HomeMy WebLinkAboutMedical & Dental Office Parking (PA2004-007)CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item: 6
November 18, 2004
TO: PLANNING COMMISSION
FROM: Planning Department
Gregg B. Ramirez, Associate Planner
(949) 644 -3230, g ram irez(a)city. newport-beach. ca. us
SUBJECT: Code Amendment No. 2004 -001 (PA2004 -007)
Proposed amendment to Section 20.66.030 of the Municipal Code (Off Street
Parking and Loading Spaces Required) to increase the number of parking spaces
required for medical and dental office uses.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt the attached draft resolution, which
recommends the adoption of the proposed amendment that 1 parking space be provided for
each 200 square feet of gross floor area used for medical or dental office uses.
DISCUSSION:
Section 20.66.030 of the Municipal Code requires that medical and dental offices provide a
minimum of 1 parking space per each 250 square feet of gross floor area. The land use
classification "Office, Medical and Dental' is defined as:
Offices of firms or organizations providing medical /dental services.
This classification includes facilities for the diagnosis and
treatment of human patients and medical/dental laboratories
incidental to the office use.
For some time, there has been concern that the current standard falls short of actual parking
demand based on the experienced parking shortages at various locations within the City. In
making the recommendation above, staff researched the parking requirement of several other
jurisdictions, the requirement of national planning and traffic engineering organizations and
looked at a parking demand study done in 2003 at two medical office buildings on Old
Newport Boulevard.
Code Amendment — Medical Office Parking
November 18, 2004
Page 2
Other Jurisdiction Requirements
A survey of several Southern California jurisdictions was conducted. Staff attempted to
choose jurisdictions with hospitals, assuming that those cities would likely have more medical
office use than those cities without hospitals. The table below outlines those requirements:
Jurisdiction
Parking Re uiremenC
City of Fountain Valle
1/143
City of Huntington Beach
1/175
City of Mission Viejo
1/150
City of Orange
11200
City of Santa Ana
11167
County of Orange
1/200
City of Torrance
1/200
City of Los Angeles
1/200
City of Long Beach
1/200
City of Loma Linda
1/300
City of San Diego
1/250
California Coastal Commission
1/150
City of Newport Beach
11250
Average Requirement
11198
*All requirements based on gross square footage
Staff spoke directly with staff members from several of the listed cites and found that their
respective parking requirements were typically based on using other jurisdiction requirements
or that the standard has been "on the books for years ".
As the table illustrates, the only jurisdictions that require the same or less off - street parking
than Newport Beach are Loma Linda with a 1/300 requirement and the City of San Diego with
a 1/250 requirements. All other jurisdictions require a minimum of 1 parking space per each
200 square feet.
Parking Demand Study
A parking demand study was conducted in 2003 as part of the review process for a proposed
medical office building on Old Newport Boulevard. Parking counts were taken at two existing
medical office developments located at 415 and 455 Old Newport Boulevard. The following
table outlines the findings of the study.
Code Amendment — Medical Office Parking
November 18, 2004
Page 3
Study Site
Square Footage
No. of
Tenants
Off- Street
Parking
Peak Demand
Corresponding
Ratio
415 Old
11,179 Square
5
58*
52
4.65 spaces per
Newport
Feet
1000 sq.ft.
Boulevard
(1/215 square feet)
10,687
2
53
33
3.09 spaces per
455 Old
(14,087)* *Square
1000 sq.ft.
Newport
Feet
(1/323 square feet)
Boulevard
* Includes 12 off -site spaces leased exclusively for employee parking and assumed occupied during business hours.
" 455 Old Newport Boulevard includes a 3,400 square foot credit union. The counts used a "worst case" formula and
assumed all cars were employees/patrons of the 10,687 square foot medical office portion of the building.
As shown in the chart, the study found that, in this particular case, the building with more
tenants generated a higher parking demand while the building with fewer tenants generated a
lower parking demand. Given the low sample size, these ratios may not be a good indicator
of what the citywide standard should be. Staff believes that the type of medical office use
may also play a key role in parking demand. For example, a general family practitioner
typically creates a much higher demand due to current health management practices than a
specialized physician such as a heart specialist or cosmetic surgeon. Therefore a building
designed and parked for a medical office use may have ample parking for a certain medical
use but not enough for another type of use.
National Organizations
Staff looked at parking requirements published by the American Planning Association (APA)
and a recent study conducted by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
The APA numbers are drawn from many sizes of local jurisdictions across the country.
Requirements range from 6 per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area (1/150) to 3.3 spaces
per 1,000 square feet of gross floor areas (1/303). Some jurisdictions add the number of
doctors or examination rooms into the equation but staff believes using this formula would be
difficult to administer. The APA publications do not identify the most appropriate standard.
The ITE handbook titled Transportation and Land Development suggests a parking
requirement of 5.5 spaces per each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area or 11181.
Additionally, staff contacted a member of ITE and received some preliminary results of a
parking demand study conducted at 13 locations. That study found that parking demand rates
range between 1.8 and 4.7 per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area with an average of 3.4
parking spaces per each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area or 11295.
Code Amendment — Medical Office Parking
November 18, 2004
Page 4
Summary
During the course of research and with years of collective interactions with doctors seeking
office space, staff found that parking demand for medical and dental office uses varies
depending on a variety of factors such as the type of medical or dental practice, the location
of the practice and the overall size of the practice or office building. It was clear however that
the existing parking requirement of 1/250 is on the low end when compared to other
jurisdictions in Southern California. Staff believes the Code should be amended to ensure
that enough parking to adequately serve a wide range medical and dental office uses.
Since the City does not categorize different types of medical office uses, staff believes the
requirement should provide enough parking spaces to reasonably serve a medical office that
may experience change in tenants and a possible change in parking demand over the life of
the building. Although it is reasonable to conclude that parking demand may fluctuate based
upon the operational. characteristics of the use, the long term administration of medical office
sub - categories is not recommended and would take a substantial amount of research to
determine parking rates for various uses. Therefore, staff is recommending that the parking
requirement for medical and dental office uses be amended to require 1 parking space per
each 200 square feet of gross floor area to ensure sufficient parking is provided for future
medical /dental facilities.
It should be mentioned that any change to the Code requirement will make all existing
medical /dental office buildings that provide 1 space for every 250 square feet non - confirming
in terms of parking. These buildings would then be subject to the non - conforming parking
regulations provided in Chapter 20.62 Non - Conforming Structures and Uses, which would
limit additions, interior alterations and structural alterations.
Environmental Review
This project has been reviewed and it has been determined that it is categorically exempt
from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act under Class 5 (minor
Alterations in Land Use Limitations).
Public Notice:
Notice of this hearing was published in the Daily Pilot a minimum of 10 days in advance of
this hearing consistent with the Municipal Code. Additionally, the item appeared upon the
agenda for this meeting, which was posted at City Hall and on the city website.
Alternatives:
The Planning Commission may determine that one of the following alternatives is more
appropriate than the recommended action.
Code Amendment — Medical Office Parking
November 18, 2004
Page 5
1. Do not adopt the draft resolution and keep the parking requirement for medical and
dental offices at 1/250.
2. Recommend a higher parking requirement ratio.
3. Continue the item and instruct staff to study the issue further. This may not be effective
without funding sources to prepare a number of comprehensive parking demand
studies at multiple sites.
Prepared by: Submitted by:
Gregg B. Ramirez
Associate Planner
Patricia L. Temple
Planning Director
Exhibit: 1. Planning Commission Resolution