Chapter 18.50 - Parking Design Guidelines

Sections:

18.50.010 - Purpose of Chapter
18.50.020 - Applicability
18.50.030 - General Parking Guidelines
18.50.040 - Access and Circulation
18.50.050 - Parking Lot Design
18.50.060 - Pedestrian Connections

18.50.010 - Purpose of Chapter

This Chapter provides parking design guidelines to assist property owners and project designers in understanding the Town's goals for attaining high quality development that is sensitive to the Town's unique character.

18.50.020 - Applicability

These guidelines will be used during the land use permit process as additional project review criteria.

A. The provisions of this Chapter apply whenever access and/or parking are provided for a project regardless of whether the access or parking are required by this Development Code. Any addition, relocation, or construction requiring land use permit approval in compliance with Article IV (Land Use and Development Permit Procedures), shall follow these guidelines where applicable.

B. The following guidelines may be interpreted with some flexibility in their application to specific projects as not all design criteria may be workable/appropriate for each project. In some circumstances, a guideline may be relaxed in order to accomplish another, more important guideline. The overall objectives are to ensure that the intent and spirit of the design guidelines are followed and to attain the best possible design within reason.

18.50.030 - General Parking Guidelines

A. Location of parking areas. Aside from concerns for traffic safety and efficiency, the appearance of parking lots, from the standpoint of their visual impact, is an important concern. Projects should be laid out so that parking lots are not the dominant feature of the development when viewed from the street. Generally, it is not advisable to place the parking area along the front of the site because it creates a negative visual impact which detracts from the project’s architectural image. Parking placed along the side or to the rear of a site, or within a complex of buildings, allows project architecture and the beauty of the landscaped open space to take precedence. (See Figure 3-20, Location of Parking Areas)

B. Limiting pavement. Paving areas of the site for parking and other vehicle use beyond the minimum necessary to comply with the requirements of this Development Code is strongly discouraged. The Town requires significant landscaping adjacent to the perimeter of the parking area and along the street frontage to soften the appearance of paved areas and to provide sufficient snow storage areas during the winter months.

18.50.040 - Access and Circulation

A. Primary project entries should be designed as special statements reflective of the character of the project. The goal should be to establish a distinctive and inviting image for the project. Textured paving, flowering accents, low walls, shrubs, and the use of specimen trees (36" box or larger) should be used to generate visual interest at entry points to commercial centers.

B. Entry drives on larger projects (200 or more parking stalls) should include a minimum five foot wide landscaped median to separate incoming and out-going traffic. (See Figure 3-21, Entry Drives Large Lots)

C. Driveways should be coordinated with existing or planned median openings. Driveways should also align with driveways on the opposite side of the roadway.

D. The first parking stall that is perpendicular to an entry driveway or the first aisle juncture that is perpendicular, should be a least 40 feet back from the curb to provide adequate vehicle queuing distance off the street. With larger centers, a longer setback distance may be required. (See Figure 3-22, Queuing Area)

E. Non-residential projects are encouraged to provide cross-access to adjacent non-residential properties for convenience, safety and efficient circulation. A Mutual Access Agreement shall be executed where cross access is provided. A shared parking reduction may be allowed in compliance with Section 18.48.050 (Adjustments to Off-Street Parking Requirements).

18.50.050 - Parking Lot Design

A. Parking lots should be designed with a hierarchy of circulation: major access drives with no parking; major circulation drives with little or no parking; and then parking aisles for direct access to parking spaces. Small projects may need to combine components of the hierarchy.

B. Proposed parking lots with compact spaces should be designed to disperse the compact spaces throughout the parking area.

C. Parking lots should include landscaping that accents the importance of the driveways from the street, frames major circulation aisles, and highlights pedestrian pathways. (See Figure 3-23, Circulation Hierarchy and Landscaping)

D. Drop-off points (i.e. wider aisles) located near entrances to major buildings and plaza areas should be provided for projects over 50,000 square feet of building area.

E. Parking areas should be separated from buildings by either a raised walkway or landscape strip at least four feet wide. Situations where parking aisles or spaces directly abut the building are strongly discouraged. (See Figure 3-24, Separation of Parking From Structures)

F. Intersections should be kept to a minimum and dead end aisles should be avoided unless absolutely necessary and then proper backup areas are required.

G. Parking lots should be broken up into segments or modules by means of intervening landscaping, access driveways, or structures to avoid large unbroken expanses of paved area.

H. Parking and circulation areas should be screened from public streets by combinations of low walls, berms, plant materials and changes in grade. The height of the screen should not cause visibility problems at entrances or along pedestrian ways. (See Figure 3-26 Top, Screening for Parking Areas) (See Figure 3-26 Bottom, Screening for Parking Areas)

18.50.060 - Pedestrian Connections

A. Pedestrian and bicycle access should be designed to physically and visually link the site to the public sidewalk and bikeway system as an extension of the project's circulation system and to separate pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Also, provision should be made for direct pedestrian links between the project and adjoining projects and residential areas, whenever appropriate.

B. Projects should include a system of pedestrian walkways that interconnect business entries with each other and with parking areas. Walkways should connect individual structures within a project directly without forcing pedestrians to mix with vehicular traffic. (See Figure 3-27, Pedestrian Connections)

C. Where pedestrians mix with traffic, parking lots should be designed so that pedestrians walk parallel to moving cars. This will minimize the need for pedestrians to cross parking aisles and landscape areas. (See Figure 3-25, Pedestrian Circulation)

D. Walkway layout should anticipate pedestrians' desired movements and should provide direct routes whenever feasible. Sidewalks should not be used for snow storage areas. Meandering sidewalks, while encouraged, should contain only shallow curves to avoid frustrating pedestrians with unnecessary detours.

E. Walkways should be well-marked by means of low-level directional signs, lighting, distinctive paving, and landscaping. Where feasible, trellises, arbors, arcades, or similar features should be used to cover walkways and provide clear identification of facilities. Where textured paving is used, it should not be so rough or irregular as to make walking difficult, snow and ice removal difficult, or discourage the use of baby strollers or wheelchairs.