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Residential Parking code needs an overhaul

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 11:22 am
by flyingember
Our residential parking code is a horrible mess that potentially has 100% of homes built since 2016 used in violation of code. I know mine is.
Our residential parking code is designed to encourage unnecessary extra paving

Fact:
A setback is the distance measured from the front property line, not the edge of the street.

My driveway is ~48 feet long. We have a 30 foot setback and I know our garage is at the 30 foot mark so about 18 feet is in the row. (I have a survey document of our lot)
There's plenty of examples of where the row is half the depth of someone's front yard in my neighborhood. Our facing neighbor has a 45 foot driveway and about 22 feet is in the row. So they have ~22 feet available on their property.

88-410-12 covers parking in residential areas. It was last updated in 2016
Parking spaces must be connected to a public street or alleyway by a driveway
First problem: driveways do not need a curb cut per code. There is exactly one aspect of residential code that mentions curb cuts in general and it's table 420-3 in chapter 88-420-12
Codes will tell you otherwise but they're ignoring the facts.
Unless connected to the right-of-way through an approved curb cut, driveways must be setback 18 in. from the side or rear property line and 15 ft. from the street-side yard property line.
So you need a curb cut *unless* you are setback certain amounts.
A street-side property line is where your home is on a corner of two streets.



Second problem: you can't park in all driveways

A parking spot must be 7.5 feet by 15 feet. (table 420-3). A parking space is then connected to the street by a driveway. So a parking spot and a driveway are two different portions of the concrete connecting a garage and street. You need to measure each independently of each other.

A 15 foot deep spot must be setback 20 feet from the front property line. (table 420-3)
Now think about that in terms of my yard. I require a minimum of a 35 foot of driveway from the property line to have a legal parking spot in my driveway.
That's absurd. Why does 35 feet make it ok and 30 feet doesn't?


Third problem: You can't park in a driveway inside the ROW. (88-420-12-1)

This is what is supposed to stop people from parking over sidewalks.
My neighbor's garage has zero feet they can park in since their 22 feet outside the row leaves them 2 feet deep. They have no sidewalk.

Ignore the 35 foot depth and think about this alone.
Is it somehow a problem I can't hire a contractor and let them park four F-150s in my driveway at the same time without needing to overlap into the 10+ feet of row before the sidewalk?


Fourth problem: A driveway must be skinnier than the parking spots in front of a three car garage

A parking spot must be a minimum of 7.5 feet wide
A driveway can be a maximum of width of 22 feet wide.

Why is having a 22.5 foot wide driveway a problem and a 22 foot wide one is not? I know not all homes pave the driveway to the street for all three garage doors but many do. To think that to be legal to code it needs to suddenly get half a foot wider is stupid.



Fifth problem: You cannot pave a side setback for a parking spot, only a driveway

A parking space is not allowed to be in the side setback in a residential district or the front setback. 88-820-12
Go back above and notice you can park in a driveway that is connected to a parking space. This is important.

I can cross the property line and build in the side setback with an easement. Otherwise a driveway must be 18" away from the property line.
A driveway does not need to be the same width as a parking spot but let's say I go with 7.5 feet wide.

It's legal to place a parking spot in my back yard and pave a driveway to it through the side setback as long as I have at least a 9 foot setback and pave right up to my foundation.

And should I do this it's now legal to park in my side setback since it's not a parking spot, it's part of my driveway.



This is how absurd code is today. And this is just residential driveways.

Re: Residential Parking code needs an overhaul

Posted: Sat May 11, 2019 8:00 am
by longviewmo
Or you could just park the damn car in the damn space.