Now that we’ve taken care of transit-oriented development, let’s continue moving forward onto Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is one of the larger chapters of the UDO and deals with general development standards. We see general development standards every day and most people probably don’t even realize there are regulations governing their use.
Chapter 7 includes parking, landscaping, signs, lighting and outdoor displays and storage.
Today, we’ll take a look at 7.1 — Parking. We’ll be splitting parking into two sections since it’s a hot topic and takes up 14 pages in the UDO.
Of some of the major changes, Planning Manager Greg Hallam said, “Generally, minimum parking requirements for commercial uses has been reduced while minimum requirements for multi-family and institutional uses have been slightly increased.”
Buildings that fall under the current code would not have to meet the new parking guidelines unless there is a change in use or the floor area is increased by 25 percent.
The new code also allows for alternative parking studies to be done by a developer. The ratios that are listed in the code can be changed as long as a certified North Carolina engineer creates the study and includes the size and type of the development, the mix of uses, anticipated rate of parking turnover and anticipated peak parking and traffic loads of all uses.
The chart below that is found on page 7 – 4 outlines the residential parking requirements.
