The Planning and Zoning Commission heard a presentation from Development Services Director John Wesley on proposals to revamp parking and loading requirements in the Town of Fountain Hills Zoning Ordinance.

Wesley said staff has been working on a proposal for about a year already and has a draft to clean up and reorganize Chapter 7 of the Zoning Ordinance. There are various minor changes and updates as well as a schedule of required parking spaces for various uses.

There is also a plan to introduce bicycle parking standards into the ordinance. This calls for every principal or accessory space of land with at least 20 parking slots to also provide bicycle parking at a rate of one for every 10 spaces, with a maximum of 20 bicycle spaces.

Wesley said a number of other municipalities around the Valley have bicycle parking requirements.

There is also proposed language to address shared use parking for mixed use development sites that may have varying loads depending on time of day or activity.

Tandem parking for residential zoning or valet parking is also part of the discussion.

Commission members expressed uncertainty regarding off-site parking. There may be difficulty in getting people to use it if there is some distance between the parking lot and destination.

Wesley also discussed electric vehicle parking as part of the ordinance. He said other communities are including EV charging as part of their parking regulations, citing Buckeye as an example of requiring parking lots for 20 or more vehicles setting aside 5% for electric vehicles.

Wesley proposed parking lots with 20 or more spaces serving multi-family dwellings or located within 100 feet of a major arterial street include conduit for installation of at least 5% of the parking spaces.

The use of electric vehicles is increasing and there is a need to address requirements to accommodate their use, Wesley said.

There was also discussion related to requiring passenger pick-up and loading areas. Commission members were not certain this language is needed for Fountain Hills.

The ordinance also considers language to address requirements for covered parking. There are a number of issues here, particularly as it pertains to residential zoning. The covered parking would apply to new construction or major renovation of existing development.

Wesley plans to return to the commission in the future with a proposed ordinance for recommendation to the Town Council.