EL PASO COUNTY
LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE

Chapter IV - Section 35.3

OFF-STREET PARKING AND
MANEUVERING REQUIREMENTS

The Off-Street Parking and Maneuvering Requirements are designed to provide safe and efficient parking and maneuvering requirements, encourage good circulation and discourage parking on the street for all types of land uses. They will also help reduce the potential for one land use impacting adjacent land uses and streets due to insufficient size and number of parking requirements or poor parking lot design.

These regulations are designed and enacted for the purpose of promoting the health, safety, convenience, order and welfare of the present and future residents of El Paso County pursuant to Section 30-28-115 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

B.   APPLICABILITY

These requirements shall apply to: newly constructed buildings existing buildings that are enlarged by an addition newly established land uses including a change in the use of a property or the occupancy of a building as determined by the Regional Building Department expansion of a land use to adjacent property

These requirements shall not apply to existing single family or two-family residences that were existing, under construction, or approved for construction prior to January 13, 1994 (date of the revisions).

C.   GENERAL REGULATIONS

The following design requirements shall apply to all off-street parking areas other than single-family and duplex developments.

1.   The circulation pattern shall be reviewed by the appropriate fire district which may designate fire lanes that may have minimum standards greater than those established within this section. In this instance, the fire district's standards shall apply.

2.   Rows of parking should be designed with more than one (1) entrance/exit whenever possible.

3.   All parking areas shall be clearly marked and shall be designed to provide on-site circulation between drive aisles without the need to enter adjacent streets.

4.   It shall be the property owner's responsibility to comply with all other State and Federal regulations including, but not limited to, Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) regulations.

5.   The number and location of all street access points must be approved by the El Paso County Department of Public Works and the Colorado Department of Transportation, as applicable. Street parking shall not be counted toward minimum parking requirements.

6.   Public Right-of-Way: Parking or maneuvering areas located within the public rights-of-way shall not be counted toward meeting the requirements of Section 35.3 of the Land Development Code.

7.   All parking spaces shall be designed to have forward travel to or from an adjacent drive aisle without moving another vehicle. Tandem parking spaces shall not be considered when calculating the required number of parking spaces.

8.   Mixed Uses: Where a property may have more than one (1) use, or a primary use with accessory use(s), the total number of parking spaces required shall be the sum of the requirements of the various uses.

9.   Parking spaces shall be designed to minimize conflicts between the driveways from the street and cars backing out of parking spaces.

10.   Lighting fixtures used to illuminate parking areas and driveways shall be no more than twenty (20) feet above ground level and shall be directed away from adjacent properties and rights-of-way so as to confine direct rays to the site and prevent spillage on adjacent properties. Lighting fixtures shall be provided in all parking areas of more than five (5) spaces.

11.   All parking and maneuvering areas shall be located on the same lot as the use for which it is intended. No parking space shall be permitted where the vehicle leaving the parking space must be backed across any property line. In no case other than a one (1) family or two (2) family residence shall the vehicle leaving the parking space be allowed to back into a public right-of-way.

Exception: Parking or maneuvering areas may be located on adjacent lots provided a recorded document is provided to the Development Services Department which stipulates provisions for common use and maintenance. The use restriction shall run with the building and/or use which the parking is intended to serve. This provision is not intended to reduce the minimum number of parking spaces. Furthermore, required parking spaces for other uses in the area cannot be counted toward meeting the requirements of a new use. All parking must be located within five hundred (500) feet of the building and/or use that it is intended to serve.

12.   All parking lots that provide more than five (5) spaces, other than single-family or duplex, shall be paved.

13.   NONRESIDENTIAL USES ONLY - Except for approved parking structures, all required parking spaces shall be outdoors (unenclosed) and shall remain available for everyday use for parking.

14   Required parking areas shall not be used for storage of inoperable vehicles, supplies, merchandise, trash, or other items that would prohibit the parking space from being used on a day-to-day basis.

15.   Parking lots with over two hundred (200) parking spaces shall be designed to have entrance(s) that have a minimum distance of one hundred (100) feet between any street-side property line and the first drive aisle used to access parking spaces. This will help to minimize potential stacking problems resulting from incoming vehicles looking for available parking spaces. On-site signage shall give the incoming vehicle the right-of-way where the entrance crosses the drive aisles.

