CLAREMONT — At its meeting Monday night, the Planning Board unanimously recommended adoption of amendments to the city’s zoning ordinances, including one that would eliminate off-street parking requirements in the city center district for all uses except residential.
The amendments would take effect upon approval by the City Council.
The new parking rules are intended to remove a major obstacle to business development in the city center, where meeting existing off-street parking requirements has been difficult, if not impossible. Current code requires restaurants to have one parking space for every four seats, with a minimum of five spaces. Retail shops must have one space for every 400 square feet of gross floor space.
The city center encompasses parts of Pleasant Street in the downtown, Opera House Square and parts of Main and Broad streets.
City Planner deForest Bearse said Tuesday that applicants who come before the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Planning Board will no longer be required to show proof of off-street parking in their proposed plans, unless it is for residential use. She added that it is in businesses’ interest to have parking available for their customers, but the city won’t require it.
Under the proposed amendments, residential uses in those districts would have to meet the existing off-street parking requirements, but others can propose “shared parking arrangements to meet the minimum required number of off-street parking spaces for the proposed use,” part of the amended ordinance reads.
The goal of the change is to reduce the total number of parking spaces required in the city center when the proposed uses have “different and complementary demand patterns and are able to use the same parking spaces over time.”
The amendment states that shared parking is most effective when the different uses have different parking needs that can vary by time of day, day of the week and/or season. Examples include offices, restaurants, churches, banks and event venues. Regardless of the use, the shared parking must be no more than 1,200 feet from the proposed use. Shared parking will not be required but would require approval from the city.
Another amendment recommended by the board removes some current restrictions on accessory dwelling units aimed at spurring more construction of housing in the city. Bearse said current rules require ADUs to be part of an existing structure or attached to it, but the amendment would allow ADUs to be detached from the main structure on the lot.
They must provide independent living facilities for one or more persons, and the principal building on the lot must be occupied by the owner. The change does not apply to manufactured housing or mobile homes. ADUs and duplexes would be permitted in all districts with a conditional use permit instead of by special exception, as they are now.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
