1307 Parking and loading standards | Phoenix Zoning Ordinance

Section 1307. Parking and loading standards.

This section was recently amended by Ordinance No. G-7161, codified in March 2024. This section was recently amended by Ordinance No. G-7174, codified in January 2024.

A. Applicability. This section includes parking and loading standards. The following standards shall apply unless modified by the Character Area (Section 1312):

1. Section 702.D is replaced by this section unless noted otherwise.

2. Sections 702.C, E.6, E.7 and E.8 remain applicable unless modified in Section 1307.

3. General commercial (C-3) and light industrial (A-1) loading standards as per Sections 1312.A and B.

1. Vehicular parking must be provided for each use in accordance with Table 1307.1 and as follows:

a. Minimum required vehicular parking is the sum of parking required for each use within a lot.

b. Vehicular parking may be limited to a maximum number of spaces by parking districts where established.

c. Other uses not identified on Table 1307.1 shall follow Section 702 standards.

2. Underground parking and service spaces, located below the predevelopment ground level, may occupy up to 100 percent of the lot area.

**Table 1307.1 Minimum Required Vehicular Parking**
USE	MEASURE	T3	T4	T5 1—5 Stories	T5 6—10 Stories	T6
Residential, Single-Family Detached	per unit	2.0		n/a	n/a	n/a
Residential, Single-Family Attached	Per Section 608.F.6, if developing under the provisions of Section 1303.A.1.a; otherwise per Section 702.
Residential, Multi-Family	per unit	n/a	0.75 A minimum of 50% of the required spaces shall remain unreserved.
Boarding House; Community Residence Center; Group Home; Structured Sober Living Home (with more than ten residents); and Hospice	per bedroom	1	0.75	0.75		0.5
General Retail Sales	1 space per sf	n/a	n/a	300 sf 375 sf⁽¹⁾		600 sf 800 sf⁽¹⁾
Dining and Drinking Establishments	1 space per sf	n/a	n/a	100 sf	300 sf 375 sf⁽¹⁾	600 sf 800 sf⁽¹⁾
Lodging	per room	n/a	0.75	0.5		0.5
Office and Professional Uses	1 space per sf	n/a	n/a	300 sf 375 sf⁽¹⁾		500 sf 625 sf⁽¹⁾
Affordable Housing	per unit	0.85	0.75	0.5		0.5
Adaptive Reuse	As per Section 702.E.8
Medical Offices: Doctors, Dentists, Clinics, Centers	1 space per sf	n/a	n/a	240 sf		300 sf
Fitness Center—Accessory to primary use for private residential or tenant use	None required
Fitness Center, Commercial	Permitted as per Section 702.C
Self-Service Storage Facility	1 space per number of storage units	n/a				100 storage units
⁽¹⁾ Additional reduction when the off-street parking area is located within 1,320 feet from a light rail station when measured in a direct line from the building. The minimum required on-site vehicular parking is exclusively for the patrons of the subject parcel.

C. Vehicular Parking Reductions.

1. Special Needs Population. Additional reductions may be allowed as per Section 702.E.6.

2. Shared Parking.

a. The standard shared parking model developed and administered by the Planning and Development Department shall be used for shared parking reductions.

(1) Multiple connected lots with a recorded, nonrevocable shared use parking agreement;

(2) Public or private parking facilities;

(3) Parking district managed facilities.

b. A reduction in required parking up to 15 percent may be granted by the Planning and Development Department Traffic Engineer under the following conditions:

(1) Required parking as per Table 1307.1 and Section 1307.B.

(2) Properties or businesses approved to share parking must be approved under a combined site plan.

D. Required Service/Goods Loading Areas. The following requirements apply to short-term loading and unloading of service vehicles with materials, goods or equipment. Passenger loading zones are addressed in Section 1307.I.

1. On-site service/goods loading shall be required for all development as follows:

a. Loading bays are required in the amounts specified in Table 1307.2, calculated as the total area of each use category within a building;

(1) The areas of retail and office uses within a single building may be combined for use in Table 1307.2.

2. Loading docks and service areas are limited to the following locations:

a. At secondary frontages within 50 feet of the rear lot line.

b. Where lots have no secondary frontage and lot width exceeds 120 feet, at primary frontages limited to 30 feet in length.

c. At rear or side of the building not facing the right-of-way.

d. Alley access to loading docks and service areas may be allowed if no single-family or historic preservation zoned district or historic neighborhood is adjacent to the alley.

