11 Parking, Loading and Access

Table of Contents

11.1	Rule Statement
11.2	Anticipated Environmental Results
11.3	Performance Standards
11.4	Financial Contributions for Car Parking

 

11.1 Rule Statement

This chapter establishes the performance standards relating to the provision of on-site car parking, loading spaces and vehicle access. Performance standards specify the number of car parking and loading spaces that should be provided for different land use activities and within different zones. The purpose of this is to manage demand for street-based and public car parking to avoid affecting the safe and efficient operation of the road network. The intended outcome within most of the zones is to ensure that adequate car parking and loading spaces are provided within each property to provide for the demand generated by activities on that property.  The town centres of Tokoroa, Putaruru and Tirau are managed differently because of the extent of public car parking available, the presence of service lanes, and the more compact form of development characteristic of these areas.

State Highway 1 runs through the town centres of Putaruru and Tirau, and next to the Tokoroa town centre. Each of the towns has a different layout and intensity of land use alongside the state highway, and the interface between the state highway and commercial properties is of importance.  This rule chapter does not include a roading hierarchy, although a distinction is made within some of the performance standards between state highway and local road.  The state highway network provides critical transport links both within the district, and linking the district to the wider region.  Therefore maintaining the safety and efficiency of the state highway network is important.

In all three town centres and the Tokoroa suburban shops, the majority of car parking is provided as street-based parking or within public parking areas.  Any on-site car parking is primarily used as staff parking.  The car parking standards for the town centre zones aim to primarily maintain the status quo of limited on-site car parking, and substantial use of street-based and public parking. 

Vehicle access to properties needs to be provided in a manner that ensures the safe and efficient operation of the road network.  This is particularly important for the district’s state highways where traffic volumes are highest.  Performance standards have been formulated to manage the number and location of vehicle entrances to properties.  Vehicle entrances on existing properties may need to be upgraded where traffic generation on the property is increasing substantially. 

The traffic generated by a particular development can have a substantial impact on the safety and efficiency of the road network.  Localised upgrades of intersections and portions of road may be required in some instances (such as where a significant increase in traffic generation is occurring due to a change in land use activity) as a condition of resource consent.  This rule chapter is intended to operate in conjunction with the zone provisions that manage the type and scale of land uses in particular areas.  Generally, an activity with the potential to generate traffic volumes that may detrimentally affect the safety or efficiency of the road network, or the amenity of the locality, will be a discretionary or non-complying activity within the zone provisions applying to that area.   

The Regional Infrastructure Technical Specifications adopted by Council in July 2018 provides much of the technical detail that relates to parking, loading and access requirements.  The RITS is a reference document providing detail on design standards to inform developers and Council staff as to how compliance should be achieved.  

Where land use consent is to be granted for a shortfall in on-site car parking, there are several mitigation options that can be utilised through Council imposing resource consent conditions.  These include a consent condition requiring a financial contribution to be paid in lieu of providing on-site car parking, with Council then using the collected parking contributions to provide extra parking spaces on public land in an appropriate location to alleviate any shortfall.  Such contributions shall be paid prior to the commencement of the activity, or as stated in the conditions of the resource consent.

Other mitigation options that will be considered include a developer constructing additional parking spaces on the adjoining street frontage, the sharing of parking spaces between activities on different sites, leasing of land nearby to provide parking spaces, use of stacked parking, and provision of cycle spaces or other measures recommended by a suitably-qualified Traffic Engineer, to reduce carparking demand.

11.2 Anticipated Environmental Results

The parking, loading and access rules are intended to achieve the following anticipated environmental results:

That within the district’s towns and rural areas (except for the town centres and Tokoroa Neighbourhood Retail zone) adequate on-site car parking is provided in relation to the anticipated demand for parking generated by the activity

That within the town centres the on-site parking provision is maintained at approximately the existing level, in recognition of the limited ability to provide additional on-site parking. The majority of car parking will continue to be provided as street-based parking or within public parking areas

That sufficient numbers of loading spaces continue to be provided in the town centres, commercial and industrial parts of the district (either on streets or within properties) in convenient locations to satisfy demand

That subdivision, use and development of land occurs in a manner that avoids detrimental effects on the safety and efficiency of the roading network, particularly state highways.

