Borough of Bridgeport, PA Off-Street Parking and Loading

Number of spaces: Each use that is newly developed, enlarged, significantly changed in type or increased in number of establishments shall provide and maintain off-street parking spaces in accordance with Table 6.1 and the regulations of this article.

Uses not listed: Uses not specifically listed in Table 6.1 shall comply with the requirements for the most similar use listed in Table 6.1, unless the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Zoning Officer that an alternative standard should be used for that use.

Multiple uses: Where a proposed lot contains or includes more than one type of use, the number of parking spaces required shall be the sum of the parking requirements for each separate use.

(4)

Parking landscaping. See §§ 560-56 and 560-57 of this chapter.

Table 6.1. Off-Street Parking Requirements

(See also § 560-39B if within the NC District)

[Amended 3-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-003, approved 3-21-2017]

Use	Number of Off-Street Parking Spaces Required	Plus 1 Off-Street Parking Spaces for Each:
Residential uses:
Dwelling unit, other than types listed separately in this table	2 per dwelling unit* with totals being rounded to the next whole number; except 1 per conversion apartment that only includes one bedroom or is an efficiency unit. *Note: If desired, one space may be in a garage and one space in a driveway.
Home occupation	See § 560-29
Housing permanently restricted to persons 62 years and older and/or the physically handicapped	1 per dwelling/rental unit, except 0.3 per dwelling/rental unit if evidence is presented that the nonphysically handicapped persons will clearly primarily be over 70 years old	Nonresident employee
Boardinghouse	1 per rental unit or bed for adult, whichever is greater	Nonresident employee
Group home	See § 560-29
Institutional uses:
Place of worship or church	1 per 5 seats in room of largest capacity	Employee
Hospital	1 per 3 beds	1.2 employees
Nursing home	1 per 5 beds	1.2 employees
Assisted living facility and/or retirement community	1 per 4 beds, plus 1.5 for each individual dwelling unit	1.2 employees
Day-care center	1 per 10 children, with spaces designed for safe and convenient dropoff and pickup	1.2 employees
School, primary or secondary	1 per 4 students aged 16 or older	Employee
Utility facility	1 per vehicle routinely needed to service facility
College, university or trade school	1 per 1.5 students not living on campus who attend class at peak times (plus required spaces for on-campus housing)	Employee
Library, community center or cultural center or museum	1 per 5 seats (or 1 per 250 square feet of floor area accessible to patrons and/or users if seats are not typically provided)	Employee
Treatment center	1 per 2 residents aged 16 years or older plus 1 per nonresident intended to be treated on site at peak times	Nonresident employee
Swimming pool, nonhousehold	1 per 50 square feet of water surface, other than wading pools	1.2 employee
Commercial uses:	All commercial uses, as applicable, shall provide additional parking or storage needed for the maximum number of vehicles stored, displayed or based at the lot at any point in time. These additional spaces are not required to meet the stall size and parking aisle width requirements of this chapter
Auto service station or repair garage	5 per repair/service bay and 1/4 per fuel nozzle with such spaces separated from accessways to pumps	Employee; plus any parking needed for a convenience store under "retail sales"
Auto, boat, recreational vehicle or manufactured home sales	1 per 15 vehicles, boats, RVs or homes displayed	Employee
Bed-and-breakfast use	1 per rental unit plus the 2 per dwelling unit	Nonresident employee
Bowling alley	2 per lane plus 2 per pool table	1.2 employees
Car wash	Adequate waiting and drying areas.	1.2 employees.
Financial institution (includes bank)	1 per 200 square feet of floor area accessible to customers, plus "office" parking for any administrative offices	1.2 employees administrative offices
Funeral home	1 per 5 seats in rooms intended to be in use at one time for visitors, counting both permanent and temporary seating	Employee
Miniature golf	1 per hole	1.2 employees
Haircutting/hairstyling	1 per customer seat used for haircutting, hair styling, hair washing, manicuring or similar work	1.2 employees
Hotel or motel	1 per rental unit plus 1 per 4 seats in any meeting room (plus any required by any restaurant)	1.2 employees.
Laundromat	1 per 3 washing machines	On-site employee
Medical marijuana dispensary	1 off-street parking space for each 400 square feet of gross floor area
Offices or clinic, medical/dental	5 per physician and 4 per dentist	1.2 employees
Offices, other than above	1 per 300 square feet of total floor area
Personal service use, other than hair cutting/hairstyling (minimum of 2 per establishment)	1 per 200 square feet of floor area accessible to customers	1.2 employees
Indoor recreation (other than bowling alley), membership club or exercise club	1 per 4 persons of maximum capacity of all facilities	1.2 employees
Outdoor recreation (other than uses specifically listed in this table	1 per 4 persons of capacity (50% may be on grass overflow areas with major driveways in gravel)	1.2 employees
Restaurant	1 per 4 seats, or 1 per 50 square feet of area accessible to customers for a use without customer seats	1.2 employees
Retail sales of only furniture, lumber, carpeting, bedding or floor covering	1 per 400 square feet of floor area of rooms accessible to customers.
Retail sales of only furniture, lumber, carpeting, bedding or floor covering	1 per 400 square feet of floor area of rooms accessible to customers
Tavern	1 per 30 square feet of total floor area	1.2 employees
Theater or auditorium	1 per 4 seats, 1/2 of which may be met by convenient parking shared with other business uses on the same lot that are typically not routinely open beyond 9:00 p.m.	1.2 employees.
Trade/hobby school	1 per 2 students on site during peak use	1.2 employee
Veterinarian office	4 per veterinarian	1.2 employee
Industrial uses:	In addition to parking or storage needed for maximum number of vehicles stored, displayed or based at the lot at any point in time, which spaces are not required to meet the stall size and aisle width requirements of this chapter
All industrial uses (including warehousing, distribution and manufacturing)	1 per 1.2 employee, based upon the maximum number of employees on site at peak period of times	1 visitor space for every 10 managers on the site
Medical marijuana grower/processer	3 off-street parking spaces for every 4 employees on the largest shift, or 1 off-street parking space for each 800 square feet of gross floor area, whichever is greater	Company vehicle stored on the premises
Self-storage development	1 per 20 storage units	1.2 employee

