HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Action Form dated December 11, 2001 ITEM #
DATE 12/11/01
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: MOTION TO APPROVE A TEXT AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING
ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH MINIMUM OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS
FOR "SMALL SHOPPING CENTERS".
BACKGROUND:
CURRENT PARKING REGULATIONS.
Upon implementation of the parking requirements of the Zoning Ordinance, staff has
identified an insufficiency in the parking regulations of the current Zoning Ordinance as the
regulations apply only to shopping centers of 200,000 square feet and larger in size. For
retail developments smaller than 200,000 square feet in size, parking is calculated on a per
use basis.
Enforcement of the current parking requirements for commercial developments under
200,000 square feet in size, is an on-going and somewhat difficult process. As uses
change in these developments, City staff must determine whether adequate parking exists
for the new uses, prior to issuing a zoning permit to allow occupancy of the commercial
space. In contrast, use changes in shopping centers of 200,000 square feet or greater,
such as the North Grand Mall, occur without the need for a count of parking spaces as new
tenants lease the commercial space. This is because parking for the North Grand Mall is
governed by shopping center parking standards that apply to the entire shopping center
of 200,000 square feet or larger. This standard calculates parking based on the total
square footage of the shopping center, regardless of the uses. The minimum requirement
is 4 spaces for every 1 ,000 square feet of gross floor area. Parking requirements for
shopping centers less than 200,000 square feet in size are calculated on a per use basis.
The following are examples of parking requirements for land uses typically found in
commercial developments:
Use Parking Requirement
Ground Level: 1 space/200 sq. ft.
Retail Sales and Services-General Other than ground level: 1 s ace/250 sq. ft.
Ground Level: 1 space/250 sq. ft.
Office Other than ground level: 1 s ace/300 sq. ft.
Entertainment, Restaurant and Recreation
Trade 14 s aces/1 ,000 sq. ft.
Grocery Stores 1 1 space/1 50 sq. ft
PROPOSED PARKING REGULATIONS FOR SMALL SHOPPING CENTERS.
The following is the recommended text amendments to the parking requirements for small
shopping centers (changes are in bold italics):
Table 29.406(2) — Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements
Principal Land Use All Zones Except Downtown/Campustown
Downtown/Campustown Service Center Zone
Service Center Zone
Retail and Shopping
Centers, exclusive of
Grocery Stores and 4.50 spaces/1,000 sq. ft.
Office Uses, 50,000 —
99,999 sq. ft.,
Retail and Shopping
Centers, exclusive of
Grocery Stores and 4.25 spaces/1,000 sq. ft.
Office Uses, 100,000 —
199,999 sq. ft.,
Major Retail and Shopping
Centers, exclusive of
Grocery Stores and Office 4.00 spaces/1,000 sq. ft.
Uses, over 200,000 sq. ft.,
Staff is proposing these new regulations for shopping centers 50,000 to 199,999 square
feet in size. Staff believes commercial developments that are smaller than 50,000 square
feet should be required to meet the individual parking standards for each use, as outlined
in the Zoning Ordinance. This is because the small size of these commercial developments
does not provide enough mixture of uses or enough total parking spaces to provide an
adequate opportunity to share parking. In addition, this is also the reason for the parking
requirements to increase as the shopping center sizes decrease. The smaller the shopping
center the less the opportunity to have uses with contrasting parking demands, therefore,
providing less opportunity to share parking spaces.
In order to arrive at and support the regulations proposed above, staff has conducted
research regarding parking requirements for shopping centers. Staff has examined national
parking studies and evaluated parking for existing commercial developments within the City
of Ames. The highlights of that research are outlined below.
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NATIONAL PARKING STUDIES.
There are several parking studies that have been conducted over the past few years, which
planners use as resources for establishing their own parking regulations. One such study
is "Off-Street Parking Requirements" Planning Advisory Service Report Number 432 by
David Bergman. In this report, the Planning Advisory Service surveys several cities
regarding their parking requirements for various types of uses. The results are then listed
by use type (i.e. shopping center, school, church, etc.). One example of the information
listed in that report comes from Citrus County, Florida, which identifies the following
parking requirements for retail development:
Size of Retail Center Parking Requirement
50,001 to 100,000 sq. ft. Ones ace per 250 sq. ft.
100,001 to 400,000 sq. ft. Ones ace per 300 sq. ft.
Over 400,000 sq. ft. Ones ace per 350 sq. ft.
