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Council approves narrower one-way drive-aisle widths for parking lots in zoning text amendment
Summary
Council adopted a text amendment to reduce required one-way drive-aisle widths in parking lots from 20 feet to 12–15 feet depending on angle, citing reduced pavement and stormwater runoff.
Monroe City Council on Sept. 23 adopted a text amendment to the unified development ordinance that reduces required widths for one-way drive aisles in parking lots, a change staff said will reduce impervious surface area and stormwater runoff.
"The current ordinance requires a 20 foot wide drive aisle for 1 way traffic, which contributes to excessive pavement, increased impervious surface area, and greater potential for stormwater runoff," Carrie Mendler of the planning department told council. Planning staff recommended reducing the required width to 12–15 feet depending on parking angle; the amendment modifies section 8.4.3 (parking design standards) and table 8.4.2 (parking area dimensional standards) as presented.
Mendler showed photographic examples of one-way aisles roughly 12.5–13.5 feet wide in other North Carolina communities and said Planning Board recommended the amendment unanimously. Council moved and approved a resolution finding land-use and transportation plan compliance and then adopted the ordinance amendment by voice vote.
Staff said the figures were drawn from prior city policies and comparable North Carolina communities; no change to on-street parking standards was proposed. The transcript did not include a roll-call tally; council members did not raise recorded objections during the hearing.