The parking, loading and access rules are a method to implement the objectives and policies contained within Chapter 4 (Objectives and Policies for the District’s Towns), Chapter 5 (Objectives and Policies for the District’s Rural Areas), and Chapter 7 (Objectives and Policies for the District’s Infrastructure and Development).

11.3 Performance Standards

The following standards apply in all zones, except where otherwise stated below. The failure to comply with one or more of the standards results in that activity being a Restricted Discretionary Activity. If the activity is already a Discretionary or Non-Complying Activity, the standards below will be used as a guideline to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the parking, loading and access arrangements being proposed.

Assessment criteria relevant to resource consent applications for non-compliance with parking, loading and access standards are in Chapter 8 (Administration).

11.3.1 Provision of Vehicle Parking

Table 1 – Parking Requirements

Use of Site	Zones Where Standard is Applicable	Parking Spaces Required
All land uses (except for dwellings)	Tokoroa Town Centre Zone, Putāruru Town Centre Zone, Tirau Town Centre Zone and Tokoroa Neighbourhood Retail Zone	No car parking required.
Retail activities, Commercial services, unlicensed cafes and restaurants on sites with frontage to Arapuni Road.	Arapuni Village Zone	No car parking required.
Dwellings, including residential accommodation, and caretakers’ accommodation.	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area, and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per household unit.
Retail activities, (except supermarkets), Offices	All zones, except Town Centre Zones, Arapuni Village Zone, within the zones Tokoroa Urban Area, and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per 25m² GFA.
Supermarkets	All zones, except Town Centre Zones and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 for every 20m2 GFA for the retail floor space open to the public, plus 1 for every 40m2 GFA of floor space that is not open to the public (including food preparation areas, offices, staff recreation, and ablution uses, and ancillary storage space).
Places of assembly.	All zones, except Town Centre Zones and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area, and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per 10 persons the facility is designed to accommodate.
Craft workshops and studios	All zones, except Town Centre Zones, and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per full time equivalent employee.
Health Care Services and veterinary services	All zones, except Town Centre Zones, and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area, and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	2 spaces for every practitioner on the premises at any one time.
Commercial services	All zones, except for Town Centre Zones, Arapuni Village Zone, and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per 25m² GFA.
Home occupations	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 additional space (to that required for the dwelling) per full time equivalent employee not residing at the site.
Marae development and papakāinga	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per household unit, and 1 space per 10 persons the facility is designed to accommodate for non-residential forms of marae development.
Community care housing	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per full time equivalent staff member, and 1 space for every 5 beds.
Outdoor recreation and sporting activities on parks and reserves.	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	Six spaces per playing field or court.
Indoor recreation and sporting facilities.	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per 10 persons the facility is designed to accommodate.
Childcare facilities	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per full time equivalent staff member and 1 space per 8 attendees.
Education facilities	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	Primary and Intermediate Schools: 2 spaces per 3 full time equivalent staff. Secondary Schools: 2 spaces per 3 full time equivalent staff and 1 space per 50 students. Tertiary and other education facilities: 1 space per 5 full time equivalent staff members and students.
Tokoroa Hospital (note: no further activity based parking required)		1 space per 60m2 GFA
Hospitals and Homes for the Aged	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	2 spaces for every practitioner on the premises at any one time, and 1 space for every 5 beds.
Housing for the Elderly	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per household unit.
Visitor accommodation	All zones except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area	1 space per guest room or 1 space for every 5 beds
Restaurants, bars and cafes	All zones except for town centre zones, Arapuni Village Zone, and within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per 10m² of customer area* for bars and 1 space per 15m² of customer area* for restaurants and cafes
Industrial Activities with a GFA of over 2,000m2.	Industrial Zone, except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per maximum number of personnel expected to be on site.
Other Industrial activities	Industrial Zone, except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per 100m² GFA
Industrial activities	Putāruru Business Zone	1 space per 50m² GFA
Service industry	All zones, except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	1 space per 50m² GFA.
Service stations including motor vehicle repair	All zones, except within the zones of Tokoroa Urban Area and Industrial Zoning at Kinleith	2 spaces per 3 staff on duty and 2 customer spaces per shop, 4 spaces per workshop bay, and 3 queuing spaces for carwash, and 1 space for air hose or vacuum.
Any other Permitted or Controlled Activity.	Rural Zone, Electricity Generation Zone and Rural Residential Zone	No car parking required.
*Customer area includes any part of the site and public road used as part of the premises and that is open to patrons, e.g. outdoor seating areas