TABLE 1307.2. REQUIRED LOADING AND SERVICE BAYS
Square footage per net site area.
USE	25,000—40,000 SF	40,000—160,000 SF	160,001—320,000 SF	320,001—400,000 SF	> 400,000 SF
Multifamily Residential	0	1	1	1	1
Lodging	0	1/300 rooms	1/300 rooms	1/300 rooms	1/300 rooms
General Retail, Commercial and Office Uses	0	1	2	3	1 per additional 180,000 sf
USE	25,000—40,000 SF	40,000—100,000 SF	100,001—160,000 SF	160,001—240,000 SF	> 240,000 SF
General Commercial and Industrial Additional requirements per Section 1312	1	2	3	4	1 per additional 80,000 sf

1. Parking must be set back from frontages according to Table 1303.2, except where parking is located underground. Passenger loading spaces/zones are not subject to these setback requirements.

2. Where vehicular parking is required, parking may be fulfilled in the following locations:

a. Parking spaces provided within the lot.

b. Parking spaces provided along a parking lane (on-street) corresponding to lot frontages.

c. Parking spaces leased or with recorded shared parking agreement from a private or public parking facility.

(1) A shared parking agreement with the parking facility owner must specify the number of leased/shared spaces.

(2) A pedestrian entrance to the parking facility must be within 1,320 feet, along a publicly accessible path, from a building entry providing access to the uses the parking spaces will serve.

d. Parking spaces managed by an established parking district.

3. Vehicular access to off-street parking is restricted as follows:

a. One access point (curb-cut) is permitted for every 100 feet of frontage except for T3 transect districts or if lot width narrower than 100 feet.

b. Lots with secondary frontages should not provide access points along the primary frontage. Driveways are allowed on the primary frontage if there is no alley or secondary right-of-way frontage.

c. Lots with alley access should provide a minimum of one vehicular access point from an alley. Refer to Section 1312 under specific Character Areas for modifications.

4. Pedestrian access to off-street parking should be provided from frontages, according to the following:

a. A minimum of one walkway, stair, or elevator access point should be provided between each lot frontage and off-street parking areas at or above sidewalk grade.

b. Pedestrian access walkways should be a minimum of five feet in width in T5 and eight feet in T6. Exceptions identified in Section 1312.

F. Off-Street Parking Design.

1. Front setback from street right-of-way: minimum ten feet or Table 1303.2, whichever is greater.

2. Side and rear landscape setback:

a. Adjacent to single-family residential districts and historic preservation properties or districts: minimum ten feet. Trees should be placed 25 feet on center or equivalent group.

b. When adjacent to nonresidential zoning district: zero feet.

3. Surface parking as a primary use is limited to a period of five years, subject to a use permit.

a. At the conclusion of five years, the Zoning Adjustment Hearing Officer may allow an extension of the use permit for up to five additional years.

4. Surface parking lots should provide a minimum landscape screening as follows:

a. A minimum of one two-inch caliper shade tree should be provided for every ten vehicular parking spaces, and 20 feet on center or equivalent grouping within setbacks per Table 1303.2.

b. Vehicles should be screened by a 40-inch-high decorative wall or solid evergreen hedge when adjacent to right-of-way or a minimum six-foot wall if adjacent to single-family residential or historic preservation district.

5. Off-street parking in T3 is not subject to the design requirements of this section.

6. Surface parking lots should be configured to share access point and circulation with adjacent surface parking lots, subject to a shared access agreement.

G. Parking Garage Design Guidelines.

1. The parking structure exterior should be finished with architectural embellishments and detailing that will create visual interest for adjoining properties and enhance the public right-of-way.

2. Lighting within the parking structures should provide safety and security.

3. Rooftop lighting should be set back a minimum of 25 feet from the perimeter of the rooftop parking structure and shall be a maximum of 12 feet in height.

4. There should be a convenient, clear, safe and efficient internal circulation system within the parking structure for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic including appropriate signage and placement of pedestrian circulation cores (elevators and stairs).

5. Appropriate visibility triangles and pedestrian crossings at exits and entrances should be provided in all parking structures.

6. Parking structures should not be adjacent to streets but should be adjacent to alleys if not adjacent to single-family residential or historic preservation properties or districts or be internal to the site.

H. Bicycle Parking.

1. Bicycle parking required may be placed in the frontage setback and may be allowed in the right-of-way subject to review by the Planning and Development Department Traffic Engineer.

2. Bicycle parking should comply with ADA requirements and not impede on-site pedestrian access. A clearance of at least four feet in width must be provided for pedestrian access.

3. Bike racks and/or storage areas should be located within 50 feet from building entry points.

4. A bicycle rack should be a minimum of 30 inches from a wall or other obstruction. The minimum length for a bicycle parking should be 72 inches.

5. Bike racks and/or storage areas should be located near high traffic areas and visible to the public, but should not impede the function of the pedestrian way.

6. Bicycle Parking and Amenity Standards.

a. All nonresidential uses over 5,000 square feet floor area shall provide one bicycle space per 25 vehicle parking spaces, with a maximum of 25 spaces.

b. Dining and drinking establishments less than 5,000 square feet should provide a minimum of four bicycle spaces in the frontage setback and/or right-of-way if no vehicle parking is provided.

