Township of Lawrence, MI Off-Street Parking and Loading

It is the intent of this chapter that parking spaces shall be provided and adequately maintained by each property owner in every zoning district for the off-street storage of motor vehicles for the use of occupants, employees and patrons of each building and premises constructed, altered or enlarged under the provisions of this chapter.

Definition of floor area. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

FLOOR AREA

As applied to offices, merchandising or service types of uses, shall mean the gross floor area used or intended to be used for services to the public, including those areas occupied for fixtures and equipment used for display or sale of merchandise, but excluding floor areas which are used exclusively for storage, housing of mechanical equipment integral with the building, maintenance facilities, or those areas where customers, patients, clients, salesmen, and the general public are denied access. "Floor area" shall be measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls.

Fractional space. When units of measurement determining the number of required parking spaces result in a fractional space, any fraction to and including 1/2 shall be disregarded and fractions over 1/2 shall require one parking space.

Requirements for a use not mentioned. In the case of a use not specifically mentioned, the requirements of off-street parking for a use which is mentioned and which is most similar to the use not listed shall apply.

Use of parking areas. Commercial repair work, servicing or selling shall not exceed 10 days in any six-month period, if conducted in any parking area. Parking space shall be used only for the parking of vehicles used to service the establishment to which it is accessory and by its patrons. No sign shall be erected in parking areas except that no more than one directional sign at each point of ingress or egress may be erected which may also bear the name of the enterprise the lot is intended to serve. Such signs shall not exceed 32 square feet in area and shall not project beyond the property line of the premises.

Building additions or other changes in floor area. Whenever a use requiring off-street parking is increased in floor area, or when interior building modifications result in an increase in capacity for any premises use, additional parking shall be provided and maintained in the proper ratio to the use change increased floor area or capacity.

Joint use of parking areas. The joint use of parking facilities by two or more uses may be granted by the Planning Commission whenever such use is practical and satisfactory to each of the uses intended to be served, and when all requirements for location, design, and construction are met.

(1)

Computing capacities. In computing capacities of any joint use, the total space requirement is the sum of the individual requirements that will occur at the same time. If space requirements for individual uses occur at distinctly different times, the total of such off-street parking facilities required for joint or collective use may be reduced below the sum total of the individual space requirements.

(2)

Record of agreement. A copy of an agreement between joint users shall be filed with the application for a building permit and recorded with the Register of Deeds of the County. The agreement shall include a guarantee for continued use of the parking facility by each party.

Parking space requirements.

[Amended 7-13-2017]

	Parking Spaces per Designated Unit(s)
Land Use	/Unit	/Employee	/Seat	/100 Sq. Ft.	/Bed/Bedroom	Other
1- and 2-family dwellings	2
Senior apartment	1	1				5 visit
Multiple	2
Boardinghouses and lodging houses					1.5
Motels		1			1
Convalescent homes		1			0.25
Hospitals		1			0.33
Clinics		3
Auditoriums, churches, stadiums, etc.			0.33
Elementary and middle schools		1 per employee, plus 1 per classroom
High schools and colleges		1 per employee, plus 1 per classroom, plus 1 per 10 students, plus auditorium requirement
Libraries, museums, post offices		0.33		1
Golf course, tennis clubs, etc.		1				4 per hole; 4 per court
Dance halls, pool halls, video arcades, etc.		1		1
Bowling alley						5 per alley
Professional offices and banks		1		0.5
General offices		0.5		0.5
General retail stores				0.5
Barbershops and hair salons						2 per chair
Supermarkets, food stores				2
Automobile and gasoline service stations		1				3 per stall
Drive-in restaurants				2.5
Funeral homes and mortuaries				4
Warehouses and wholesale stores				0.2
Industrial establishments		0.5		0.5
Winery/cidery/microbrewery tasting room				2
Winery/cidery/microbrewery processing/bottling				2

*	For calculating parking space for uses not listed, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall make a determination the most similar use.

Location of parking areas. All off-street parking areas shall be located on the same lot, or on the adjacent premises in the same district as the use they are intended to serve, with the exception of the following:

(1)

Uses in C-1 District. Parking on the premises or within 500 feet.

(2)

Uses in I-1 District. Parking on the premises or within 800 feet.

(3)

Public and quasi-public buildings. Places of assembly, private clubs, associations and institutions: parking on the premises or within 500 feet.

Parking lot plan review. Whenever four or more vehicle parking spaces are required for a given use, plans and specifications for the construction or alteration of an off-street parking area shall be submitted to the Zoning Administrator before a building permit can be issued. Such plans and specifications shall indicate the location, basis of capacity calculation, size, site design, surfacing, marking, lighting, drainage, curb cuts, entrances, exits, landscaping, and any other detailed feature essential to the complete design and construction of the parking area.

Site development standards. All off-street parking areas shall be designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the following standards and requirements.