Figure 1 – Parking Dimensions

11.3.2 Provision of Loading Spaces

11.3.3 Vehicle Manoeuvring

On-site vehicle manoeuvring (such that reversing onto a road is avoided) is required to be provided for every parking and loading space provided on-site, in the following circumstances:

11.3.4 Access

Table 2. Vehicle Crossing Widths

Type of Vehicle Crossing	Minimum Crossing Width	Maximum Crossing Width
Residential	3.5 metres	5 metres
Rural	4.5 metres	8 metres
Commercial and Industrial	4.5 metres	12 metres

Note: The maximum vehicle crossing width for Emergency Service Facilities is 12m

Table 3. State Highway Crossing Places

Posted speed limit (km/h	85th percentile operating speed (or if not known, posted speed limit plus 10km/h)	Minimum sight distance (m)	Minimum distance between accessway and nearest intersection (m)	Minimum distance between local road accessway and intersection (m)	Minimum distance between accessways (m)
Not applicable	50	89	30	20	-
50	60	113	30	20	-
60	70	140	30	20	-
70	80	170	100	45	40
80	90	203	100	45	100
90	100	240	200	60	200
100	110	282	200	60	200

ADVISORY NOTES:

Works within road reserve administered by South Waikato District Council requires approval of Council as the 'road controlling authority'. Council issues 'street opening notices' for works on local road reserve

The Regional Infrastructure Technical Specifications adopted by Council in July 2018 should be referred to for the technical specifications for construction of vehicle crossings and accessways

For land administered as state highway, approval must be sought from the New Zealand Transport Agency for works within road reserve

Consultation with the New Zealand Transport Agency must occur regarding any crossings onto a state highway. Approval must be sought for any new crossings or the increased use of any crossings directly onto the strategic road network

If a railway crossing is proposed, consultation should occur with the New Zealand Railways Corporation.

11.4 Financial Contributions for Car Parking

The payment of a financial contribution in lieu of providing on-site parking is an alternative approach in situations where the developer is unable to provide all of the car parking within the site, and Council agrees it is appropriate. This provision can only be applied within the Tokoroa Business Zone, the Putāruru Business Zone, and the Industrial Zone. Where a financial contribution is imposed it shall be used by Council for provision of additional car parking in the locality. The financial contribution will be imposed as a resource consent condition and shall be determined in the following manner:

The shortfall in on-site parking spaces is identified based on Rule 11.3.1 a), and is then multiplied by $4000 per space (inclusive of GST) to calculate the amount of contribution to be paid.

This contribution is based on the value of land and the construction costs for Council of forming additional parking spaces, and will be multiplied by an adjustment factor to provide a discount to the level of contribution charged. The purpose of the adjustment factor is to enable Council to adjust the level of parking contribution from 1 July each year through the Annual Plan process and advertise it through the Schedule of Fees and Charges. This will ensure the parking contribution provides a realistic alternative and does not act as a disincentive to development of commercial and industrial properties. The stated parking contribution is based on 2011 dollars and shall be indexed to the Producers Price Index (inputs index) compiled by Statistics New Zealand. The revised parking contribution will be advertised annually in the Schedule of Fees and Charges.

As a further alternative, where it is feasible and acceptable to Council, the developer could meet the actual cost of works within the road reserve in the vicinity of the site to provide the required car parking, or a mix of these two options may be appropriate.