(1) When vehicle parking space is provided, additional one bicycle space for every 25 vehicle parking spaces should be provided.

c. Commercial retail and office uses over 100,000 square feet in building area should provide a minimum of two shower stalls and ten lockers that are accessible to the building’s occupants.

(1) Bicycle parking shall be provided at one space per 25 vehicle parking spaces, with a maximum of 50 spaces.

d. Multifamily residential development should provide common bicycle parking at 0.25 spaces for each residential unit, with a maximum of 50 spaces.

I. Passenger Loading. The following requirements apply to passenger loading spaces and zones only. Service/goods loading areas are addressed in Section 1307.D.

1. Required Number of Spaces. Passenger loading spaces shall be provided as follows:

Table TABLE 1307.3. REQUIRED PASSENGER LOADING SPACES
USE TYPE	PASSENGER LOADING SPACES REQUIRED (2)
Cultural or Public Facility	2
Hospital	3
Hotel or Motel	3
Multi-Family Residential	1 per 50 dwelling units ⁽¹⁾
Public Assembly	1 per 50 required parking spaces ⁽¹⁾
All Other Uses	1 per 25,000 gross sf ⁽¹⁾
⁽¹⁾ Or portion thereof. No site shall be required to provide more than ten passenger loading spaces. ⁽²⁾ For mixed uses, the minimum number of required spaces shall be the sum of the spaces required for the individual uses, although rounding up shall occur at the final step of the calculations. For example, a development with 70,000 gross square feet of office space, plus 125 multi-family dwelling units, requires 1.4 spaces (70,000 square feet/50,000 square feet/space), plus 1.25 spaces (125 du /100 du/space), which totals 2.65 required, or three passenger loading spaces.

(1) At least one accessible passenger loading space shall be provided for every 100 linear feet of contiguous passenger loading zone. However, each physically separate passenger loading zone must also have at least one accessible passenger loading space.

(2) An accessible passenger loading space shall be a minimum of 96 inches wide and a minimum 23 feet long.

(3) The pedestrian access aisle serving the accessible loading zone space shall extend the length of the space and shall be a minimum 60 inches wide.

(4) The vehicle pull-up space and access aisle must comply with ADA requirements for ground and floor surfaces and cannot exceed a slope of two percent.

(5) Curb ramps cannot overlap access aisles or vehicle pull-up spaces.

(6) A vertical clearance of 14 feet is required for each vehicle pull-up space and access aisle, and all along any vehicular route connecting them to a vehicle entrance and exit, unless otherwise approved for emergency/service vehicle access.

(7) The pedestrian access aisles shall not encroach into a travel lane.

**Detail 1307.1. Accessible Passenger Loading Space**

(1) Standard passenger loading spaces, when provided in addition to the minimum required accessible passenger loading space(s), shall be constructed to the same standards as an accessible passenger loading space, but without the requirement for an access aisle.

(2) A contiguous passenger loading zone may be provided, which shall consist of two or more loading zone spaces provided in tandem with no barriers separating said spaces, thus enabling vehicles to move forward through multiple passenger loading zone spaces.

(3) Passenger loading zones shall be provided within 50 feet of the main entrance of the use or structure they are intended to serve, as approved by Planning and Development Department staff.

(4) Passenger loading zones shall not encroach within the minimum width of any fire lanes or drive aisles.

(5) Parking and/or standing shall be limited to 30 minutes within a passenger loading zone, and signs shall be installed and maintained stating this restriction, as approved by PDD and Street Transportation.

(6) A passenger loading zone shall not be located behind any type of vehicular gate or barrier, except for nonresidential uses, when such gate or barrier is left open during on-site business hours.

(7) On-street passenger loading zones located in the public right-of-way adjacent to the property may only be provided when compliance with all of the following is demonstrated:

(a) Approval for the design of the passenger loading zone has been obtained from the Street Transportation Department.

(b) An encroachment permit has been obtained from the Street Transportation Department for any structures required as part of the passenger loading zone (shade canopies, screen walls, signs, etc.).

(c) The passenger loading zone does not reduce or preclude any required streetscape or frontage elements, including the provision of required street trees and shade.

(d) The passenger loading zone does not interrupt a designated bicycle lane.

(1) Passenger loading zones should be located internally to the building when possible.

(2) Passenger loading zones should have primary access from a street, rather than an alley.

(3) Passenger loading zones should provide landscaped and/or structural shade for a minimum of 75 percent of the passenger waiting areas. (Ord. No. G-6047, 2015; Ord. No. G-6331, 2017; Ord. No. G-6451, 2018; Ord. No. G-7161, § 5, 2024; Ord. No. G-7174, § 4, 2023)