20.36.050 Parking | Bellingham Municipal Code

20.36.050 Parking.

1. This section is intended to provide parking regulations for all permitted uses which are regulated by this chapter.

2. Off-street parking in accordance with the provisions herein shall be provided whenever:

a. A main building is constructed or relocated upon another lot; or

b. The cost of interior alteration or repair within any 12-month period exceeds 50 percent of the actual valuation; or

c. A change of use, floor area expansion, or modification which affects any other unit of measure used to determine parking requirements, in which case the additional number of parking spaces resulting from the change shall be required, unless already provided.

3. The director shall have the authority to reduce or waive off-street parking required by this chapter as stated in BMC 20.12.010(A)(3) through (5); provided, that the requirements stated therein are met.

4. Shared Parking. The amount of off-street parking required by this chapter may be reduced by an amount determined by the director when shared parking facilities for two or more uses are proposed, provided the requirements stated in BMC 20.12.010(A)(6) are met.

1. All permitted uses within areas designated with the light, heavy and marine use qualifier areas shall provide, at a minimum, the number of spaces required herein.

2. Any use clearly similar to the uses listed below shall meet the requirements specified. If the similarity is not apparent, then the hearing examiner shall determine the standards which shall be applied.

Use		Parking Space Requirement
Commercial
1.	General Business, Personal Service Establishments	One for every 250 square feet of floor area open to the public.
2.	Furniture and Large Appliance Store	Four plus one for every 500 square feet gross floor area.
3.	Eating and Drinking Establishments, Dance Halls	One for every 75 square feet of floor area open to the public with a minimum of seven spaces.
4.	Commercial Recreation	Four for each bowling lane, tennis or racquetball court, pool or billiard table; or one for each miniature golf hole or in the case of a driving range for each tee area; or one for each 100 square feet of open recreational area. Where an eating and/or drinking establishment is located within a main building used as a commercial recreation site and is clearly accessory to the primary commercial recreation use, additional parking shall not be required.
5.	Service Stations	Five.
Health Care
1.	Doctor/Dentist Offices and/or Laboratories	Five for each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area.
2.	Small Animal Hospital	Five spaces for every veterinarian.
Public and Semi-Public Assembly
1.	School, Institution of Higher Education, Art School	One per classroom and office plus one for every four students normally enrolled who are over the legal driving age. Public assembly areas, such as auditoriums, stadiums, etc. that may be adjunct to the school shall provide parking required herein; however, parking provided for the school may be considered as parking for the assembly area.
2.	Museums, Art Galleries, Aquariums	One for every 200 square feet of floor area open to the public.
3.	Bus Stations, Passenger Terminal Facilities	One for every 100 square feet of floor area open to the public.
4.	Private Club and Lodge	One for every 150 square feet of floor area devoted to assembly or meeting area. If eating/drinking facilities are included there shall be one space required for each 75 square feet devoted to such activity.
5.	Parks/Playgrounds	The director shall determine the required number based on the type and extent of the particular facility.
Industrial
1.	Manufacturing	One for every 5,000 square feet of gross floor area or one per employee (working at the same time), whichever is greater.
2.	Warehousing and Wholesale	One for every 20,000 square feet of gross floor area or one per employee (working at the same time), whichever is greater.
3.	Mini-Storage	One space for every 2,000 square feet of storage area plus three spaces for the manager’s office.
Miscellaneous Uses
1.	Crematories/Mortuaries/Funeral Parlors	One for every 100 square feet of floor area open to the public.
2.	Agricultural Nurseries Wholesale/Retail	To be determined by office of planning and development.
Residential
1.	Single-Family/Manufactured Home	Two parking spaces; single-family attached units shall provide one additional parking space for each bedroom over three. No more than two enclosed garage parking spaces per unit may count toward meeting parking requirement.
2.	Duplex/Multifamily	a. One for each studio unit.
		b. One and one-half for each one- or two-bedroom unit.
		c. Two for each three+ bedroom unit.
		d. Duplex with four or more bedrooms: one parking space per bedroom. No more than two parking spaces per unit may be located in an enclosed garage.
		e. Multifamily: one additional space for each bedroom over three per unit. No more than two parking spaces per unit may be located in an enclosed garage. This provision shall not limit the number of parking spaces that may be provided in common areas in an enclosed under-building parking floor or structure.
3.	Boarding House	One for every two bedrooms
4.	Live/Work Unit	One parking space per live/work unit or one parking space per 500 square feet of gross floor area of all units in a project, whichever is greater.

1. Whenever off-street parking facilities are constructed, whether required or not, the facility shall meet the standards and requirements within this section.

2. All required parking shall be located off street and on the subject property in areas which meet the minimum requirements of this section. Parking on the public right-of-way shall not be considered as off-street parking unless approved pursuant to BMC 20.12.010(A)(3) and (4). Shared parking may be allowed pursuant to regulations found in BMC 20.12.010(A)(6).

