ORDINANCE NO. 1738

AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PARKING AND LOADING REQUIREMENTS IN THE CITY OF GRAND JUNCTION.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAND JUNCTION:

That Section 5 of Chapter 32 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Grand Junction be repealed and reenacted as follows:

Section 5. PARKING AND LOADING

a. Unless otherwise provided, as in an organized parking district, purchased or leased, off-site parking, or otherwise acceptably arranged, the minimum standards for off-street on-site parking requirements shall be mandatory for all new construction and expansions of existing uses unless a hardship can be clearly demonstrated.

b. In unusual circumstances, such as those cases listed below where the parking requirements create an extreme hardship, a reasonable reduction may be requested. In such cases where the petitioner and the Planning Staff do not agree, the City Planning Commission shall hear the request, act upon it and send it to the City Council for final action. Examples of hardships which may be considered are as follows:

(1) Uses, where many employees or tenants do not own or drive vehicles due to age or other reasons.

(2) Uses, where the multiple use parking requirements may be inappropriate due to differing peaks of demand.

(3) Uses, where the multiple use parking requirements may be inappropriate due to the related nature of the uses needing the off-street parking.

(4) Uses, which operate on shifts where the actual demand at any one time would be less than a demand calculated on the total number of employees.

(5) Uses, which if more than substantially damaged cannot reasonably provide the additional parking required by this ordinance if the use would be reconstructed.

c. Employee parking shall be addressed and accommodated off-street for all categories, except where employee parking is specifically addressed and required in the minimum standards. The amount of employee parking and the distance it may be located from the proposed use shall be determined from information obtained through a statement of impact. The statement of impact shall address such things as:

(1) Type of use

(2) Number of employees (perceived)

(3) Square feet of sales area, service area, etc. (as requested)

(4) Parking spaces proposed on-site

(5) Parking spaces proposed off-site

(6) Hours of operation

(7) Administration (enforcement and maintenance)

d. All petitioners should be advised that in unusual or extreme circumstances, a petitioner may be asked to provide more than the minimum number of required parking stalls.

e. The following area minimum standards for parking spaces to be maintained in connection with the buildings and uses indicated. In those instances where there are clearly identified multiple uses within a structure, the minimum standards shall apply to each use, resulting in a total parking requirement when summed.

USE PROPOSED PARKING REQUIREMENTS

a) Theaters one space per each four seats (designed seating capacity)

b) Bowling Alleys four spaces per lane

c) Elementary and Junior High Schools two spaces per each classroom

d) High Schools one space per each four persons (designed capacity)

e) Day Care and Nursery Schools one and one-half spaces per employee

f) Hospitals one space per each two bed + two spaces per each three employees per employee shift

g) Nursing Homes one space per each four beds one space per each three employees per employee shift

h) Hotels one space per unit

i) Motels one space per unit

j) Boarding Houses one space per unit + one space per owner/manager

k) Clubs/Lodges one space per each three persons (designed capacity)

l) Dormitories/Fraternities/Sororities one space per each two beds

m) Offices, Banks, Medical-Dental Clinics, and Government Offices one space per each 300 square feet of floor area

n) Restaurants one per three seats (designed seating capacity)

o) Bars/Nightclubs one space per each two persons (designed capacity)

p) Mortuaries one space per each five persons (designed capacity)

q) Retail Sales/Services

1) High Volume Retail Sales (Consists of supermarkets, clothing and department stores, shopping complexes, hardware, building supplies, and similar uses) one space per each 200 square feet sales area (includes employee parking)

2) Low Volume Retail Sales (Consists of furniture/appliance sales, repair shops, nurseries, greenhouses, and similar uses) one space per each 250 square feet sales area (includes employee parking)

r) Service Business (Consists of beauty/barber shops, animal hospitals, frozen food lockers, laundries and similar uses) one space per each 300 square feet gross floor area (includes employee parking)

s) Vehicles Sales (such as automobile dealerships, used car sales, recreational vehicle sales, etc.) an area = to 10% of the display area

t) Wholesale Business employee parking plus 10% of total employee stalls for visitor parking

u) Warehousing employee parking only

v) Industrial/Manufacturing employee parking plus 10% of total for visitor parking

w) Residential Residential uses for all one (1) family dwelling up to and including four (4) family dwelling units two spaces per dwelling unit. For all multi-family dwelling units five (5) and greater per structure, one and one half (1 1/2) spaces per dwelling unit, plus one space for every 5 spaces for recreational vehicles and/or visitor parking.

All conditions Uses (drive-in, auditoriums, trade schools, colleges, churches, etc.) to be determined in conjunction with conditional use process.

1. Space dimensions as follows:

2. Applicability . . . In the case of a use not specifically mentioned, the off-street parking standards for a similar use shall apply.

3. Location . . . The parking area should be provided on the same property as the principal building wherever possible. In business, commercial, and industrial districts the parking may be within 200 feet of the property, but within a zone district permitting such parking use. Such separate parking lots shall be maintained as long as the principal buildings or uses are maintained. Parking spaces in residential districts shall not be in a front yard setback as required by setback regulations.

4. Use of off-street parking by another building . . . No part of an off-street parking space identified for any building or use shall be included as a part of an off-street area for another building or use, unless it is demonstrated such users do not conflict with each other.

Joint parking facilities . . . The off-street parking requirements for churches, auditoriums, clubs or lodges may be supplied with other off-street facilities, provided other uses such as business offices, retail stores, manufacturing, or wholesale buildings, whose operations are not normally conducted during the same hours, subject to:

(a) Off-street parking designated for joint use shall not be more than 200 feet from the property or use it is intended to serve, except that employee parking may be further if it can be reasonably used.

(b) A business may purchase or long term lease off-street parking from a parking entity (public or private) to satisfy required parking minimums. Purchased or leased parking will be considered appropriate if it is within 200 feet of the property and can be demonstrated not to have an adverse affect on the existing parking supply.

(c) Sufficient evidence shall be presented to demonstrate that there will be no substantial conflict in any joint parking arrangement.

(d) Evidence in the form of a written agreement between the owners (or other parties of interest) of the structures or uses for which joint parking arrangements are proposed shall be presented with the application for a building permit and a copy of said agreement shall be maintained in the files of the Building Official.

5. Plan of Parking Areas . . . For any parking area, plans should be submitted to the Building Inspector, Traffic Engineer, and City Planner for investigation and recommendation.

6. When an area provides parking spaces for more than 15 cars, at least 5% of the total area of the parking lot shall be used for landscaping and/or aesthetic treatment requiring staff approval.

7. For each boundary line of a business parking area abutting directly on a residential use, there shall be a wall, screen fence, or screen planting of a year-round nature, of six feet high except where setback requirements would limit it.

PASSED and ADOPTED this 17th day of May, 1978.

Karl M. Johnson

____________________

President of the Council

Attest:

Neva B. Lockhart, CMC

____________________

City Clerk

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance, being Ordinance No. 1738, was introduced, read, and ordered published by the City Council of the City of Grand Junction, Colorado, at a regular meeting of said body held on the 3rd day of May, 1978, and that the same was published in The Daily Sentinel, a newspaper published and in general circulation in said City, at least ten days before its final passage.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of said City this 18th day of May, 1978.

Neva B. Lockhart

____________________

Neva B. Lockhart, CMC

City Clerk

First Publication: May 5, 1978

Published: May 19, 1978

Effective: June 18, 1978