HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Staff Report dated July 8, 2008 STAFF REPORT
Suggested Text Amendments — Parking/Landscaping
July 8, 2008
During a preliminary review of the layout of Fareway's proposed store at the intersection
of Stange and Bloomington Roads, Fareway representatives noted that the City's
parking requirement for grocery stores (i.e., 1 parking space per 150 square feet of floor
area) is significantly higher than what their marketing practices require. They indicated
that they were willing to meet this higher requirement, but said they would be willing to
provide more landscaping in lieu of what they believed to be surplus parking if the City
would allow it. Staff explained that there was currently nothing in the Code to allow this
alternative, and that a text amendment would be required.
The staff was interested in Fareway's comments, because: (1) while the City's parking
requirement for retail is relatively higher than most jurisdictions across the state of Iowa,
it is significantly higher than the national average parking demand for shopping centers
and supermarkets (approximately 1 space per 300 feet); (2) staff's personal experience
administering parking requirements in other jurisdictions reveals that retail parking can
be reduced to a 1/300 ratio and function efficiently; (3) reducing parking and increasing
landscaping would facilitate better integration of retail into residential areas (e.g.,
Northridge Heights); (4) increased landscaping would greatly enhance the visual quality
of commercial areas in the city; (5) enhancing the visual quality of commercial areas
may encourage reinvestment into residential areas that abut or are directly accessed
through commercial areas; and (6) reduced parking and increased landscaping would
further the City's goals under the Cool Cities initiative in the following ways:
i. Reduce heat-generating pavement.
ii. Provide greater space for trees to shade and cool pavement.
iii. Provide more space for trees to shade and cool buildings, thereby reducing
energy consumption for air conditioning.
iv. Reduce the number of lights needed to illuminate parking lots and thereby
reduce energy consumption and facilitate Dark Sky objectives.
V. Reduce stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces.
The City Manager is therefore requesting the Council's consideration of the following
text changes:
• Eliminate reference to "minimum" parking, and instead call it "required" parking.
• Reduce parking requirement for all retail, shopping center, and grocery stores to
approximately 1/300 sq.ft.
• Increase landscaping requirement for parking lots based upon square footage of
building, using the difference between the current and proposed parking ratio to
quantify the increase.
• Define "parking areas" to include associated drive aisles. This will address
existing uncertainty as to whether required landscaping for parking lots
encompasses the entire asphalt area.
The proposed standards could be applicable to all retail and grocery stores citywide, or
they could be applied to select zones, such as the Convenience Commercial Nodes
(staff confirmed that Fareway is yet very interested in this approach). However, given
the potential benefits, and considering that the City of Ames parking standards are
higher than the national average parking demand, the changes could result in significant
improvements in both the visual quality and environment of the city of Ames.
If the City Council believes the above changes are worthy of consideration, the City
Manager requests that the Council direct staff to have the Planning & Zoning
Commission consider these changes and work with staff to develop Code language that
would implement these changes.
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