Parking reduction in NC Neighborhood Commercial District.

Purposes: To recognize the availability of on-street and municipal off-street parking in parts of the NC District, and the limited ability to provide parking to serve existing buildings, and the potential of customers walking to businesses in the NC District.

The parking requirements in Table 6.1 shall be modified within the NC District as follows:

(a)

The following provisions shall apply for uses that are adjacent to Fourth Street east of Dekalb.

No off-street parking shall be required for lawful nonresidential uses within the NC District within buildings that existed prior to the adoption of this chapter. This exemption shall only apply if the number of existing off-street parking spaces available on a lot is not reduced.

[2]

Off-street parking shall be required for any additional dwelling units or any new construction of any building or any expansion of a building beyond the ten-percent waiver provided in § 560-40C(2).

(b)

(Reserved)[1]

Editor’s Note: Former Subsection B(2)(b), Optional fee in lieu of parking, was repealed 12-30-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-015, approved 12-30-2008.

(c)

In-lieu parking fee. Upon application to Council, the Borough may allow a reduction (complete or partial) of the off-street parking requirement for any allowable commercial use within the NC District under the jurisdiction of this section, provided that the property owner pays a fee in lieu for each parking space not provided on site by the property owner. The fee in lieu shall be $2,500 per parking space unless modified by resolution of Borough Council. This provision shall only apply to nonresidential uses located on DeKalb Street between 4th Street and 6th Street and on 4th Street between DeKalb Street and Ford Street. The fee in lieu shall be a one-time payment and shall terminate when the property's on-site use changes.

[Amended 3-10-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-001, approved 3-10-2015]

(d)

Meter parking. Upon application to Council, public parking spaces (street or lot) with parking meters that are within 25 yards of the street side frontage of the site shall relieve the off-street parking requirement on a space-by-space basis. For example, if a use requires 10 spaces and 10 public spaces with meters are within the above-mentioned distance of the site, then the off-street parking requirement shall be satisfied for that use. This allowance shall terminate when the on-site use changes. This provision shall only apply to nonresidential uses located on DeKalb Street between 4th Street and 6th Street and on 4th Street between DeKalb Street and Ford Street.

[Added 3-10-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-001, approved 3-10-2015]

(e)

See also provisions in § 560-40 below regarding off-site parking and flexibility in parking requirements.

[Added 3-10-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-001, approved 3-10-2015]

§ 560-40 General regulations for off-street parking.

General: Parking spaces and accessways shall be laid out to result in safe and orderly use and to fully take into account all of the following: vehicular access onto and off the site, vehicular movement within the site, loading areas, pedestrian patterns and any drive-through facilities. No parking area shall cause a safety hazard or impediment to traffic off the lot.

Existing parking: Any parking spaces serving such preexisting structures or uses at the time of adoption of this chapter shall not in the future be reduced in number below the number required by this chapter.

Change in use or expansion: A structure or use in existence at the effective date of this chapter that expands or changes in use of an existing principal building shall be required to provide all of the required parking for the entire size and type of the resulting use, except as follows:

If an existing lawful use includes less parking than would be required, then that deficit of parking shall be grandfathered for new uses. For example, if an existing store included three parking spaces and was required to provide seven spaces, there is a deficit of four spaces. Therefore, if that store is converted to an office that would need 10 spaces, the office would need to provide a total of six spaces (10 minus the preexisting deficit of 4).

If a use expands by an aggregate total maximum of 10% in the applicable measurement (such as building floor area) beyond what existed at the time of adoption of this chapter, then no additional parking is required. For example, if an existing building included 3,000 square feet, and a single minor addition of 300 square feet was proposed, then additional parking would not be required.

