17.72.050 Parking reductions.
A. Affordable Housing Developments. See Chapter 17.140: Affordable Housing Incentives.
B. Shared Parking Reduction. Where a shared parking facility serving more than one use will be provided, the total number of required parking spaces may be reduced by up to twenty percent with director approval via director’s action (Chapter 17.108), if the director finds that:
1. The peak hours of use will not overlap or coincide to the degree that peak demand for parking spaces from all uses or projects will be greater than the total supply of spaces;
2. The proposed shared parking provided will be adequate to serve each use and/or project;
3. A parking demand study conducted and prepared under procedures set forth by the director supports the proposed reduction; and
4. In the case of a shared parking facility that serves more than one property, a parking agreement has been prepared and recorded with the office of the county recorder, requiring the parking to be operated on a nonexclusive basis, to be open and available to the public for shared use, short-term parking during normal business hours.
C. Other Parking Reductions. Required parking for any use may be reduced by up to ten percent through director approval of a director’s action. Required parking may be reduced by more than ten percent through planning commission approval. However, no reduction shall be made in addition to any reductions for shared parking permitted through subsection B (Shared Parking Reduction) of this section.
1. Criteria for Approval. The review authority may only approve a request for reduced parking if it finds that:
a. Special conditions, including, but not limited to, the nature of the proposed operation; proximity to frequent transit service; proximity to a general market; transportation characteristics of persons residing, working, or visiting the site; or because the applicant has undertaken a transportation demand management program that provides justification of innovative design components and strategies to reduce single-occupant vehicle travel to and from the site and will reduce parking demand at the site;
b. The use will adequately be served by the proposed on-site parking; and
c. Parking demand generated by the project will not exceed the capacity of or have a detrimental impact on the supply of on-street parking in the surrounding area.
2. Parking Demand Study. In order to evaluate a proposed project’s compliance with the above criteria, a parking demand study shall be conducted and prepared under procedures set forth by the director that substantiates the basis for granting a reduced number of spaces.
3. Vehicle Trip Reduction Plan. Based on the parking study, the director may require implementation of a vehicle trip reduction plan and such other conditions deemed necessary to reduce parking demand.
D. Reductions and Common Parking. Where there has been a reduction in required parking, all resulting spaces must be available for common use and not exclusively assigned to any individual use. In residential and mixed-use projects, required residential parking may be reserved, but commercial parking must be made available for guests or overflow from residences.
E. Off-Site Parking. The director may, by approving a director’s action (Chapter 17.108), allow some or all of the required parking to be located on a site different from the use. Such off-site parking shall be within a zone where the use is allowed or conditionally allowed, or within an office, commercial or manufacturing zone. It shall be within three hundred feet of the use and shall not be separated from the use by any feature that would make pedestrian access inconvenient or hazardous. The site on which the parking is located shall be owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the party controlling the use.
F. Bicycle and Motorcycle Parking Reduction Rates. The review authority may consider the following rates for parking reductions:
1. One car space for each five motorcycle spaces provided in excess of required parking spaces, up to a ten percent reduction; reductions greater than ten percent shall comply with subsection C of this section.
2. One car space for each five bicycle spaces provided in excess of required parking, up to a ten percent reduction; reductions greater than ten percent shall comply with subsection C of this section. All bicycle parking that exceeds the required number of spaces shall be apportioned between short-term and long-term bicycle spaces as stipulated by Table 3-6: Required Bicycle Parking. Any additional bicycle parking provided for residential uses shall be provided for long-term storage. (Ord. 1705 §§ 33—35, 2021; Ord. 1650 § 3 (Exh. B), 2018)