06-16-2025 - Agenda Packet Planning Commission - Planning Commission Packet

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16 Among medium-size downtowns, parking requirements vary widely. In the Central Business District Zone in Grand Rapids, Michigan, (pop. 197,000) parking is required at a rate of one space for each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for nonresidential buildings and hotels. Off-street park- ing is not required for any building constructed prior to January 1, 1998, however, or for new buildings and cumulative additions to existing build- ings with a gross floor area of 10,000 square feet or less. CBD Parking Required Automobile Parking Off-street parking space as required herein shall be provided for all build- ings and structures and for additions to existing buildings or structures. The number of spaces required for all uses shall be one space for each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area for all non-residential buildings and hotels, and one space per dwelling unit for all dwellings. Required Bicycle Parking Bicycle parking shall be provided in conjunction with new automobile parking facilities. Any new facility providing parking for more than fifty (50) automobiles, shall provide bicycle parking at a rate of one bicycle park- ing space for each forty (40) automobile spaces, with a minimum of six (6) spaces. In lieu of providing bicycle parking within the parking facility, the owner may provide bicycle parking at an alternate location well suited to meet the needs of potential users. Public parking facilities designed to pro- vide remote employee parking on the fringe of the district shall be exempt from this requirement. Madison, Wisconsin (pop. 208,000), and Richmond, Virginia (pop. 198,000), do not have parking requirements in most or all of their downtown dis- tricts; they do, however, negotiate all parking needs through a transporta- tion management ordinance. Communities with small downtowns vary widely in their management of downtown parking. Some have chosen to develop parking programs focused on public parking lots that serve the downtown area. In Holland, Michigan, for example, a community with 27,000 residents and a tradi- tional downtown of approximately eight square blocks, “All businesses located in the C-3 Central Business District shall be deemed participants in a community parking program and shall be exempt from parking require- ments herein specified. For any additional residential use created, addi- tional parking areas shall be provided in accordance with the requirements set forth herein” (Section 39–52). Distinctions Based on the Type of Commercial District In addition to special regulations for downtown parking, some communi- ties choose to provide distinct parking requirements based on the type of commercial district rather than delineating citywide requirements for each particular land use. (In some cases communities use overlay districts—see below.) The basic premise is that a commercial district serving a particular neighborhood will draw patrons from a relatively small market area, in- creasing the chances that many will arrive via walking, for example, while districts that allow uses drawing from a regional market may require more parking per square foot of floor area for the same use. Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers an example of differentiating between districts; its regulations provide that the parking requirements vary “ac- cording to the type, location and intensity of development in the different zoning districts, and to proximity of public transit facilities.” For example, the minimum parking requirement for general retail establishments varies from one space per 500 square feet, one space per 700 square feet, and one 133