Continuing obligation of parking and loading spaces: All required numbers of parking spaces and off-street loading spaces shall be available as long as the use or building which the spaces serve still exist, and such spaces shall not be reduced in number below the minimum required by this chapter. No required parking area or off-street loading spaces shall be used for any other use (such as storage or display of materials) that interferes with the area's availability for parking.

Location of parking.

Unless otherwise provided in § 560-39B, required off-street parking spaces shall be on the same lot with the principle use served.

[Amended 12-30-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-015, approved 12-30-2008; 5-12-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-001, approved 5-12-2009; 3-10-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-001, approved 3-10-2015]

NC District: In the NC District, special exception approval shall be required for five or more new off-street parking space(s) proposed between the street curb of Fourth Street and a building constructed after the adoption date of this chapter if such spaces would be at least partially within 30 feet of the curb. The Zoning Hearing Board shall only approve such parking if the applicant proves that:

(a)

There is no feasible alternative to placing the parking in that location, as opposed to placing parking to the rear or side of the building; and

(b)

The parking and any related driveway will be designed to minimize interference with pedestrian movements along Fourth Street.

Flexibility in parking: In any district, as a special exception, an applicant may prove to the satisfaction of the Zoning Hearing Board that the minimum amount of off-street parking should be modified for a specific application because of one or more of the following characteristics:

The applicant proves that parking will be shared with another use that will reduce the total amount of parking needed because the uses have different peak times of parking need, and that there is a legally guaranteed method to make sure that the parking will continue to be available during all of the years that the use is in operation; or

The applicant proves that the parking demand for a particular use is unusually low because of some unusual and peculiar characteristic of the use.

Within the NC District, see also § 560-39B above.

§ 560-41 Design standards for off-street parking.

General requirements.

Backing onto a street: No parking area shall be designed to require or encourage parked vehicles to back into a public street in order to leave a parking space, except for a single-family or two-family dwelling with its access onto a local street or parking court. Parking spaces may back onto an alley.

Every required parking space shall be designed so that each motor vehicle may proceed to and from the parking space provided for it without requiring the moving of any other vehicle, except for spaces serving a single-family, twin or townhouse dwelling.

Parking areas shall not be within a required buffer yard or street right-of-way.

(4)

Separation from street: Except for parking spaces immediately in front of individual dwellings, all outdoor areas for off-street parking, off-street loading and unloading and the storage or movement of motor vehicles shall be physically separated from the street by a continuous grass or landscaped planting strip, except for necessary and approved vehicle entrances and exits to the lot.

(5)

Stacking and obstructions: Each lot shall provide adequate area upon the lot to prevent backup of vehicles on a public street while awaiting entry to the lot or while waiting for service at a drive-through facility.

Size and marking of parking spaces.

Each parking space shall be a rectangle with a minimum width of nine feet and a minimum length of 18 feet, except the minimum length shall be 22 feet for parallel parking.

For handicapped spaces, see § 560-41F below.

All spaces shall be marked to indicate their location, except those of a one- or two-family dwelling.

Parking aisles: The provisions of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance shall apply.[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 495, Subdivision and Land Development.

Access drives and driveways: The provisions of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance shall apply.

Paving, grading and drainage:

Parking and loading facilities and including driveways shall be graded and adequately drained to prevent erosion or excessive water flow across streets or adjoining properties.

Except for landscaped areas, all portions of required parking, loading facilities and driveways shall be surfaced with asphalt or concrete or paving block.

Lighting of parking areas: See "Light and glare control" in Article V.

Handicapped parking.

Number of spaces: Any lot including four or more off-street parking spaces shall include a minimum of one handicapped space. The following number of handicapped spaces shall be provided, unless a revised regulation is officially established under the Federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

	Total Number of Parking Spaces on the Lot	Required Minimum Number/Percent of Handicapped Parking Spaces
	4 to 25	1
	26 to 50	2
	51 to 75	3
	76 to 100	4
	101 to 150	5
	151 to 200	6
	201 to 300	7
	301 to 400	8
	401 to 500	9
	501 to 1,000	2% of required number of spaces
	1,001 or more	20 plus 1% of required number of spaces over 1,000

Location: Handicapped parking spaces shall be located where they would result in the shortest reasonable accessible distance to a handicapped accessible building entrance. Curb cuts shall be provided as needed to provide access from the handicapped spaces.

Minimum size: Each required handicapped parking space shall be eight feet by 18 feet. In addition, each space shall be adjacent to a five-foot-wide access aisle. Such access aisle may be shared by two handicapped spaces by being placed between them. However, one out of every eight required handicapped parking spaces shall have an adjacent access aisle of eight-foot width instead of five feet.

(4)

Slope: Handicapped parking spaces shall be located in areas of less than six-percent slope in any direction.

(5)

Marking: All required handicapped spaces shall be well-marked by clearly visible signs or pavement markings. Blue paint is recommended.

(6)

Paving: Handicapped parking spaces and adjacent areas needed to access them with a wheelchair shall be covered with a smooth surface that is usable with a wheelchair.

§ 560-42 Off-street loading.

The provisions of the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance shall apply.[1]