Pedestrian parking lot design

[Russ Clegg]

We have someone that wants to build a small grocery store in our downtown, and they would like to push to the store to the back and have all the parking in front, in typical suburban fashion. Are there any good examples out there for this arrangement that still creates a good, walkable street environment? We are playing with "woonerf" type concepts that mix the parking and walking without a lot of signage, and softens the edges somewhat, but of course will look at good examples of any type.

Thanks--

[stroskey]

Most downtowns have special classifications that require A) no setback or B) special site plan review approval. I take it you don't have a downtown review board to make sure these things don't happen and don't have max setbacks in the downtown?

I would make them have a walkway with trees/landscaping in the middle of the lot so people can easily walk from the store out to the sidewalk.

Good luck!

[boilerplater]

That type of arrangement is anathem to creating a good pedestrian environment. If they want to do it in "typical suburban fashion", well there are plenty of suburbs where they can do that. Why allow them to change the scale and orinetation of your downtown?

[Russ Clegg]

Our downtown doesn't have any design guidelines at the moment, though there are some in process. This site is in an area that is, at the moment, on the edge of downtown, and next to a street-car suburb that is urban in nature. In between is a mix of building types, but we need to start building for the density that will be there eventually.

This is a use that would be good for the area, and the store owner will be open to some different ideas for a layout, but definately wants the store to the rear of the parking. This is something we run into in some areas that would otherwise be ripe for pedestrian scale development. We are trying to come up with some solutions that don't require them to move parking to the rear, since a lot of people think that is far removed from reality.

[fructa]

This is actually a typical pattern here in CT. Shops are pushed back from the street and create a very small parking area that also serves as an extended sidewalk. They end up accommodating both cars and pedestrians quite well. You can view it here (on Park Road in West Hartford):

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&...58.66,,0,-1.76

The parking areas are quite small and accommodate only a few cars (think three or four), and they have limited access points. Some are parallel park / free for all, like above, but some have marked spaces, like below.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&...59.997071&z=19

Across the street from above, Hall's Market has developed a small side lot into parking and gotten a large forecourt out of the deal:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&...59.997071&z=19

[cdub]

Is the lot on a corner by chance? If so, you can get the best of both worlds. Push the building up to the ROW on the primary street and the secondary can have the parking. An used or un-used entry at the corner helps to give the sidewalk at least a little recognition. Of course the building would need to be more articulated than a standard grocery.

We worked on one in Nashville in a very similar setting - main thoroughfare and 20's neighborhood.

Here's a link to Bing maps. Zoom in and give it a spin in birdseye view to see the articulation on the building...

[Seabishop]

This is actually a typical pattern here in CT. Shops are pushed back from the street and create a very small parking area that also serves as an extended sidewalk. They end up accommodating both cars and pedestrians quite well. You can view it here (on Park Road in West Hartford):

That type of development pattern always bugs me in an urban area. I always want to wave my magic wand and replace the little parking lots with on-street parking for everyone.