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Page Three THE ZONING REPORT the building. For lot or site area in outdoor storage and for outdoor terminals and yards, some codes require parking at a ratio of half that required for enclosed or indoor floor area, or one space for 2000 sq ft if one space per 1000 sq ft of indoor floor area is required. So-called wholesale uses that sell to the pub- lic~ including stores with a membership qualifi- cation, might be described by codes as retail stores. They require one space per employee on the largest shift or one space per 500-700 sq ft of floor area, plus additional spaces for visi- tor-user-customer parking, perhaps one space per 1000 sq ft of GFA or one space per 400 sq ft of retail display and sales area. Business and personal service industrial uses require one space per employee on the largest shift or one space for each 350-600 sq ft of floor area. Office areas in industrial buildings are com- mon in industrial plants. These areas include clerical and executive functions of a company located in the same building as quarters sepa- rate from industrial operations. Their parking Ls separately calculated from industrial employ~ ee parking, using the ratio required for office uses. Industrial parks and research laboratories tend to take the parking requirements of gen- eral office uses or industrial business service uses. Most codes do not separately regulate multi- tenant industrial space. They require that parking be the sum of the parking requirements of the individual users on the site. But we pre- fer that the parking required for multi-tenancy industrial projects and buildings be based on the GFA in the building and not on employees. The number of employees is not known in ad- vance and it fluctuates with changes in tenant mix. The amount of floor area required per space should be more than that required for basic industrial uses but less than that required for business/personal service industrial uses. The floor area required for multi-tenant indus- trial buildings and projects could be about 500- 700 sq ft GFA per space. Ability of industrial applicants to provide all spaces required Industrial firms view parking as a necessary business cost. It is necessary to attract, hire and retain good employees and to reduce em- ployee turnover. Employers will make an effort to meet employee parking and commuting needs. If sufficient and safe parking on-site is difficult to obtain, they attempt to lease off- site space nearby or provide alternative com- muter transport modes. Planning agencies welcome reductions in att- tomobile use by employees in large congested metropolitan areas. Public agencies work with employers to reduce parking needs by offering alternative community programs. As described in zoning codes, implementation of each of these programs by employers allows a 5-10% reduction in parking provided. The code specifies whether th~s reduction applies to total parking provided or just to required parking, which, for many firms, is much less than total parking provided. No cap is imposed on the total reduction gained. Many codes alloTM these reductions by vari- ance by the BZA. But we prefer these reduc- tions be allowed by special exception. Or, per- haps, in recent codes, the reductions are de- cided administrative]~v by a staff officer, per- haps with a hearing if any inquiry requests it after prior public notice. These programs are: --- locating the primary employment use within a specified walking distance of a transit .stop., within a 1000 ft to a half-mile; --- paying or subsidizing, a transit agency to increase bus service or extend routes to the plant; --- paying employees to take public transit~ --- providing a carpool program by employ- ers; --- providing vanpool and shuttle programs to bus employees to and from transit stops and other major access places; --- staggering work hours to reduce the num- ber of employees on the largest shift; --- leasing or buying off-site spaces.; August 19, 1994 Issue