spaces shall be provided in each parking lot in the following ratio to the total number of spaces otherwise required for the use under Table 6.2 (6) Wheelchair ramps shall be provided in accordance with County specifications at locations appropriate to normal travel routes from the parking lot to the principal use. (7) In addition to the requirements of this subsection, all handicapped parking shall comply with the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the South Carolina Accessibility Act. 603 (e) Dedication to parking use. (1) Parking spaces provided to meet the minimum requirements of this Article, along with the aisles and driveways necessary to provide access to those spaces, shall not be used for any other purpose Table 6.2: Handicap Accessible Spaces Required Total Spaces Required for Use Minimum Number of Handicap Spaces 1 to 25 1 26 to 50 2 51 to 75 3 76 to 100 4 101 to 150 5 151 to 200 6 201 to 300 7 301 to 400 8 401 to 500 9 501 to 1,000 2% of total 1,001 and over 20, plus 1 for each 100 over 1,000 Source: Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines. than the temporary parking of vehicles. Specifically, no such parking area may be used for the sale, repair, dismantling or servicing of any vehicles, or for the sale, display or storage of equipment, goods, materials or supplies. (2) Parking spaces provided to meet the minimum requirements of this Article shall not be used to meet the minimum parking requirements of any other use, except as provided for shared parking, below. (3) Parking spaces provided to meet the minimum requirements of this Article shall not be reduced in number nor otherwise lose their functional ability to serve the land use for which they were required. 603 (f) Reduction of off-street parking spaces. Off-street parking facilities at the effective date of this Ordinance shall not subsequently be reduced to an amount less than that required under this Ordinance for a similar new building or use. Off-street parking facilities provided to comply with the provisions of this Ordinance shall not subsequently be reduced below the requirements of this Ordinance, except that by reason of reduced floor area or capacity or change in requirements that a reduction of off-street parking is reasonable and consistent with the public welfare. Sec. 604 Shared parking. The parking spaces provided for separate uses may be combined in one parking lot but the required spaces assigned to each use may not be assigned to another use, except as follows: 604 (a) Shared parking between day and night users. One-half of the parking spaces assigned to a church, theater or assembly hall whose peak attendance will be at night or on Sundays may be assigned to a use that will be closed at night or on Sundays. 6-4 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008
Sec. 604 Shared parking. 604 (b) Mixed use developments. Parking spaces may be shared by more than one use if the Director of Community Development finds that the total number of spaces will be adequate at the peak hours of the uses they serve. The ratios on Table 6.3 may be used in determining the time of day and the day of the week at which the maximum number of spaces will be needed by the uses served by the shared parking facility. 604 (c) Availability of shared spaces. Parking spaces that are proposed to be shared among two or more uses must be clearly available to each use and not appear in any way to be serving a particular use, either through signage dedicating the spaces or through design techniques that would tend to orient use of the spaces to a particular business or building. 604 (d) Recordation of shared parking agreement. Shared parking arrangements must be committed to writing in an instrument acceptable to the Director of Community Development, and approved by the owners of each of the affected properties or uses. The instrument must be approved by the Director of Community Development and shall be recorded with the Register of Deeds, and a copy of the recorded document must be supplied to the Director of Community Development. The document must be written to survive future changes in ownership in perpetuity, unless the agreement is dissolved with approval by the County Council. Table 6.3: Percentage of Required Parking Spaces by Time Period Weekdays Weekends Nighttime 6 am to 5pm 5pm to 1am 6 am to 5pm 5pm to 1am 1am to 6am Office 100% 10% 10% 5% 5% Retail 60% 90% 100% 70% 5% Hotel 75% 100% 75% 100% 75% Restaurant 50% 100% 100% 100% 10% Entertainment/Recreation 40% 100% 80% 100% 10% Church 10% 25% 100% 100% 10% Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-5
Sec. 605 Off-site Parking By way of example, the following illustrates shared parking calculations for a particular mixed-use development: Example: Spaces needed for uses in a mixed-use project, calculated individually: Factor for Spaces Office 3.5/1,000 100,000 sf 350 Retail 5/1,000 100,000 sf 500 Hotel w/restaurant 1.5/room 100 rooms 150 Family Restaurant 9.5/1,000 20,000 sf 190 Theater 1/4 seats 200 seats 50 Church 1/4 seats 400 seats 100 TOTAL if figured separately 1,340 Spaces Required applying the Peak Demand Percentages to the Example: Weekdays Weekends Nighttime 6 am--5pm 5pm--1am 6 am--5pm 5pm--1am 1am--6am Office 350 35 35 18 18 Retail 300 450 500 350 25 Hotel w/restaurant 113 150 113 150 113 Family Restaurant 95 190 190 190 19 Theater 20 50 40 50 5 Church 50 50 100 100 10 TOTAL 928 925 978 858 189 Highest demand = 978 (instead of 1,340) Sec. 605 Sec. 606 Off-site Parking If required parking spaces are not located on the same lot as the particular use, building or establishment they are intended to serve, the following shall apply: (1) No required parking spaces may be located across any State or US highway from the use they are intended to serve. (2) An easement (or other recordable instrument satisfactory to the Director of Community Development) dedicating the off-site parking to the property that the spaces serve shall be recorded with the Register of Deeds and a copy provided to the Director of Community Development. The document must be written to survive future changes in ownership in perpetuity, unless the agreement is dissolved with approval by the County Council. Design requirements for parking lots. The provisions of this Section apply to all off-street parking spaces and parking areas, whether 1) the parking meets or exceeds the number of spaces required to serve a particular use or 2) the parking lot is operated as a principal use on a property and not dedicated to serving a particular use. 606 (a) Orientation to street. Except for parcels of land devoted to one-family or two-family dwellings, all areas devoted to off-street parking shall be so designed and be of such size that no vehicle is required to back into a public street to obtain access. 606 (b) Separation from walkways and streets. Landscaping, curbing, fencing, or other approved barriers to vehicular movement shall be provided along the property boundaries to control entrance and exit of vehicles or pedestrians, and separate off-street parking from sidewalks and streets. 6-6 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008
