17.105.110 Off-street parking requirements in the MB zoning districts.
(1) Number of Spaces. To promote a more compact, pedestrian-friendly downtown center in Stanwood, retail trade, personal and business service establishments and offices, night clubs, and health club uses (as contained in the Table of Off-Street Parking Requirements contained in SMC 17.105.140) are exempt from the requirements for off-street parking, provided the property is in the historic overlay and the use is a permitted use.
(2) Location and Orientation of Parking.
(a) In the MB-I zone, no off-street parking stalls are permitted between the building and the street-front sidewalk (parking shall be provided in the rear of buildings and on-street).
(b) Parking stalls in the east end MB-I zone that are on-street shall be diagonal in fashion.
(c) In the MB-II zone, parallel or diagonal on-street parking stalls are required along a minimum of 50 percent of the street frontage. Where there is more than one frontage road, on-street parking stalls shall be required along at least one front. One row of parking and one drive aisle may be permitted along frontage roads between the building and the road based on an approved traffic analysis and with a maximum allowed width for parking and drive aisle of 42 feet; provided, that both frontages are public rights-of-way. If the 10-foot maximum setback is utilized on at least one frontage road, a maximum 60-foot side parking area may be allowed along the building edge to provide for a drive aisle and two rows of parking based on an approved traffic analysis. One such maximum 60-foot side parking area is allowed per building. Side parking for two buildings may abut one another to enable shared parking. Frontage along SR 532 shall not be considered a front for parking requirement purposes within the WSDOT designated controlled access area. All other surface parking shall be provided in the rear of the buildings and may gain access from alleys (preferred) or drive aisles as allowed in SMC 17.65.060(6).
(d) Any newly created on-street parking stalls may be counted toward minimum parking requirements in the MB-II zone.
(3) When an existing building in the MB-I or MB-II district is being reused and the existing lot is not large enough to provide needed on-site parking, the planning director may consider allowing parking to be accommodated in an existing city parking lot within 500 feet of the development, subject to availability of parking stalls, as determined by the community development director, or exempt the applicant from the requirement to provide additional parking due to a use change.
(4) The planning director may exempt existing buildings listed on the local, state or federal Register of Historic Places from required parking for a one-time floor area expansion provided (a) the floor area expansion is limited to an area equal to 25 percent of the area of the existing building and (b) existing conforming parking on site shall not be displaced except as otherwise may be allowed.
(5) To efficiently utilize parking resources, joint use parking for adjacent land uses may be allowed when sufficiently analyzed and deemed appropriate by the planning director. The planning director may authorize two or more uses to share parking if the total number of parking spaces provided is equal to the lowest number of required spaces for each use. To insure that a parking area is shared, each property owner must sign a statement in a form acceptable to the city attorney, stating that his/her property is used for parking by the other property. The applicant must file this statement with the Snohomish County assessor’s office to run with the properties. Shared parking may include use of off-site parking in a city lot or parking structure.
(6) The planning director may administratively reduce parking up to an additional 50 percent for projects that, either through adoption of a program or actual parking characteristics of the use, will result in less auto dependence. Such programs or special uses may include implementation of enhanced bike storage facilities, installation of transit shelters, and senior and affordable housing. The burden of proof of how a program or use characteristics will decrease parking demand shall be on the developer. (Ord. 1335 § 4, 2013; Ord. 1332 § 10, 2012; Ord. 1249 § 7, 2009; Ord. 1164 § 4, 2004; Ord. 1110 § 3, 2002; Ord. 929 Ch. 10(C)(11), 1995).