(1)

Front yard parking may be considered in nonresidential districts, only the C-1, I-1, and O-1 Districts, with appropriate approval under Article VIII, Site Plan Review, of this chapter.

(2)

Except for one- and two-family dwellings, parking areas and driveways shall be surfaced with a durable surface, such as asphalt, concrete, crushed stone, gravel or other dustless surface material, and shall be properly drained.

(3)

A minimum area of 200 square feet or 10 feet by 20 feet shall be provided for each vehicle parking space; each space shall be definitely designated and reserved for parking purposes exclusive of space requirements for adequate ingress and egress.

(4)

Parking areas shall be so designed and marked as to provide for orderly and safe movement and storage of vehicles.

(5)

Adequate ingress and egress to the parking area by means of clearly limited and defined drives shall be provided.

(a)

Except for parking space provided for single-family and two-family residential lots, drives for ingress and egress to the parking area shall be not less than 20 feet wide and so located as to secure the most appropriate development of the individual property.

(b)

Each entrance to and exit from an off-street parking area shall be at least 25 feet from any adjacent lot within a residential district.

(6)

Each parking space within an off-street parking area shall be provided with adequate access by means of maneuvering lanes. Backing directly onto a street shall be prohibited. The width of required maneuvering lanes may vary depending upon the proposed parking pattern, as follows:

(a)

For right-angle parking patterns 75° to 90°, the maneuvering lane width shall be a minimum of 20 feet.

(b)

For parking patterns 54° to 74°, the maneuvering lane width shall be a minimum of 15 feet.

(c)

For parking patterns 30° to 53°, the maneuvering lane width shall be a minimum of 12 feet.

(d)

All maneuvering lane widths shall permit one-way traffic movement, except for the 90° pattern, which may provide for two-way traffic movement.

(7)

Except for single-family and two-family residential lots, adequate lighting shall be provided throughout the hours when the parking area is in operation. All lighting shall be so arranged as to reflect light away from any residential property adjacent to the parking area and any adjacent road or street.

(8)

Where a parking area or drive with a capacity of four or more vehicles adjoins a residential district, a landscaped buffer strip at least 10 feet wide shall be provided between the parking area and the adjoining property, or a fence or wall not less than four feet in height shall be erected.

Reduction, modification, waiver. The Board of Appeals may authorize a reduction, modification, or waiver of any of the off-street parking or loading regulations provided in this article when it can be demonstrated that circumstances of extreme practical difficulty exist that would result in hardship to the applicant. Hardship shall not be deemed economic only, but shall be evaluated also in terms of the use of a particular parcel of land. A hardship that is a result of any action of the applicant shall not be considered by the Board of Appeals.

Intent and purpose. In order to prevent undue interference with public use of streets and alleys, every manufacturing, storage, warehouse, department store, wholesale store, retail store, hotel, hospital, laundry, dairy, mortuary, and other uses similarly and customarily receiving or distributing goods by motor vehicle shall provide space on the premises for that number of vehicles that will be at the premises at the same time on an average day of full use.

Additional parking space. Loading space required under this section shall be provided as area additional to off-street parking space as required under § 1-10.1G and shall not be considered as supplying off-street parking space.

Space requirements. There shall be provided adequate space for standing, loading, and unloading services not less than 12 feet in width, 25 feet in length, and 14 feet in height, open or enclosed, for uses listed in the following table, or for similar uses similarly involving the receipt of distribution by vehicles of materials or merchandise.

Use	Floor Area (square feet)	Required Space
Commercial uses, such as retail stores, personal services, amusement, automotive service	First 2,000	None
	Next 20,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
	Each additional 20,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Hotels, offices	First 2,000	None
	Next 50,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
	Each additional 100,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Wholesale and storage, including building and contractor's yards	First 20,000	1 space
	Each additional 20,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Manufacturing uses	First 20,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
	Each additional 20,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Funeral homes and mortuaries	First 5,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
	Each additional 10,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Hospitals	First 10,000	None
	Next 100,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
	Each additional 200,000 or fraction thereof	1 space
Schools, churches, clubs, public assembly buildings	For each building	1 space
For similar uses not listed	For each building 5,000 or over	1 space

Access. Access to a truck standing, loading, and unloading space shall be provided directly from a public street or alley, and such space shall be so arranged to provide sufficient off-street maneuvering space as well as adequate ingress and egress to and from a street or alley.

Site requirements. Off-street loading spaces and access drives shall be drained and lighted, and shall have appropriate bumper or wheel guards where needed. Any light used for illumination shall be so arranged as to reflect the light away from adjoining premises and streets. Where any off-street loading space adjoins or abuts a lot or premises used for residential, educational, recreational, or religious purposes, or abuts a residential district, there shall be provided a masonry wall or solid fence not less than four feet in height between the off-street loading space and said residential, educational, recreational, or religious premises or residential zone.