The purpose of this section is to provide guidance as to the appropriate parking, loading, sidewalk and curb and buffer facilities that shall be required in conjunction with new development or a change of use in the Town of Greenfield.
A.
Off-street parking.
(1)
Spaces required.
(a)
Off-street parking spaces shall be required in any district whenever any new use is established or any existing use is enlarged, in accordance with Table 3.[1] The Planning Board shall determine the parking requirement for any use not listed or where it is given the discretion to do so.
[1]
Editor's Note: Table 3, Parking Requirements, is included at the end of this chapter.
(b)
The Planning Board reserves the right to waive any portion of the parking requirement in the event that proximate public parking exists to support the use in question.
(c)
The Planning Board reserves the right to waive the construction of any portion of the parking requirement in the event that the applicant can demonstrate, to the Board's satisfaction, that the parking requirement is greater than would be required for the specific use requested, provided that the parking requirement pursuant to this article is shown on the plan and could be built at some future time if deemed necessary by the Planning Board. By agreeing to a waiver of any portion of the parking requirement pursuant to this section, the applicant or its successor expressly agrees that it will construct the parking requirement pursuant to this article if the Planning Board should require it in the future.
(d)
In any district, the Planning Board, at its sole discretion, may approve the joint use of a parking facility and a reduction in the parking requirement of up to 30% by two or more principal buildings or uses, either on the same, adjacent or nearby parcels, where it is clearly demonstrated that the reduction in spaces and shared use of the parking facility will substantially meet the intent of the parking requirements by reason of variation in time of use by patrons or employees among such establishments or by virtue of pedestrian pathways that facilitate walking within 1/2 mile. There shall be a covenant on the separate parcel or lot guaranteeing the maintenance of the required off-street parking facilities during the existence of the principal use. Such covenant shall:
[1]
Be executed by the owner of said lot or parcel of land and the parties having beneficial use thereof;
[2]
Be enforceable by either of the parties having beneficial use thereof as both; and
[3]
Be enforceable against the owner, the parties having beneficial use, and their heirs, successors and assigns.
(e)
No use may provide parking in excess of 20% over the amount specified in this section.
(2)
Design of off-street parking facilities.
(a)
Each parking space shall comply in size and dimension with the following standards:
Parking Lot Sizes and Dimensions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Angle (degrees) | Stall Width (feet) | Stall to Curb (19-foot stall) (feet) | Curb Length Aisle Width per Car (feet) | |
90 | 9.0 | 19.0 | 24.0* | 9.0 |
60 | 9.0 | 21.0 | 18.0 | 10.4 |
45 | 9.0 | 19.8 | 13.0** | 13.4 |
30 | 9.0 | 17.3 | 11.0** | 18.0 |
0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 23.0 |
NOTES: | |
* | Two-way circulation. |
** | One-way circulation. |
(b)
Driveways providing access to parking aisles shall be at least 10 feet in width for one-way traffic and 18 feet in width for two-way traffic, except that twelve-foot-wide driveways are permissible for two-way traffic when the driveway is not longer than 50 feet and it provides access to not more than six spaces, with sufficient turning space provided so that vehicles need not back onto a public street.
(c)
Lines demarcating parking spaces may be drawn at various angles in relation to curbs or aisles, so long as the parking spaces created contain within them the rectangular area required by this section.
(d)
Handicap parking spaces are to be supplied in accordance with Part 1102 of the General Building Construction Section of the State of New York Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
(3)
Landscaping requirements for parking areas.
(a)
Each off-street parking area is to have a landscaped area equivalent to one parking space for every 30 parking spaces, which is to be located in such a way as to ensure that there are no more than 15 cars in a row without interruption by landscaping. Off-street parking areas are to be landscaped with shrubs no higher than three feet over half their surface and canopy trees of a minimum caliper of 2 1/2 inches, with branches no lower than seven feet. A minimum of one canopy tree per equivalent landscaping space shall be required. Such landscape spaces are to be located in a manner not impairing visibility. Parking lot landscaping is not to be construed as meeting any other landscaping, screening and/or buffering requirements of this chapter.
(b)
A screen planting of appropriate plant material not less than three feet in height shall be provided between off-street parking areas and any lot line or street line, except where a building intervenes or where the distance between such areas and the lot line or street line is greater than 150 feet.
(c)
All loading areas are to be landscaped and screened sufficiently to obscure the view of the parked vehicles and loading platforms from any public street, adjacent residential land use or district or commercial frontage.
(4)
Pavement requirements.
(a)
Off-street parking areas and loading areas, including access aisles, driveways and fire lanes, shall be surfaced as outlined below. Alternate methods of an equivalent quality may be permitted subject to approval by the Town Engineer.