3. The provisions of off-street parking and loading in the manner and extent required herein shall be a continuing obligation to the owner of a given use so long as the use is in existence. It shall be unlawful to discontinue, change, or dispense with parking and/or loading facilities unless alternative facilities are established which meet the requirements of this section.

4. Scaled parking plans shall be provided which indicate ingress, egress, grade, base and surface material, as well as parking lot dimensions.

5. Off-street parking for single-family and duplex dwellings shall be a minimum of nine feet in width by 18 feet in length with 22 feet of maneuvering aisle depth behind each space. Off-street parking dimensions for other uses shall not be less than shown on BMC 20.08.020, Figures 10, 11 and 12.

6. Unapproved revision to any approved parking facility which would affect the design, or failure to maintain the facility in accordance with good practice, shall be deemed a violation of the land use development ordinance, subject to the penalties as established. Failure to keep the parking lot surface reasonably clean of debris, failure to replace dead plant material or to remove noxious weeds shall be specifically included in the phrase “failure to maintain the facility in accordance with good practice.”

1. The parking facility shall be located totally within property lines except for egress, ingress and maneuvering areas as permitted below.

a. Alley right-of-way may be utilized toward meeting the maneuvering area required herein.

b. Where Required by Special Regulation in Chapter 20.00 BMC – Zoning Tables. When access is available from a city maintained alley, no vehicular access shall be taken from the street frontage except when the planning director determines that alley access is impractical or environmentally constrained.

3. No portion of any open parking facility shall be located within five feet of any front property line or within any required yard except for a lane for ingress and egress.

a. All required parking spaces shall be designed such that any vehicle parking in any space may enter and exit without interference or blocking any other vehicle parking in any other required space, except as allowed in subsection (D)(4)(b) of this section.

b. Tandem parking (two cars maximum) as allowed when enclosed within a structure.

i. Tandem parking garages shall be set back a minimum of four feet from the front face of a building.

5. There shall be no parking in any yard required in BMC 20.36.040(F).

1. Hard surfacing shall be required of all parking facilities including those portions within the right-of-way. Single-family homes, duplexes, churches, agricultural nurseries, industrial and manufacturing uses are exempt from this requirement, provided the facility is surfaced with no less than three inches of crushed gravel and is maintained in a dust free condition.

2. When parking facilities are surfaced with gravel, the driveway and approaches shall nevertheless be paved with hard surfacing.

3. Permeable pavement shall be used for hard surface ground cover areas unless infeasible per the infeasibility criteria listed within BMP T5.15 of the Ecology Manual. Projects that include less than 2,000 square feet of new or replaced impervious surface are exempt from this requirement.

4. A portion of a standard parking space may be landscaped instead of paved, provided the requirements in BMC 20.12.030(C)(4)(e) are met.

5. Any lot used in whole or part as a retail parking facility shall install a city sidewalk across the full width of the lot abutting the street.

6. Wheel stops shall be provided to protect landscape areas and city sidewalks from encroachment by vehicles.

7. All parking facilities shall be clearly marked as to stalls and traffic flow and for handicapped and compact spaces.

8. Drainage systems for parking facilities shall be designed and approved in accordance with Ordinance No. 8827, as amended.

9. Retail parking facilities shall install adequate lighting in accordance with standards approved by the public works director.

10. All parking facilities open to the general public with more than 50 parking spaces shall provide a bicycle storage area in which to temporarily store bicycles. Bicycle storage space shall consist of a conveniently located and sturdy rack, hooks, bar or locker permitting locking or enclosure of the bicycle frame and both wheels to prevent thefts. With the exception of hanging hooks, bicycle storage facilities shall be designed so as not to support the full weight of the bicycle on one or both wheels. The bicycle storage area shall have the capabilities to hold at least 10 percent of the number of parking spaces. This requirement may be waived by the director if it can be demonstrated that the rack would not be reasonably utilized due to the location of the facility.

11. The public works department shall approve the location of all curb cuts. No single curb cut shall be wider than 30 feet. For parking lots with less than 10 spaces, the curb cut shall be no wider than 12 feet. Parking lots with separate points of ingress and egress shall have no more than a 12-foot curb cut separated by a distance of at least 20 feet and shall comply with arterial street access, Chapter 13.52 BMC, Driveways Giving Access to Arterial Streets. [Ord. 2017-03-009 § 33; Ord. 2006-12-122; Ord. 2006-12-121; Ord. 2003-03-010; Ord. 2002-10-070; Ord. 2002-10-069 § 55; Ord. 2002-06-045 § 23; Ord. 9582 §§ 9, 11, 1986; Ord. 9024, 1982; Ord. 1982].