Town of Islesboro, ME Article XV Parking and Entrance Design Standards

User's Guide: This article contains specific parking area and site entrance design and construction standards applicable to those development projects proposing and/or requiring on-site, off-street parking and road entrances.

§ 45-86 General requirements.

A. The proposed development layout shall provide for safe access and egress to and from public and private roads by providing adequate location, numbers, and control of access points, including sight distances, turning lanes, and traffic signs or signals when required by existing and projected traffic flow on the municipal road systems.

B. The layout and design of all means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation (including walkways, interior drives, and parking areas) shall provide for safe general interior circulation; separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic; service traffic; loading areas; and arrangement and use of parking areas.

C. In the design of parking areas, special attention shall be given to:

(1) The separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic;

(2) The arrangement of parking areas that are safe and convenient and which have a minimum adverse affect on the design, appearance, and environmental and aesthetic qualities of proposed buildings and structures and neighboring properties.

§ 45-87 Parking area design standards.

A. Access.

(1) There shall be adequate provisions for ingress and egress to and from all parking spaces.

[Amended 6-6-2012]

(2) The width of access drives or driveways shall be determined as part of site plan review depending on use, topography and similar considerations.

B. Size of aisles.

(1) The width of all aisles providing direct access to individual parking stalls shall be in accordance with the requirements set forth in Table 6 below.

(2) Only one-way traffic shall be permitted in aisles serving single-row parking spaces placed at an angle other than 90°.

	Table 6
	Parking Angle	Minimum Aisle Width (feet)
	0° (parallel parking)	12
	30°	12
	45°	13
	60°	18
	90° (perpendicular parking)	30

C. No off-road parking or loading shall be located within the required front and side yard setbacks on Town ways.

D. Sidewalk and curbing.

(1) Sidewalks between parking areas and principal structures, along aisles and driveways, and wherever pedestrian traffic shall occur, shall be provided with a minimum width of four feet of passable area and shall be raised six inches or more above the parking area except where the sidewalks cross roads or driveways.

(2) Guardrails or wheel stops permanently anchored to the ground shall be provided in appropriate locations.

(3) Parked vehicles shall not overhang or extend over sidewalk areas unless an additional sidewalk width of 2.5 feet is provided to accommodate such overhang.

E. Marking and delineation of parking areas.

(1) Parking stalls, driveways and aisles shall be clearly marked and delineated.

(2) The Board may require that certain areas be maintained for firefighting, other emergency operations, or handicapped access. Such areas shall be appropriately designated.

F. General circulation and parking design guidelines. The following guidelines shall apply to parking area designs:

(1) Parking space allocations should be oriented to specific buildings.

(2) Parking areas should be designed to focus on major walkways, which should be fenced or marked.

(3) Where pedestrians must cross service roads or access roads to reach parking areas, crosswalks should be clearly designated by pavement markings or signs and lighted.

(4) Driveways shall approach from the right to permit passengers to alight to or from the sidewalk.

(5) Whenever possible, one-way traffic shall be established at building entrances.

§ 45-88 Entrance location and design.

[Amended 6-6-2012]

As used in this section, "driveway" includes Town ways and both public and private rights-of-way, as well as entrance roads to any use other than single-family or two-family dwelling units.

A. General standards.

(1) All entrance and exit driveways shall be located to afford maximum safety to traffic, provide for safe and convenient ingress and egress to and from the site and to minimize conflict with the flow of traffic.

(2) Any exit driveway or driveway lane shall be so designed in profile and grading and located to provide the following minimum sight distance in Table 7, measured in each direction. The measurements shall be taken from the driver's seat of a vehicle standing on the exit driveway where the front of the vehicle is a minimum of 10 feet behind the curbline or edge of shoulder; where the height of the eye is three feet nine inches; to the top of an object four feet six inches above the pavement.

	Table 7
	Allowable Speed (miles per hour)	Required Sight Distance (feet)
	15	150
	20	200
	25	250
	30	300
	35	350
	40	400
	45	450

(3) Where a site occupies a corner of two intersecting roads, no driveway entrance or exit shall be located within 50 feet of the point of tangency of the existing or proposed curb radius of that site.

(4) No part of any driveway shall be located within a minimum of 15 feet of a side property line. However, the Board may permit a driveway serving two or more adjacent sites to be located on or within 15 feet of a side property line between the adjacent sites.

(5) Where two or more two-way driveways connect a single site to any one road, a minimum clear distance of 100 feet measured along the right-of-way line shall separate the closest edges of such driveways. If one driveway is two-way and one is a one-way driveway, the minimum distance between them shall be 75 feet.

B. Driveways used for two-way operation shall intersect the road at an angle of 90° or as near to that angle as site conditions permit, but in no case less than 60°.

C. The dimensions of driveways shall be designed to accommodate adequately the volume and character of vehicles anticipated to be attracted daily to the development for which a site plan is prepared. The required maximum and minimum dimensions for driveways are indicated in Table 8 below. Driveways serving large volumes of daily traffic or traffic of over 15% truck traffic shall be required to utilize high-to-maximum dimensions.

	Table 8
	Type of Development	One-Way Operation Driveway Width (feet)	Two-Way Operation Driveway Width (feet)
	3 to 10 dwelling units	10 to 15	15 to 25
	10 dwelling units or over	15 to 25	20 to 35
	Commercial and industrial	15 to 30	25 to 35

D. All driveways shall be five feet wider at the curbline, and this additional width shall be maintained for a distance of 20 feet into the site.

E. All driveways shall be constructed with a surface approved by the Board.

(1) Surfaces of driveways shall extend to the paved or travel portion of the road.

(2) Surfaces of driveways shall extend their entire length as well as the width defined by the required driveway dimensions specified in Table 8.

F. Driveways shall be constructed to be flat enough to prevent the dragging of any vehicle undercarriage. If the gradient of the intersection of the driveway and a sidewalk or road is too high and would cause undercarriage drag, the driveway or sidewalk gradient shall be adjusted to provide an acceptable entrance or exit.

G. Driveways shall not have a grade in excess of 15%. Driveways shall not be located where visibility is limited because of curves, topography, or other sight impediments.