§ 22.54.020. Site Access and Driveway Requirements.

All projects that are subject to land use or construction permit approval shall be provided adequate vehicular and pedestrian access, as follows:

A.

Minimum site access. No land use or construction permit shall be approved for any site unless the site has legal access and all-weather physical access to a public road; except that installation of all-weather physical access improvements may be provided prior to final building inspection, or prior to occupancy where allowed by Section 19.04.042 (Occupancy or use of an incomplete structure), where such improvements do not currently exist.

B.

Site access location. The provisions of this Subsection apply only to land uses that are required to have six or more parking spaces. Land use permit approval shall not be granted to a proposed use unless at least one driveway serving the use is located on the type of street specified by this Section. These requirements are based on the traffic volume and turnover rate generated by a new land use, determined by the number of parking spaces required and the intensity of use of the parking lot (see Chapter 22.18 - Off-Street Parking Required, or Article 4 for a special use).

1.

Required street type for access. At least one vehicle access driveway shall be located on any street with a capacity equal to or greater than the minimum specified by the following table. These standards do not apply to a parking lot that is a principal use (see Section 22.30.630 - Vehicle Storage).

Number of Spaces in Parking Lot	Required Access Location Based on Parking Lot Turnover (1)(2)
	High	Medium	Low
6 - 20	Local	Local	Alley
21 - 40	Collector (3)	Local	Local
41 - 80	Collector	Collector	Local
81 +	Collector (4)	Collector	Local (5)

 

Notes:

(1)

Expressed as the type of street (arterial, collector, local) on which a proposed use must be located. Actual access driveways may be located on a cross-street where the site abuts the required type of street.

(2)

Parking lot turnover is determined by Chapter 22.18 (Parking and Loading), for the specific land use.

(3)

For the purposes of this Section, collector streets include freeway frontage roads that extend between two collectors, between two freeway access points (which must include access and egress for both freeway directions), or a combination of the two situations.

(4)

At least one site access driveway on a collector shall be within 800 feet of an arterial, measured along the roadway.

(5)

At least one site access driveway on a local street shall be within 400 feet of a collector, measured along the roadway.

2.

Alternative street types for access. Driveway access locations other than those required by Subsection B.1 above are allowable subject to Minor Use Permit approval, provided that the Review Authority first finds that the alternate location will not result in traffic congestion or traffic volumes inappropriate or substantially detrimental to the site vicinity. Where a Conditional Use Permit is otherwise required, the approval can be granted by the review authority through the Conditional Use Permit subject to the same required finding.

C.

Driveway placement. A driveway from a street to a parking area with four or more parking spaces shall be located and designed as follows:

1.

Distance from street corner. Driveways shall be located a minimum of 50 feet from the nearest street intersection, as measured from the centerline of the driveway to the nearest travel lane of the intersecting street.

2.

Number of driveways. Driveways serving a single site shall be limited to two along the frontage of any street, except where additional driveways are authorized by Minor Use Permit. The centerline of such driveways shall be separated by a minimum of 30 feet.

3.

Distance from property line. Where a driveway intersects a street, the driveway shall be located a minimum of four feet from a side property line, except that the driveway transition may extend to within one foot of the property line, and except where adjoining lots use a shared driveway.

D.

Driveway design and construction. Proposed driveways shall be designed and constructed as follows. These requirements are in addition to any applicable provisions of Chapter 13.08 of this code (Encroachments).

1.

Driveway width. A driveway, as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Driveway), providing access to a building sites or a parking area from the public street or between separate parking areas on a site shall be a minimum width of 10 feet and shall also provide a fuel modification area as defined by Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Fuel Modification Area), where applicable.

2.

Exception to width standard. The following standards shall apply In high or very high fire hazard severity zones.

Driveway Length	Required Driveway Width
Less than 50 ft	10 ft (1)
50 to 200 ft	12 ft (2)
Greater than 200 ft (3)	16 ft

 

Notes:

(1)

The driveway shall provide for a fuel modification area as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Fuel Modification Area).

(2)

A turnout, as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Turnout), shall be provided near the midpoint.

(3)

For driveways exceeding 300 feet, a turnaround, as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Turnaround), shall be provided at the building site and must be within 50 feet of the dwelling. For driveways exceeding 800 feet, turnouts shall be provided no more than 400 feet apart.

3.

Driveway grade. The minimum level of improvement is determined by the grade of the driveway providing access from the road to the building site or parking area as follows:

Surface	Maximum Grade
All-weather	Less than 12%
Non-skid (1)	12% to 16%
Non-skid	Over 16% (2)

 

Notes:

(1)

Surface shall be asphalt or concrete as specified in the San Luis Obispo County Standard Specifications and Improvement Drawings, including a non-skid finish.

(2)

A driveway with a grade greater than 16 percent and less than 20 percent may be authorized through an adjustment as set forth in Section 22.54.020.F (Adjustment). An adjustment may also be requested for a driveway designed by a Registered Civil Engineer that exceeds 20 percent grade.

E.

Road design and construction. Proposed roads or extensions of existing roads, as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Road), not associated with the approval of a subdivision application shall be designed and constructed as follows:

1.

Road width. The minimum width of applicable roads, as specified above, shall be as follows:

Road Direction	Required Road Width
	Residential	Commercial/Industrial
One-way	10 ft (1)	16 ft (2)
Two-way	18 ft	20 ft (2)

 

Notes:

(1)

The road shall also provide for a fuel modification area as defined in Chapter 22.80 (Definitions - Fuel Modification Area).

(2)

Fire lanes shall be provided as set forth in the Uniform Fire Code.

2.

Road grade. The minimum level of improvement is determined by the grade of the road providing access to the building site or parking area as follows:

Surface	Maximum Grade
All-weather	Less than 12%
Non-skid (1)	12% to 16%
Non-skid	Over 16% (2)

 

Notes:

(1)

Surface shall be asphalt or concrete as specified in the San Luis Obispo County Standard Specifications and Improvement Drawings including a non-skid finish.

(2)

A road with a grade greater than 16 percent and less than 20 percent may be authorized through an adjustment as set forth in Section 22.54.020.F (Adjustment). An adjustment may also be requested for a road that exceeds 20 percent grade and is designed by a Registered Civil Engineer.

F.

Adjustments. An adjustment to the standards of Section 22.54.020.D or E. may be granted where proposed by the applicant and mitigated practices are approved by the fire inspection authority, where the mitigation provides for the ability to apply the same degree of accepted fire suppression strategies and tactics and fire fighter safety as these regulations overall, towards providing a key point of defense from an approaching fire or defense against encroaching fire or escaping structure fires.

1.

Application filing and processing. Requests for adjustment shall be filed with the fire inspection authority by the applicant or the applicant's representative in the form of an attachment to the project application. The request shall state the specific requirement for which an adjustment is being requested, material facts supporting the contention of the applicant, the details of the adjustment or mitigation proposed and a site plan showing the proposed location and siting of the adjustment or mitigation measure, where applicable. A request for adjustment shall be approved by the fire inspection authority when it has determined that the criteria for adjustment are satisfied as described in Section 22.54.020.F

2.

Appeals. Where an adjustment is not granted by the fire inspection authority, the applicant may appeal the denial to the Fire Appeal Board as set forth in Title 16 of this code. Decisions by the Fire Appeal Board may be appealed to the Commission (Section 22.20.050).

[Amended 1991, Ord. 2523] [22.05.104]