[1]
Areas of ingress, egress, loading and unloading, major interior driveways or access aisles and other areas likely to experience similar heavy traffic shall be paved with not less than 12 inches of suitable subbase material in compliance with New York State Department of Transportation Standard Specification Type 4 equivalent gravel. Areas with soft soil conditions may require subbase material up to 18 inches based on the Town Engineer's recommendation. Under extremely soft soil conditions, a soil stabilization fabric shall be deemed necessary and required after review by the Town Engineer. Bituminous surfacing shall be used unless an equivalent is approved after review by the Town Engineer. Bituminous surfacing shall consist of 1 1/2 inches of compacted Type 6 or 6F New York State Department of Transportation equivalent top course and a three-inch compacted Type I New York State Department of Transportation equivalent base course for a total compacted bituminous material thickness of at least 4 1/2 inches. Should unstable subsurface soil conditions exist, additional subbase and/or bituminous base course may be required depending on the Town Engineer's recommendation.
[2]
Parking stall areas and other areas likely to experience similar light traffic shall be paved with not less than 12 inches of New York State Department of Transportation Type 4 equivalent gravel. Bituminous surfacing is to be used unless an equivalent is approved after review by the Town Engineer. Bituminous surfacing shall consist of at least one inch of compacted Type 6 or 6F New York State Department of Transportation equivalent top course and 2 1/2 inches of compacted Type 3 or Type 1 New York State Department of Transportation equivalent binder or base course for a total compacted bituminous material thickness of at least 3 1/2 inches. Should unstable subsurface soil conditions exist, additional subbase and/or bituminous base course may be required depending on the Town Engineer's recommendation.
(b)
All parking areas, regardless of size and location, shall be suitably drained and maintained with slopes on paved surfaces established between 1% and 8% in parking stall areas and with driveway grades no greater than 10%.
(c)
All off-street parking lots shall be adequately demarcated with reflective painted lines or other markings to indicate traffic flow and parking spaces.
(5)
Other use of parking facilities prohibited. Parking areas shall be used for automobile parking only, with no sales, dead storage, repair work, dismantling or service of any kind. The required parking areas shall be permanently available for the use by patrons and employees of establishments providing such spaces.
B.
Commercial landscaping standards.
(1)
Landscaped strips along street. A landscaped strip shall be provided adjacent to all public and private streets. The landscaped strip shall be a minimum of 10 feet wide, exclusive of street right-of-way. Within the landscaped strip, one shade tree (three inches caliper minimum) shall be provided per every 150 linear feet, or any portion thereof, of landscaped strip. Required shrubbery shall be no higher than four feet above existing street grades. All landscaping (trees, shrubs, planted bed) shall be maintained within 20 feet of any street intersections or 10 feet of driveway/street intersections. This restriction is for purposes of maintaining visibility at all times.
(2)
Where parking lots and driveways abut the landscaped strip along street rights-of-way, evergreen shrubs selected from the list below must be provided for screening. The screening must be a plant species that grows a minimum of three feet high and extends along the entire street frontage of the parking lot, exclusive of driveways and visibility clips. A landscaped berm must be provided in lieu of required shrubs. The berm must be 18 inches to 40 inches above the average grade of the street and parking lot curbs, with a slope not to exceed 3:1. If a parking lot is located 50 feet or more from the street right-of-way line, no screening shrubs or berm will be required.
Suggested Evergreen Low Screening Shrubs | ||
|---|---|---|
Common Name | Scientific Name | |
Euonymous | Euonymous fortunei | |
Oregon grape | Mahonia aquifolium | |
Rhododendron | Rhododendron ('compacta' varieties) | |
Holly | Ilex ('compacta' varieties) | |
Dwarf Hinoki false cypress | Chamaaecyparis obtuse 'Nana Gracilis' | |
Spruce | Picea (varieties) | |
Juniper | Juniperus (varieties) | |
Yew | Taxus (varieties) | |
Suggested Evergreen Tall Screening Shrubs | ||
|---|---|---|
Common Name | Scientific Name | |
Spruce | Picea (varieties) | |
Juniper | Juniperus (varieties) | |
Yew | Taxus (varieties) | |
The blue holly | Ilex meservae | |
Mountain laurel | Kalmia latifolia | |
Firethorn | Pyracantha | |
Rhododendron | Rhododendron | |
Leatherleaf viburnum | Viburnum rhytide phyllum | |
C.
Off-street loading.
(1)
Whenever the normal operation of any use requires that goods, merchandise or equipment be delivered to or shipped from the use, sufficient off-street loading and unloading space shall be provided to accommodate loading and unloading operations.
(2)
The loading and unloading area shall be of sufficient size to accommodate the numbers and types of vehicles that are likely to use the facilities. The following chart indicates the number and size of spaces that may, presumptively, provide safe and convenient loading and unloading facilities; however, the Planning Board reserves the right to adjust the loading area if reasonably necessary to ensure safe, convenient and efficient operations.
Gross Leasable Area of Building (square feet) | Number of Spaces | |
|---|---|---|
5,000 to 79,999 | 1 | |
80,000 to 127,999 | 2 | |
128,000 to 191,000 | 3 | |
192,000 to 255,999 | 4 | |
256,000 to 319,000 | 5 | |
320,000 to 391,999 | 6 | |
Each additional 72,000 or fraction thereof | Plus 1 |
(3)
Each loading space shall possess a minimum area of 12 feet by 55 feet and an overhead clearance of 14 feet from the street grade.
