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Council Agenda - City of BurbankTuesday, January 30, 2007Agenda Item - 9 |
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Council Agenda - City of BurbankTuesday, January 30, 2007Agenda Item - 9 |
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PURPOSE:
At the City Council meeting of March 21, 2006, the City Council directed staff to prepare a report on universal parking stall dimensions. This report responds to that request and recommends that the Council take no action at this time to modify the City�s existing parking stall standards.
BACKGROUND:
Current Code Requirements Burbank Municipal Code (BMC) Section 31-1401 requires a minimum width for parking stalls, depending upon the land use. All parking stalls, regardless of use, are required to have a minimum length of 18 feet.
In March 2006, the City Council adopted an amendment to the BMC, eliminating provisions for compact parking stalls, having dimensions of seven (7) feet, six (6) inches by 15 feet, for general office and industrial uses. Many adjacent communities had eliminated compact parking entirely or increased the required width and length of the compact stall to accommodate the increased size of motor vehicles on the road today. When adopting this ordinance, the Council directed staff to return with a report on the possible use of a universal parking stall size in lieu of the two stall sizes currently used as shown in the above table.
Parking Dimensions in Neighboring Cities Walker Parking Consultants generally recommends that parking stalls be designed with a one-size-fits-all dimension of eight (8) feet, six (6) inches or wider and having a length of 18 to 20 feet. For higher intensity uses, Walker recommends utilizing stalls that are nine (9) feet wide, particularly if operating larger vehicles (trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans). The City of Burbank�s parking stall dimension requirements are consistent with those recommended by Walker Parking Consultants in that wider stalls are utilized for higher intensity traffic and parking generating uses.
Staff surveyed a number of adjacent communities to determine their requirements for parking stall dimensions. Some communities have chosen to adopt a universal stall size while others have elected, like Burbank, to require different dimensions depending upon land use.
Communities with Universal / Standard Parking Stall Dimensions
Anaheim 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Glendale 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Pasadena 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
San Gabriel 9 feet by 20 feet
Santa Ana 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Santa Monica 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Torrance 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Communities with Use Based Parking Stall Dimensions
Brea Residential- 9 feet by 19 feet Commercial, Office, and Community Facilities- 9 feet, 6 inches by 19 feet Industrial- 9 feet by 19 feet
Culver City Residential- 9 feet by 18 feet Non-Residential- 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
West Covina Residential- 9 feet by 18 feet Non-Residential- 8 feet, 6 inches by 18 feet
Whittier Residential- 9 feet by 20 feet Non-Residential- 9 feet by 19 feet
ANALYSIS:
The existing parking requirements ensure that land uses having higher traffic and parking generation characteristics (retail and commercial services, banks and savings and loan institutions, and medical offices) have nine (9) foot stalls to accommodate drivers entering and exiting the business on a more frequent basis. Land uses having lower traffic and parking generation characteristics (residential, office, and industrial) are allowed to provide eight (8) foot, six (6) inch stalls to accommodate drivers entering and exiting the business on a less frequent basis.
The overwhelming majority of communities having a universal parking size utilize dimensions of eight (8) feet, six (6) inches by 18 feet. If the City of Burbank were to consider amending its parking stall dimensions so as to be more consistent with neighboring communities, the eight feet, six (6) inch requirement would be most consistent. However, if adopted, the width requirement for higher intensity uses would actually be decreased from nine (9) feet to eight (8) feet, six (6) inches, providing less maneuverability for vehicles entering and exiting the parking stall.
Staff believes that it is not necessary, at this time, to consider increasing or decreasing existing parking stall requirements. The existing regulations require that uses generating high parking turnover have stalls with greater width to provide increased accessibility and maneuverability to both the vehicle entering the parking space and neighboring vehicles that could be disrupted when a car parks or a door is opened. Parking stalls having a width of eight (8) feet, six (6) inches are generally adequate even for larger vehicles. However, a nine (9) foot width is preferable for uses having higher turnover. Given the adequacy of eight (8) foot, six (6) inch stalls for lower turnover uses, staff believes that there is no compelling reason to adopt a nine (9) foot universal stall size.
Further, staff believes that requiring the larger size for all spaces could result in impacts on the development community. Larger parking stalls generally require more land area, cost more money to build, and reduce the flexibility for site design. If a universal size were to be adopted, staff would recommend utilizing an eight (8) foot, six (6) inch width rather than a nine (9) inch width so as to avoid placing additional costs on development and provide developers with additional flexibility in their site design. However, a universal stall size of eight (8) feet, six (6) inches would be narrower for those uses having higher turnover where increased flexibility and maneuverability is desired. For these reasons, staff recommends that the two different space widths be retained.
Department Comments: The Public Works Traffic Engineering Division supports retaining the current two-size approach to the parking dimension requirements. Traffic staff supported the elimination of compact parking stalls, but believe the existing width and length requirements for the respective land uses are appropriate and need not be modified.
CONCLUSION:
The current dimension requirements create a balance by providing developers with greater flexibility and lower development costs for low turnover uses while requiring wide spaces for those uses having higher turnover. A smaller universal size would negatively impact high turnover uses while going to a bigger universal size would increase the costs and decrease design flexibility for developers.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council note and file this report and not pursue any changes to the City�s parking stall size standards at this time. If the Council wishes to proceed with any changes, staff seeks further direction from the Council regarding the regulation of parking stall dimensions.
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