HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Commission Action Form dated June 4, 2003 ITEM # Vill
DATE 06/04/03
COMMISSION ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: A TEXT AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH
MINIMUM OFF-STREET PARKING REQUIREMENTS FOR GO-CART TRACKS.
BACKGROUND:
CURRENT PARKING REGULATIONS.
Currently the Zoning Ordinance does not have a specific parking requirement for go-cart
tracks. In lieu of a specific requirement, the Entertainment and Recreation Trade parking
standard would be utilized, which is as follows:
Table 29.406(2) — Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements
Use Parking Requirement—
Entertainment and Recreation Trade 14 spaces/1 ,000 s . ft.
As can be seen in the table above, go-cart track facilities are required to provide 14 parking
spaces/1 ,000 gross square feet of area. In reviewing a few recent proposed go-cart
facilities, staff has noted that the current requirement is very restrictive and has led staff to
conclude that a change to the standard may be justified.
Recently, a business owner has proposed renovations to the Save-U-More building into an
indoor go-cart track facility. However, the site does not allow for 14 spaces/1,000 of gross
square feet of area to be provided. As a result, the applicant has requested that staff
initiate the text amendment to the parking requirement to provide a specific regulation for
go-cart tracks, which more accurately represents the parking demand for such facilities.
PROPOSED PARKING REGULATIONS FOR GO-CART TRACK FACILITIES.
The following is the recommended text amendment to the parking requirements for
Go-Cart Track Facilities (changes are in bold italics and striGlken through):
Table 29.406(2) — Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements
Use Parking Requirement
Entertainment and Recreation Trade 14 s aces/1 ,000 s . ft.
Go-Cart Track Facilities 2 spaces/go-cart,plus 1 space/200 sq. ft.
of concession/Waiting area.
The proposed regulations provide for a parking requirement for the go-cart users, as well
as a parking requirement for the concession/waiting area. The parking standard for the
concession/waiting area is simply the City's retail parking standard.
In order to support the regulations proposed above, staff has conducted research
regarding parking requirements for go-cart facilities. Staff has reviewed the Parking
Standards Report No. 510/511 compiled by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS),
researched other mid-western communities parking requirements, and evaluated parking
for an existing go-cart track facility within the City of Clive. The highlights of that research
are outlined below.
PAS PARKING STANDARDS REPORT.
The Planning Advisory Service has compiled a Parking Standards Report to illustrate the
parking requirements of various municipalities for numerous land uses. The following table
is a summary of the surveys' conclusions regarding parking for go-cart track facilities:
Municipality Go-Cart Parking Requirement
Guilford County, NC 1 pergo-cart, plus 1 per employee on largest shift
Greensboro, NC 1 pergo-cart, plus 1 per employee on largest shift
Raleigh, NC 2 spaces per 3 seats on amusement rides or 20 spaces per
ride or attraction with nospecific or defined seating
Phoenix, AZ 2 pergo-cart and 1 space per 60 square feet of waiting area
San Antonio, TX 1 per 6 seats or 1 per 30 gross s . ft. if no permanent seats
As can be seen in the above table, all five of the municipalities surveyed have a variety of
standards for go-cart parking. However, one thing that all five municipalities have in
common is that they base parking for go-cart (or amusement) facilities on the number of
seats. In addition, some of the municipalities require parking based on other factors, such
as employment or waiting areas. The City of Phoenix requires additional parking for the
waiting area (1 space/60 square feet).
Staff believes that the Phoenix example, having a parking requirement based on the
go-cart use and also a parking requirement for the waiting area, is sound. However, staff
believes that the parking requirement for the waiting area should be consistent with the
current City of Ames retail parking standard, which is 1 space/200 gross square feet of
area. Staff also believes that the additional parking requirement should apply to all
concession and waiting areas.
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OTHER MUNICIPALITIES PARKING REQUIREMENTS.
Staff also examined parking requirements for go-cart parking facilities of other mid-western
municipalities. The results of staff's research are provided in the table below:
Municipality Go-Cart Parking Requirement
Clive, IA 5 parking s aces/1,000 gross s . ft.
Norwalk, IA Currently no standard, one would have to be created
Pella, IA Currently no specific standard, Entertainment standard of 1
per 4 person capacity would be utilized
West Des Moines, IA 1 per 150 gross s . ft.
Kansas City, MO 1 parking s ace/400 gross s . ft.
Urbandale, IA Currently no standard, one would have to be cri4tOE�:]
Linn County, IA 1 5 parking s aces/1,000 gross s . ft.
The cities surveyed represent various mid-western cities. The parking requirements for
go-cart facilities in these cities range from currently not having a standard to 1 space/150
gross square feet. While some of the cities surveyed indicated that they had a parking
standard, they also noted that this is where a go-cart facility would "fit in" to their parking
regulations. Therefore, much like the City of Ames, none of the cities listed above have
specific parking requirements for go-cart facilities. Most cities that staff spoke with
mentioned that they would either have to amend their current parking requirements if a
go-cart facility located in their City or approve a Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the
go-cart facility. A PUD would allow for the parking regulations to be modified to better
reflect the actual demand.
PARKING FOR AN EXISTING GO-CART FACILITY.
Staff is aware of an existing indoor go-cart facility in Clive, Iowa, much like what is being
proposed in Ames. Staff contacted the City of Clive to discuss the parking situation. Much
like the proposed go-cart facility in Ames, the facility in Clive is also a former big box store
that is being reused as an indoor go-cart facility. It is also configured much like the
proposed facility in Ames. The Clive facility is comprised of 56,000 square feet of which
12,000 square feet is utilized for concession/waiting area and the remainder of the
structure is used for the go-cart track. The proposed Ames facility is approximately 53,000
square feet of which 8,800 square feet will be utilized for concession/waiting area with the
remainder of the structure being used for the go-cart-track. The Clive site has 28 parking
spaces and the City staff indicated that they have never had a parking problem at this
location. The Clive staff indicated that they estimate that the site generates the need for
approximately 10 parking spaces at any one time.
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SUMMARY.
In summary, staff believes that the current parking requirement for go-cart facilities, 14
spaces/1,000 square feet, is too great. Staff believes that the proposed standard of 2
spaces/go-cart, plus 1 space/200 square feet of concession/waiting area is more
appropriate. Staff believes that the data supplied in the PAS Parking Standard Report, the
survey of other municipalities regulations, and the survey of the existing go-cart facility in
Clive, support the proposed text amendment. Staff believes that implementation of the
proposed parking regulations outlined in this Action Form would provide an adequate
amount of parking spaces for go-cart tracks while not "over-parking" these facilities in our
community. As a note, the proposed parking standard applied to the proposed go-cart
facility in the Save-U-More building would require 96 parking spaces. The site plan
illustrates 100 parking spaces being provided. Therefore, the site will meet the proposed
parking standard.
ALTERNATIVES:
1 . The Planning and Zoning Commission can recommend that the City Council approve
the recommended text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking
regulations for go-cart facilities.
2. The Planning and Zoning Commission can recommend that the City Council deny the
recommended text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking regulations
for go-cart facilities.
3. The Planning and Zoning Commission can recommend that the City Council approve
the recommended text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking
regulations for go-cart facilities, with modifications.
4. The Planning and Zoning Commission can refer the recommended text amendments to
the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking regulations for go-cart facilities back to staff for
further review and comment.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
It is recommended that Alternative #1 be adopted. Alternative #1 recommends that the
text amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regarding parking regulations for go-cart
facilities be approved.
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