(4)
Loading and unloading areas shall be located and designed such that the vehicles intended to use them can maneuver safely and conveniently to and from a public right-of-way and complete the loading and unloading operations without obstruction or interfering with any public right-of-way or any parking space or parking lot aisle or fire right-of-way or lane.
(5)
No area used for loading and unloading facilities shall be used to satisfy the area requirements for off-street parking, nor shall any portion of any off-street parking area be used to satisfy the area requirements for loading and unloading facilities.
D.
Curbs and sidewalks.
(1)
Granite or concrete curbing shall be installed, as required, to adequately control stormwater runoff and to delineate and protect other site features, including but not limited to sidewalks, ingress and egress locations, landscaped islands and planting beds and parking and loading areas, and at intersections with existing town, county or state roads. The appropriateness of curbing shall be reviewed and approved by the Town Planning Board and/or its consultant. Construction of said curbing shall be laid in a manner approved by the Town Engineer.
(2)
Curbing shall be laid in compliance with the following:
(a)
All concrete curbing shall have a twenty-eight-day compressive strength of 4,000 pounds per square inch. Expansion joints shall be provided at intervals of 20 feet and shall be sealed. Curb vertical face exposure shall be at least six inches above the pavement surface.
(b)
Granite curbing shall be constructed to show a vertical face above the pavement surface of at least six inches.
(3)
Sidewalks shall be supplied in compliance with the following:
(a)
Sidewalks may be required as part of any site layout, along all streets in the TC or OR Districts and other areas determined appropriate by the Planning Board, to facilitate adequate separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and to supply ample space along existing roads for safe pedestrian movement. Sidewalks shall be approved by the Town Planning Board in light of the above requirement, depending on the probable volume of pedestrian traffic and the development's location in relation to other development areas.
(b)
Where required, sidewalks shall be at least four feet wide and located to avoid conflicts with vehicular traffic as reviewed and approved by the Town Planning Board. Said sidewalks are to be concrete or an equivalent acceptable to the Board and are to be constructed in accordance with New York State Department of Transportation Standard Specification 608.
E.
Buffers.
(1)
Mixed-density residential buffers shall consist of a naturally landscaped area, including lawns, shrubs and trees creating a screened effect between dissimilar uses.
(2)
A buffer area or strip required adjacent to residential lots/districts shall consist of shrubs, trees and lawns culminating with a fencelike screen of trees near the property line or a spacing of trees throughout the required buffer area effectively creating screening between adjacent dissimilar uses.
(3)
Types of buffer zones between uses.
(a)
The purpose of buffer zones is to separate land uses and offer visual screening between uses that may not be compatible. The level of general compatibility dictates the level of screening. Three different types of buffers are specified. The buffer types are designated as Type A, Type B and Type C buffers. The following table illustrates the types of buffers required between adjacent uses.
Buffer Requirements Between Adjacent Uses | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land Uses | Single-Family Resi- dential | Multi- family Resi- dential | Office | Retail | Com- mer- cial/Recre-ation | Indus-trial |
Single-family residential | None | B | A | B | C | C |
Multifamily residential | B | None | A | A | B | C |
Office | A | A | None | A | B | C |
Retail | B | A | A | None | B | C |
Commer- cial/recre- ation | C | B | B | B | None | B |
Industrial | C | C | C | C | B | None |
(b)
Any use not specified above is considered a commercial use, unless otherwise determined by the Planning Board.
(4)
Description of buffer types.
(a)
Buffer types are illustrated in Figure 27. Each buffer type contains certain minimum requirements, which are outlined in the table below. The buffer shall apply to both sides of the property line to which it is applied. Trees and shrubs are to be from the recommended lists in this section. An opaque fence or other screen may be substituted for trees or shrubs of the minimum specified height, at the discretion of the Planning Board.
Buffer Types | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Buffer Yard Type | Minimum Landscaped Yard (feet) | Number of Trees Required per 100 Linear Feet of Buffer | Minimum Height of Required Trees (feet) | |
A | 10 | 1 | N/A | |
B | 20 | 3 | 6 | |
C | 50 | 5 | 10 | |
(b)
Parking or storage of vehicles of any kind or objects associated with the use of the property is not permitted within the buffer yards. When not inhabited with natural woody plants (i.e., trees and shrubs) sufficient to visually screen adjoining uses or zones, such buffers shall be planted, regraded and/or fenced.
(c)
Buffer yards are in addition to landscape requirements outlined in this section and may not be used as a substitution for any part of the required landscaping. Where the use and area tables of this chapter specify a fifty-foot buffer, the requirements of a Type C buffer shall apply.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Table 1, Use Regulations, and Table 2, Area Regulations, are included at the end of this chapter.
(d)
All industrial and commercial uses shall maintain a fifty-foot Type C buffer between the use and adjoining lot line of any cemetery.
(5)
Maintenance of buffers. All buffers shall be maintained. The Planning Board may require that a bond be posted to ensure buffer maintenance.