Sec. 606 Design requirements for parking lots. 606 (c) Off-street parking spaces. Every parking space shall provide a useable rectangular area at least 9 feet wide by 20 feet long, except that a maximum of thirty (30%) percent of the total number of stalls may be 8.5 feet wide by eighteen (18) feet long. However, the dimensions of all parallel parking stalls shall not be less than nine (9) feet wide by twenty-four (24) feet long. Access aisles shall not encroach into this minimum rectangular area. Every parking space shall be clearly demarcated by lines painted on or otherwise applied to the parking lot surface. 606 (d) Access and circulation. (1) Access aisles in parking lots must be at least 24 feet wide serving spaces that are perpendicular (90º) to the access aisle, and provide for two-way traffic. Access aisles serving spaces that are oblique (slanted) to the access aisle shall be limited to one-way traffic, and shall have the following minimum widths: 20 feet wide serving spaces that are at a 60º angle to the aisle, and 15 feet wide serving spaces that are at a 45º angle to the aisle. (See the Parking Illustration, below.) Angles less than 45º to the access aisle are not allowed, except for parking spaces that are parallel to the access aisle. Figure 6.1: Parking Illustration (2) One-way traffic aisles must be clearly marked with directional arrows on the pavement at each intersection with another aisle. (3) Ingress and egress to parking areas shall be by means of paved driveways from the adjoining street. Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-7
Sec. 607 Improvement of parking areas. a. The minimum width of driveways for ingress and egress shall be the same as those specified above for aisles. Driveway width, for the purpose of this section, shall include only the pavement and not the curbs and gutters. b. The slope of ingress and egress driveways at their connection to the adjoining street shall not exceed that allowed by County specifications for landings at residential street intersections. (4) Inter-parcel access. a. Internal Access Easements Required. Inter-parcel access shall be achieved by means of shared driveway easements between properties. The purpose of the easement is to facilitate movement of customers from business to business without generating additional turning movements on the public streets which best protects the interest of the public heath, safety and welfare. b. Access Easement Provisions. The easement shall permit automobile access from the adjoining property to driveways and parking areas intended for customer or tenant use; but parking spaces may be restricted to use by the owner s customers and tenants only. 1. Inter-parcel vehicle access shall be required between automobile parking areas on all contiguous parcels, except those used for single family or two family dwellings, when the parking areas are or will be in reasonable proximity to one another. 2. On all surface drives (i.e., inter-parcel streets that are not government owned or maintained), curb cuts may be located no closer than 20 feet from a property line. 3. All access easements shall be no less than 28 feet in width and shall be wide enough to permit two-way vehicular traffic to and from the adjoining properties. 4. Inter-parcel access shall not be allowed within 35 feet of the right-ofway of any public street or road. c. Relief. Requirements of this section may only be waived by the County Engineer when it is adequately demonstrated that the adverse impact of the required easements on use of the subject property would outweigh the reduced impact on public streets provided by reciprocal easements. 606 (e) Lighting of parking areas. Adequate lighting shall be provided if off-street parking spaces are to be used at night. Equipment for lighting parking facilities shall be arranged so that light does not interfere with traffic or adjoining residential uses. Light fixtures shall be of a design such that the source of illumination shall not be visible from adjoining properties or public roadways. This may be accomplished by varying the height of the fixture or installing globes which limit the cone of light from such fixtures. Sec. 607 Improvement of parking areas. 607 (a) Surfacing and marking. Parking lots with twenty (20) or more spaces shall be surfaced with asphalt, concrete or other material approved by the Planning Department, and shall be marked by painted lines, curbs or other means to indicate individual spaces. However, the Plan- 6-8 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008
Sec. 608 Off-street loading. ning Department may waive such requirements on an individual basis for rural churches, certain industrial uses, and uses not catering to the public. 607 (b) Drainage and maintenance. Off-street parking facilities shall be properly graded for drainage to prevent damage to abutting property and/or public streets. Off-street parking areas shall be maintained in a clean, orderly, dust free, and weed free condition at the expense of the owner or lessee and not used for the sale, repair, dismantling, or servicing of any vehicles or equipment, except for service and auto repair stations. Sec. 608 Off-street loading. (1) All uses shall provide off-street loading areas sufficient for their requirements. Such space shall ensure that no vehicle being loaded or unloaded in connection with normal operations will stand in or project onto a public street or sidewalk. (2) Off-street loading and unloading areas shall in all cases be located on the same lot or parcel of land as the structure they are intended to serve. Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008 6-9
Sec. 608 Off-street loading. BLANK PAGE 6-10 Pickens County UDSO: December 15, 2008