Submission and approval of plans. Applications for building and/or zoning permits, except for one- and two-family houses, shall be accompanied by a plot plan, drawn to scale, showing the location, size and arrangement of off-street parking and loading facilities required by this chapter and the means of access to said facilities from the public street and any separate egress from such facilities. Such parking plan shall also show proposed screening, landscaping, lighting fixtures, drainage and other improvements. The parking plan shall be submitted to the Town Planner for approval as complying with this chapter, including adequate relationship of entrances and exits to the flow of traffic on the public streets, safeguarding of pedestrians on public sidewalks and in the parking facility itself and to the adequacy of access and circulation of the vehicles and pedestrians using the parking facility. The parking plan shall be approved before a building and/or zoning permit is issued.
Alternate method of meeting parking requirements. In any zoning district except for a single-family district, the off-street parking requirement as provided in Subsection
I of this section may be met alternatively upon the satisfaction of the following requirements:
(1) The applicant for a building or zoning permit shall request permission from the Town Plan and Zoning Commission to provide the required off-street parking on property other than the premises for which the permit is being sought and shall submit to said Commission with said application proof of ownership of the proposed parking facility or an executed written lease agreement with regard to the proposed parking facility, with signatures witnessed and acknowledged in accordance with the requirements of the laws of the State of Connecticut for the proper execution of deeds.
(2) The Town Plan and Zoning Commission, upon receiving a written opinion from the Corporation Counsel that such ownership or lease agreement is legally sufficient for the purpose of providing off-street parking permitted under this section, may approve such request to provide said required off-street parking on property other than the premises for which the permit is being sought, provided that it shall affirmatively find that:
(a) The applicant has made binding and nonterminable provisions for the required amount of off-street parking for the life of the structure or the land use for which the permit is being sought.
(b) The off-street parking facility is so located with respect to the proposed structure or use that it is convenient for the use of employees, customers and other persons associated with that structure or use for which the permit is being sought. In determining whether the proposed off-street parking facility is convenient within the meaning of this subsection, the Town Plan and Zoning Commission shall take into consideration the character of the neighborhood, the proximity and accessibility of the parking facility to the structure or use for which the permit is being sought and the traffic and layout of streets and sidewalks between said parking facility and the structure or use for which the permit is being sought. In the Central Business District (BC) and the Central Business District - High Intensive (CBDH), said parking facility shall be located not more than 1,000 feet from the principal use or structure, measured in a straight line from the most proximate points on the property lines of the parcels involved. In all other commercial and industrial districts said parking facility shall be located not more than 500 feet from the principal use or structure, measured in a straight line from the most proximate points on the property lines of the parcels involved.
(c) The parking facility proposed by the applicant shall not create traffic congestion shall not impact adversely on any residential use in the vicinity and shall not have an adverse effect on the value of surrounding residential properties.
(d) If the parking facility proposed by the applicant constitutes some portion of a parking area required pursuant to these ordinances for the ongoing use of the property upon which those spaces are located, their shared use shall not result in parking congestion, either because the various uses operate during different peak business hours or seasons, or because it can otherwise be demonstrated that the actual parking needs for the uses in question will be met adequately.
(3) The applicant shall, if the applicant is the lessee of the proposed off-street parking facility, cause the lease agreement referred to in Subsection (1) of this section to be recorded on the land records of the Town of West Hartford.
(4) Statement of intent. The purpose of this subsection is to encourage alternative means for satisfying the parking requirements of this chapter but shall not be construed in any way as support for an application to change existing zoning district classifications.
Temporary waiver of parking facility installation. The Plan and Zoning Commission is authorized to waive the immediate installation of up to 1/2 of the parking requirement for any proposed land use if, upon application and submission, in the Commission's opinion, sufficient evidence as to the reasonableness of the application was shown and the reduced parking supply will adequately serve said land use. The plot plan of the land use, however, shall show the complete layout for the full parking requirement in conformance with this chapter. The records of the Commission shall include the specific reasons for the waiver. The Commission shall require the installation of additional parking facilities, up to the full parking requirement. if, in the Commission's opinion, such installation becomes necessary. Before the approval of the waiver, the applicant shall file an agreement with the Commission stating that the applicant, the applicant's heirs and assigns will install such additional parking facilities within six months after the date of the Commission's vote to require such installation.
See
§ 177-32: Parking. for detailed information.