16.   Truck Loading and Turnaround Areas. Off-street loading and turn-around areas shall be provided for all non-residential buildings of three thousand (3,000) square feet or greater, shall be on the same site as the building which it serves and shall be subject to the following criteria:

a.   All truck-loading and turnaround areas shall be designed and located in such a manner as to minimize any potential noise impacts to adjacent residential properties (if any). Loading areas shall be designed so that a maneuvering or parked delivery vehicle will not obstruct common drive aisles used by employees or customers of other businesses.

b.   An on-site turnaround area shall be provided for all loading areas so that all delivery vehicles enter and leave a site in a forward direction. An area for turning a delivery vehicle around so that it may be backed into the loading area must be provided on site. The responsibility for demon-strating compliance with this regula-tion rests with the applicant. Only turning radii found to be acceptable by the Institute of Traffic Engineers or other accepted standards shall be acceptable for compliance with this requirement.

c.   Minimum dimensions for loading areas shall be:

1)   Large - fourteen (14) feet wide by forty (40) feet long, with a minimum vertical clearance of fourteen (14) feet for buildings over twenty thousand (20,000) square feet;

2)   Small - fourteen (14) by eighteen (18) for buildings up to twenty thousand (20,000) square feet.

d.   Loading areas shall be designed in such a way that they are screened from view from a public street or residential areas.

e.   Loading areas shall be provided for each non-residential building based upon the following table:

Net Building Area (Square Feet)

Parking spaces used for loading requirements shall not be in addition to minimum parking requirements.

Two small loading spaces may be substituted for each large loading space provided one (1) large space is provided for each one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of building area.

D.   DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS

* May include a two (2) foot overhang.
**  Two-way drive not allowed for 30 degree parking.

COMPACT SPACES
Up to 30% of the minimum number of required spaces may be compact

Parking Angle* (Degrees)	Width of Space	Depth of Space	Aisle Width Two-Way	Aidle Width One-Way	Depth of Interlocking Spaces	Overhang
0	8	20	--	--	16	0
30	8	15	--	--	23	1.5
45	8	19	--	--	28.5	1.5
60	8	18	--	--	31.5	2
75	8	17.5	--	--	33	2
89	8	15	--	--	32	2

* Parking angle is measured as the angle defined by the line of travel of a drive aisle and the line of the longest side of a parking space.
--  Drive aisles for compact spaces shall be the same width as standard spaces.

NOTE: All dimensions are in feet.

E.   DISABLED ACCESS REQUIREMENTS

THE STANDARDS SET FORTH IN THIS CODE ARE THE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY EL PASO COUNTY. THEY ARE NOT INTENDED TO INCORPORATE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (A.D.A.). IF THERE ARE ANY CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE REQUIRE-MENTS OF ADA AND THIS CODE, THEN THE MOST RESTRICTIVE RE-QUIRE-MENTS SHALL GOVERN. EL PASO COUNTY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EN-FORCING THE REQUIREMENTS OF ADA.

Parking spaces provided for self parking by employees or visitors, or both, shall provide the number of required handicap spaces in each such parking area as required by the table below. Spaces shall meet the minimum standards for handicap spaces as provided herein.

(A)   Except as provided in (B), access aisles adjacent to accessible spaces shall be five (5) feet (152.5 cm) wide minimum (see figure A).

(B)   One (1) in every eight (8) accessible spaces, but not less than one (1), shall be served by an access aisle eight (8) feet (244.0 cm) wide minimum and shall be designated "Van Accessible."

EXCEPTION:   Provision of all required parking spaces in conformance with "Universal Parking Design" is permitted (see figure B).

F.   MINIMUM NUMBER OF SPACES

RESIDENTIAL

COMMERCIAL

Where a business is comprised of a primary use plus accessory uses, the total parking requirement shall be the sum of the requirements of all uses combined. Unless otherwise indicated, all parking standards are based upon net floor area.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

MISCELLANEOUS

G.   OTHER USE- SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

1   Drive-through design requirements and parking credits.

Restaurant: A minimum of three (3) cars (twenty (20) feet per car) stacking distance shall be provided behind the location where orders are placed without affecting the back-up area of parking spaces.

A minimum of five (5) cars (twenty-two (22) feet per car) stacking distance shall be provided behind the location where orders are placed without obstructing a public street or common drive aisle used by other businesses.

Parking Credit - Up to five (5) spaces could be given for stacking distance provided there is no obstruction to other parking spaces, drive aisles or public streets. Curvilinear stacking shall be measured along the centerline of the drive. The parking credit could be counted toward meeting the minimum number of parking spaces required for the building.

