The first goal in the layout of parking areas is to provide for the
safe and efficient movement of automobiles and drivers. Design
objectives would include maximizing visibility of vehicles entering
and exiting the parking area, individual spaces, circulating and
within the parking lot. The following subcategories outline the
sustainable opportunities associated with parking layout design.
- Minimize standards. Size parking capacity not to exceed
minimum requirements in order to limit impermeable surfaces and
constrain storm water run off. Add no new parking for
rehabilitation projects.
- Preferred parking. Provide preferred parking for
carpools or van pools, or hybrid vehicles. Design to encourage use
by occupants with clearly marked carpool parking, pick-up areas,
and covered waiting spaces with closest proximity of the building
entrance.
- Shared parking: Encourage opportunities for shared
parking and allow appropriate reductions in supply. One strategy
to employ this technique would be to site functions with
alternating peak operating hours such as administrative functions
and the Officer’s club.
- Parking structures. Consider constructing parking
structures to minimize parking footprint, or placing parking
underground.
- On-street parking: Allow on-street parking to be
counted toward the overall requirement for site parking within the
constraints of AT/FP criteria.
- Minimal visual impact: The parking lot should not
dominate the building site. Through a combination of planning,
architectural, and landscaping elements, the visual impact on the
surrounding streets and developments can be minimized. For
example, surface parking is generally located to the rear or side
of the building and away from the street or street intersections,
while providing direct pedestrian access to the buildings. Note
that textures, patterns, and colors are encouraged in the design
of surface parking in order to provide breaks in large monolithic
areas of pavement and distinguish between pedestrian and vehicular
movement within the parking area.
- Lighting: Lighting is used to provide security and
visibility within the parking area at night. The lighting design
should prevent off-site lighting and night
sky pollution. Meeting or providing lower light levels and
uniformity ratios than those recommended by the Illuminating
Engineering Society of America are recommended. Strategies
include: parking lot light fixtures that use fixture cutoffs
and/or are optically controlled for light spillover and glare
beyond the boundary of the development; and outdoor fixtures that
are oriented and shielded to prevent direct illumination above the
horizontal surface passing through the fixture. Outdoor lighting
should be energy efficient, LED, metal halide/high pressure
sodium or similar sources where appropriate.
- Site improvements: Typical site
improvements directly related to the surface parking
include ground cover and planting, storm water handling systems,
vehicle parking surfaces and roadways, sidewalks directly abutting
parking areas, lighting within the parking area, signage, and
fences and screens around the parking and buffer zones between
parking and public areas.
- Landscaping and storm water management: Landscaping
elements such as berms, walls, and indigenous hedges and trees are
usually used to screen the periphery of the surface parking lot.
Intermediate islands within the surface parking provide
opportunities to plant native and/or adapted trees, which can
provide shade in pedestrian walkways. Also, low
impact development strategies, such
as bioretention cells,
should be incorporated into the surface parking design to maximize
on-site infiltration of stormwater. The use of
permeable pavement
is also very effective at stabilizing the hydrologic condition of
a site. Additional benefits to the use of permeable pavement
include enhanced aesthetic value and reduced maintenance cost in
cold climates due to rapid snowmelt.
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