§ 5. Parking and loading regulations.

The NCD imposes no minimum parking or loading requirements and the requirements of the underlying zoning ordinance may be modified by the NCD governing ordinance. It is the petitioner's responsibility to demonstrate the parking needs of the proposed development and to provide parking accordingly as part of the rezoning and site plan review process. Parking facilities not provided in an on-road configuration shall be concentrated in central areas that are landscaped and buffered to minimize views from major rights-of-way and adjoining properties. All parking facilities shall accommodate the following standards:

(1)

On-street parking shall be encouraged where site design and traffic patterns permit.

(2)

In no case will the minimum dimensional requirement for parking spaces or ADA requirements be waived or amended.

(3)

Parking facilities shall be concentrated in areas that are landscaped and buffered to minimize visibility from major rights-of-way, residential areas and adjoining properties.

(4)

Perimeter landscape buffers and curbed planting islands shall be required in all parking lots of five or more spaces.

(5)

All parking lots shall be screened from public streets and sidewalks, public open spaces, and adjacent properties by complying with one of the following landscaping options, and a two-foot car overhang area shall be provided in any planting area adjacent to parking stalls not intended for parallel parking.

a.

The outside perimeter of all parking areas and drive aisles shall include a landscaped area 12 feet in width offering a mixture of deciduous trees of a caliper of 2 inches or more or evergreen trees at least six feet in height planted on 50-foot centers and three shrubs per tree in no smaller than five-gallon containers. When a parking lot abuts a public right-of-way, the trees shall be planted no less than 30 feet on center; or

b.

A five-foot wide perimeter-landscaped area with metal ornamental fencing or a masonry wall supplemented with clusters of three shrub plantings of five-gallon size container on 30-foot spacings, or a continuous hedge of two-gallon size shrubs interspersed with 2-inch caliper deciduous trees (acceptable as a street tree) planted every 50 feet.

(6)

Parking lot landscaping shall include a minimum of one tree (two-inch deciduous or six-inch evergreen) for every ten parking spaces, or portion thereof.

(7)

All planting areas within or adjacent to a parking lot or vehicular use area shall be irrigated.

(8)

Unless part of a rain garden or similar runoff collection system, all landscaped areas shall be delineated by a vertical concrete curb no more than six inches tall.

(9)

All newly planted trees shall meet the city's minimum species and planting requirements for street trees.

(10)

Surface lots may abut, parallel or otherwise adjoin; without an intervening occupied structure or site improvement not including the landscaped screening strip required in subsection (6) herein; a dedicated right-of-way for no more than 50 percent of the parcel frontage.

(11)

Surface parking areas shall be interrupted with landscaped areas. No more than 20 continuous parking spaces shall be allowed in a row without a landscaped separation. In larger developments, surface parking shall be planned in sub-areas accommodating no more than 100 vehicles with landscaped separations. Parking separation areas shall be no less than 15 feet in width and landscaped according to subsection (5)a. herein.

(Ord. No. 09-03, § 1, 1-12-09)