Financial Institution: A minimum of three (3) cars (twenty (20) feet per car) stacking distance shall be provided behind all locations where trans-actions are made without affecting the back-up area of parking spaces.

The stacking area shall be designed to allow for at least four (4) cars stacking distance behind each location where the transactions are made without obstructing a public street or common drive aisle used by other businesses.

Parking Credit - Up to two (2) spaces per drive aisle - could be given for stacking distance provided.

Car Wash or Quick-Lube and Oil-Change Uses: A minimum of two (2) cars (twenty (20) feet per car) stacking area and one (1) car drying area shall be required for each bay or stall which does not obstruct a drive aisle utilized by patrons of the car wash.

2.   Each parcel of a commercial center shall be required to provide an irrevocable access easement to the adjacent commercial properties.

3.   Repair bays for automotive service shall not be counted toward the minimum number of parking spaces for the use. Required parking spaces shall not be used for storage of inoperable vehicles.

4.   Mini-Warehouse Facilities:   A driveway aisle for Mini-Warehouse or Self-Storage facilities shall be a minimum width of twenty-four (24) feet. A driveway aisle where access to storage units is only on one (1) side of the aisle may be twenty (20) feet. Parking shall be required for any accessory use(s), (except office, caretaker's unit) on the property based on the standards for the accessory use(s) plus a minimum of three (3) guest spaces for customers of the storage unit.

Display or Storage Areas:   Required parking, maneuvering, or access areas for automobile sales uses shall not be used for display or storage of automobiles. Display or storage areas shall be delineated on required plans.

H.   EXPANSION OF EXISTING BUILDINGS WHICH ARE NONCONFORMING IN TERMS OF OFF-STREET PARKING AND MANEUVERING REQUIREMENTS

Buildings which are in existence at the time these standards are adopted and which do not meet the requirements of this section shall be considered to be nonconforming in terms of off-street parking and maneuvering requirements. Such buildings shall be permitted to remain in use except as otherwise pro-vided within these regulations. A change in occupancy of the building that results in an increase in the number of required parking spaces shall be subject to the same regulations as if a new building were being constructed. Expansion of such buildings shall be subject to the following provisions.

Any single or cumulative addition resulting in a one and one-half (1.5) times or greater increase in building square footage shall require the building and any additions to comply with this section. For purposes of administering this pro-vision, the existing building shall be considered the building as it existed prior to January 13, 1994 (date of these revisions).

I.   ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF

The purpose of this subsection is to provide for flexibility in the application of regulations by utilizing a simplified administrative procedure when a standard is unduly restrictive or inappropriate to a specific use or design proposal. Administrative relieve may be applied to any of the parking criteria outlined within this subsection except for the following:

Disabled Access Requirements
Number of Spaces Required for a Specific Use
Dimensional Requirements for Drive Aisles or Spaces

1    Application

A written request for Administrative Relief shall be submitted in conjunction with a development proposal such as a plot plan or a building permit site plan. The written request shall include a justification in terms of the findings necessary to grant Administrative Relief. The written request shall close with a section for the Development Services Department's use to include a block for the decision of approval/denial, notation of additional conditions/requirements, the Development Services Department's representative's signature, and decision date. The written request with decision shall be attached to the plan or retained in the appropriate file, as applicable.

2.   Findings Necessary to Grant Administrative Relief

The Development Services Department's representative must make all of the following findings in order to grant Administrative Relief:

a)   The strict application of the regulation in question is unreasonable given the development proposal or the measures proposed by the applicant or that the property has extraordinary or exceptional physical conditions that do not generally exist.

b)   The intent of this section and the specific regulation in question is preserved.

c)   The granting of the Administrative Relief will not result in an adverse impact on surrounding properties.

3.   Appeal of Administrative Relief Decision

Appeal from a determination by the Development Services Department for Administrative Relief shall be to the Board of Adjustment as provided for by law.

J   APPEALS

The applicant shall have the right to appeal any decision regarding the appropriate parking requirements (use identified as a standard similar to but not identical to the proposed use) or whether the existing parking is conforming or nonconforming made by the Development Services Director. Said appeal shall be processed in accordance with Section 34 of the Land Development Code to the Board of Adjustment.

K   VARIANCES

Matters pertaining to physical dimensions (length or width of parking spaces and drive aisles), or number of required spaces shall be reviewed by the Board of Adjustment pursuant to Section 34 of this Land Development Code.

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