As a general requirement, each use in the Borough shall provide
sufficient off-street parking and loading area to serve its uses.
The purpose of required parking spaces is to provide enough
on-site parking to accommodate the majority of traffic generated by
the range of uses which might locate at the site over time. Transit-supportive
plazas and bicycle parking may be substituted for some required parking
on a site to encourage transit use and bicycling by employees and
visitors to the site. The required parking numbers correspond to broad
use categories, not specific uses, in response to this long-term emphasis.
A. The number of automobile parking spaces required is as follows:
|
Type of Use
|
Parking Spaces Required
|
---|
|
Dwelling, single-family detached, semidetached, or attached
(townhouse) — 1 bedroom
|
1 space
|
|
Dwelling, single-family detached, semidetached, or attached
(townhouse) — 2 or more bedrooms
|
2 spaces
|
|
Dwelling, multifamily — studio apartment or 1 bedroom
|
0.5 space per dwelling unit
|
|
Dwelling, multifamily — 2 bedrooms
|
1 space per dwelling unit
|
|
Dwelling, multifamily — 3 or more bedrooms
|
2 spaces per dwelling unit
|
|
Dwelling, multifamily — for ages 55 or older
|
1 space per 4 dwelling units
|
|
Commercial, office, and institutional
|
3 spaces per 1,000 square feet
|
|
Industrial
|
1 space per 1,000 square feet
|
|
Warehouse
|
0.25 space per 1,000 square feet
|
B. The number of bicycle parking spaces required is as follows:
|
Type of Use
|
Parking Spaces Required
|
---|
|
Residential Categories
|
|
|
Dwelling, single-family detached, semidetached, or attached
(townhouse)
|
None
|
|
Dwelling, multifamily
|
2 or 1 per 10 automobile spaces
|
|
Commercial Categories
|
|
|
Retail, sales, service, office
|
2 or 1 per 20 automobile spaces, whichever is greater
|
|
Institutional Categories
|
|
|
Schools
|
|
|
|
High
|
4 per classroom
|
|
|
Middle
|
2 per classroom
|
|
|
Elementary
|
2 per 4th and 5th grade classroom
|
|
Religious institutions, day-care uses, medical clinics
|
2 or 1 per 40 automobile spaces
|
|
Industrial Categories
|
2 or 1 per 40 automobile spaces, whichever is greater
|
C. Every required parking space shall have direct access from or to
a public street or alley without first requiring movement of another
motor vehicle.
D. The layout of any parking area shall be designed to allow vehicles
to move forward when exiting onto a public street, except for the
following:
(1) Parking spaces for no more than two vehicles having exits onto streets
of 30 feet width or less may be designed for reverse exiting.
(2) Parking spaces having exits onto streets or alleys of 24 feet width
or less may be designed for reverse exiting.
E. Garages located along any street or alley shall have their exit points
located at least 22 feet from the opposite cartway limit of the street
or alley onto which vehicles are exiting.
Off-street areas used for special event parking (to accommodate
occasional overflow volumes) may be constructed of any dust-free compacted,
pervious ground cover. The owner of the property shall be responsible
for the maintenance of such parking in a clean and dust-free condition.
Grass and mulch are examples of acceptable pervious ground cover.
Parking lots as accessory uses to provide required parking spaces
may be located on a land parcel separate from the building or use
it serves. All required parking spaces shall be:
A. Within 200 feet of the primary use parcel for residential uses.
B. Within 300 feet of the primary use parcel for nonresidential uses.
Lansdowne's downtown and many of its traditional neighborhoods
were constructed in the era before automobiles became widely used.
The Borough's development pattern of closely spaced buildings, often
placed up against the street, give it the distinct neighborhood feel
and identity it enjoys today. To retain that special feel in the automobile
era, Lansdowne needs to accommodate cars without demolishing buildings
or otherwise destroying the character of its downtown and residential
neighborhoods.
A. Where it is physically possible, parking lots shall be located behind
buildings, such that buildings separate parking areas from the street.
In cases where this is not possible, parking may be located to the
side of the building, but in no case shall the parking area be wider
than 50% of the lot frontage, and in no case shall parking be located
in front of a building. Parking shall not be placed to the side of
a building adjacent to a street unless there is no other feasible
alternative.
B. Parking lots visible from a street shall be continuously screened
by a three-foot-high wall/fence or plantings. Parking lots adjacent
to a residential district shall be continuously screened by a six-foot-high
wall/fence or plantings. Screenings shall include:
(1) Hedges, installed at 36 inches in height; or
(2) Mixed planting (trees and shrubs); or
(3) Wall/fence sections, with no wall break of more than nine feet, provided
that it is constructed of wood, brick, stone, vinyl designed to look
like wood, brick, stone, stucco over concrete block (capped with brick,
slate or stone), or ornamental iron (or ornamental aluminum, steel
or vinyl designed to look like iron), and landscaping to provide a
continuous screen.
Interior landscaping requirements. All parking areas containing
10 or more parking spaces and all loading areas shall be landscaped
in accordance with the following requirements:
A. At least 5% of the interior area of the parking facility (excluding
parking structures) shall be landscaped. This does not include the
perimeter planting provided for beautification or to satisfy screening
requirements.
B. Each planting area shall be at least 20 square feet in area and have
no dimension less than four feet.
C. Each planting area shall contain at least one tree and the facility
as a whole shall contain at least one tree for every eight parking
spaces.
D. Trees used to satisfy parking lot landscaping requirements shall
be a minimum caliper of 2 1/2 inches at planting and shall be
suitable for location in parking lots, as defined by the Lansdowne
Borough Shade Tree Commission.
E. Existing trees shall be preserved wherever possible.
F. Existing and new trees shall be protected by bollards, high curbs,
or other barriers sufficient to minimize damage.
G. Extensive unbroken pavement areas in large at-grade open parking
facilities shall not be permitted. In parking lots containing 25 or
more spaces, a row shall contain no more than 10 contiguous parking
spaces without a densely planted landscaped buffer with dimensions
of at least six feet by 18 feet.