§ 28-901. Off-street loading.

(a)

Loading and unloading facilities required. Loading and unloading facilities shall be provided prior to occupancy for every commercial or industrial building hereafter erected or altered and shall be maintained as long as such building is occupied or unless equivalent facilities are provided in conformance with the regulations of this division.

(b)

Zoning inspector. The planning commission may waive loading requirements dependent upon the character of the proposed use or the impracticality of adding loading docks to existing buildings. The planning commission may allow two or more uses to cooperatively provide off-street loading spaces, subject to the assurance of permanent availability.

(c)

Site plan for off-street loading required. Detailed drawings of off-street loading facilities shall be submitted for approval by the building inspector. The building inspector may require structural and landscape features, such as bumper guards, curbs, walls, fences, shrubs, ground cover or hedges, to further carry out the screening objectives of this division.

(d)

Allocation of use. Space required and allocated for any off-street loading facility shall not while so allocated be used to satisfy the space requirements for off-street parking. An off-street loading space shall not be used for repairing or servicing of motor vehicles.

(e)

Location of facility. All required loading facilities shall be related to the function of the building and use to be served and located so as not to interfere with access and driveways.

(f)

Access driveways. Each required off-street loading space shall be designed for direct vehicular access by means of a driveway to a public street provided, however, that loading shall not be from the public right-of-way, except in situations of existing commercial facilities in the Central Business District where no other opportunities for loading exist. Generally, where servicing is provided from a public right-of-way, the following principles shall be followed:

(1)

Servicing should be provided from other than the principal entrance of the use.

(2)

Trucks shall be parked for loading or unloading purposes on other than the principal street serving the use, on side streets or alleys, when available.

(g)

Minimum size criteria. A required off-street loading space shall be at least 12 feet wide by at least 40 feet in length. The above area shall be exclusive of the maneuvering space and each loading facility shall have a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet.

(h)

Minimum space required.

(1)

Every building having over 5,000 square feet of gross floor area shall be provided with at least one truck loading space. The following minimum number of spaces shall be required:

Use	Gross Floor Area in Square Feet	Required Minimum Number of Spaces
Retail establishments	Under 20,000	1
	20,000—50,000	2
Printing, publishing, warehouses, storage establishments	Under 40,000	1
	40,000—100,000	2
Servicing, cleaning, repairing, testing, or manufacturing establishments	Under 40,000	1
	40,000—100,000	2
All uses	One additional such loading space for each 100,000 square feet or major fraction thereof of gross floor area so used in excess of 100,000 square feet. When the determination of requirements results in a fractional space, any fraction of one-half or less shall be disregarded. Any fraction of more than one-half shall count as one loading space.

 

(2)

In the case of any use which is not specifically mentioned in subsection (h)(1) of this section, the provisions for a similar use which is so mentioned shall apply. The planning commission shall make all such determinations.

(Code 1989, § 13-1-71(6); Ord. of 10-5-2004, § 13-1-71(6))