As can be seen from the example from Citrus County, Florida, the parking requirement
decreases as the size of the retail center increases. While the report identifies parking
requirements for various uses in many different municipalities, it does not identify parking
demands, which may be more important.
"Parking Requirements for Shopping Centers" by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a more
recent report that surveys both parking supply and parking demand for shopping centers.
The report surveyed 121 Neighborhood Commercial Centers (approximately 30,000 to
100,000 square feet in size), 104 Community Commercial Centers (approximately 100,000
to 350,000 square feet in size), and 69 Regional Commercial Centers (approximately
400,000 to 800,000 square feet in size) and gathered information regarding the number
of parking spaces provided and occupied for each of these types of commercial
developments. The results of those surveys are outlined in the two tables below:
Demand
Parking Spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. of Occupied Gross
Leasable Area GLA
Center Type Low Average High
Neighborhood 1.4 4.9 8.6
Community 0.6 4.7 11.7
Regional 2.2 5.3 7.3
Supply
Parked Cars per 1,000 sq. ft. of Occupied Gross
Leasable Area GLA
Center Type Low Average High
Neighborhood 2.3 3.3 4.5
Community 1.3 3.7 6.3
Regional 2.4 4.5 6.4
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While the sizes of commercial centers, as categorized by the ULI study, differ slightly from
the size categories proposed by staff, the important item to note from this study is that the
amount of parking supplied exceeds the amount of parking demanded in all three
categories of commercial developments surveyed. The study concludes that the parking
supply is not constricting the demand, furthermore it indicates that constructing more
parking will not result in increased traffic and parking demand. Staff is very concerned
about requiring more parking than what is actually needed, which results in more hard-
surfacing, less green space, and consequently more stormwater run-off. Therefore, when
establishing the parking requirements for the City of Ames, staff believes it is essential to
require enough parking spaces to meet the demand yet not require too many parking
spaces on any site. The numbers identified in the ULI study are further reinforced when
examining existing commercial developments within the City of Ames.
PARKING FOR EXISTING COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS.
Staff wanted to identify how the proposed regulations would affect existing commercial
developments in Ames. Therefore, staff examined the parking supply for two existing
shopping centers that are less than 200,000 square feet in size. Those two centers are
the Lincoln Center at Lincoln Way and Grand Avenue and the West Ames Hy-Vee
Shopping Center. The results of that study are outlined in the table below:
Lincoln Center West Ames H -Vee
Total Parking Provided 1,002 797
Required Grocery Parkin 420 63,000 sq. ft. store 480 72,000 sq. ft. store
Net Parking 582 317
Ratio of Parking to 5.3 spaces/1,000 sq. ft. 4.9 spaces/1,000 sq. ft.
Remaining Retail Space for 109,322 sq. ft. of retail for 65,142 sq. ft. of retail
Required Retail Parking —
Existing Standard 547 376
Required Retail Parking —
Proposed Standard 465 293
The West Ames Hy-Vee would fit into the 50,000 to 99,999 square foot center, which
would require 4.5 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of area under the proposed
regulations. The Lincoln Center would fit into the 100,000 to 199,999 square foot center,
which would require 4.25 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of area under the proposed
regulations. As can be seen, both of these centers provide more parking than the proposed
requirement. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to find many unused parking spaces at both
locations at any given time. The proposed requirement is also less restrictive than the
current parking requirement. Therefore, staff believes that the proposed regulations will not
create legal non-conforming properties, provide a shortage of parking for commercial uses,
or require a great excess of parking spaces for commercial developments.
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SUMMARY.
In summary, staff believes that there is a deficiency in the current Zoning Ordinance
regarding parking requirements for commercial centers less than 200,000 square feet in
size. Staff believes that implementation of the proposed parking regulations outlined in this
Action Form would allow for more effective administration of the parking regulations, would
provide an adequate amount of parking spaces for commercial developments, and would
not `over park" commercial developments in our community.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION:
The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed this request at their meeting of November
7, 2001 and approval was recommended with a clarification in Table 29.406(2) to reflect
that grocery stores and office uses are excluded.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. The City Council can approve the text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding
parking regulations for shopping centers.
2. The City Council can deny the text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding
parking regulations for shopping centers.
3. The City Council can approve the text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding
parking regulations for shopping centers, with modifications.
4. The City Council can refer the text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding
parking regulations for shopping centers back to staff for further review and comment.
MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
It is recommended that Alternative #1 be adopted. Alternative #1 is an approval of the text
amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking regulations for shopping centers.
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