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A. Alleys. Access to off-street parking areas shall be provided from the alley where available. The intent of this requirement is to:

1. Enhance the safety of parking areas;

2. Minimize potential conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians;

3. Efficiently manage traffic in off-street parking areas;

4. Reduce visual impacts on surrounding properties and improve streetscape appearance.

B. Alley Access Exception. Access from the public street where the lot abuts an alley will only be allowed as an exception to the alley access requirement. The city engineer, in consultation with the planning director, may allow access from the street in lieu of, or in addition to, using the alley in the following circumstances:

1. The topography of the site and/or adjacent alley makes use of the alley infeasible; or

2. The requirement for access from the alley would create a traffic or pedestrian safety hazard, such as sight distance problems or conflicts with other ingress/egress locations; or

3. There is an existing improvement that prevents use of the alley for vehicular access; or

4. For nonresidential or mixed uses, driveway access from the street is necessary to provide access for commercial customer traffic; this exception may not be used to justify a street access point that primarily provides access to employee or resident parking areas; or

5. Providing access from the street will reduce or minimize adverse impacts on adjacent properties; or

6. Street access for multiple levels of off-street parking within a structure when access from an alley to all parking levels is not feasible.

C. Driveways. The design of all driveways and internal vehicle circulation shall be in accordance with EMC Title 13 and the city design standards. Maximum driveway width within the public right-of-way shall be as provided in Chapter 13.16 EMC. For residential zones, the following additional requirements shall apply to the portion of the driveway located outside the right-of-way:

1. For nonalley access lots, the maximum driveway width within the front or street side setback shall not exceed thirty feet, or fifty percent of the lot frontage width, whichever is less. However, a minimum driveway width of ten feet will be allowed in all cases.

2. Sidewalk Design/Driveways. Where new driveways and/or sidewalks are installed within the public right-of-way, the sidewalk pattern shall carry across the driveway. (Ord. 3774-20 § 8 (Exh. 6), 2020; Ord. 3616-18 § 2 (Exh. 1), 2018.)