CENTERVILLE—The city council is considering some amendments to Centerville’s parking requirements which would primarily affect retail, commercial and warehouse space. The changes are intended to help eliminate the large sea of unused spaces often found in shopping centers and insufficient parking spaces when warehouse developments are used for gymnasiums or dance studios, Community Development Director Cory Snyder said.

They also address shared space such as when a shopping center is multi-use, or a church “borrows” parking spots from neighboring businesses that are not open on Sundays. The changes are based on a study by the city’s contracted engineering company, ESI, along with recommendations from staff and the planning commission.

Snyder said in the future city officials will need to address possible changes to Centerville’s retail areas. He cited the example of Layton Hills Mall which is now the site for an aquarium and a flight simulator.

The vast parking lots of big box stores are becoming a thing of the past as the economy changes and consumers move much of their shopping online, Snyder said. “There is way too much parking sitting in your Target and your Home Depot area. As you look at the modern evolution of what we’re doing, and you look at Centerville City and we’re constrained on that 3-mile-wide, 2-mile-long corridor of I-15 … my advice to you is more square foot per building is going to be more cost effective than putting it all in asphalt.”

“A major component of our retail area is those big and medium boxes,” he said. “If they start going dark for any reason then how are we going to redo those sites economically and beneficially to the city?”

The proposed changes appear to decrease required parking anywhere from 10 to 25 percent for public or civic uses such as auditoriums, churches, clubs or service organizations. Parking for commercial, office and non-industrial could not be decreased any more than 30 percent of the original parking requirement. Most of the proposed requirements are calculated on a per 1,000 square feet basis rather than per seats, making comparison difficult.

Parking modifications (essentially partial waivers of the requirements) would only be allowed for commercial, office, nonindustrial use, mixed-use, multi-family or planned developments. So companies that build what they define in their site plans as primarily warehouse space with a small office, will be stymied if they then try to lease out the structures to businesses with high parking needs such as dance studios and gyms.

Some city council members expressed concern that the proposed changes could negatively affect areas such as Main Street where parking is often a problem. They were also confused about how the new square footage requirement would compare with the previous requirements.

“As a city we’re a little different to some of those places,” used as comparisons in the study, she said. “I’m concerned; I personally prefer the ‘per seat’ definition rather than ‘per 1,000 square feet.’”

Mecham expressed concern that some smaller businesses would be allowed inadequate parking, resulting in overflow into residential areas. Areas like Main Street are a different issue, Snyder responded. It may be possible to address their parking problems in a future plan that could include overlays and other remediation, he said. 

Some council members asked for information on what the proposed changes would look like and some other specifics. Snyder said he would be happy to prepare and bring back such data to the council. In the end, the council tabled the issue until that information could be provided and directed that the item be brought back to them as soon as possible.λ