23.44.160

A. Parking quantity. Off-street parking is required pursuant to Section 23.54.015 . B. Parking on same lot. Any required parking shall be located on the same lot as the principal use, except that parking accessory to a floating home, floating on-water residence, house barge, or vessel with a dwelling unit may be located on another lot if within 600 feet of the lot on which the floating home, floating on-water residence, house barge, or vessel with a dwelling unit is located. C. Access to parking 1. Vehicular access to parking from an improved street, alley, or easement is required if parking is provided. 2. Access to parking is permitted from a street only if the Director determines that one of the following conditions exists: a. There is no alley improved to the standards of subsection 23.53.030.B, and there is no unimproved alley in common usage that currently provides access to parking on the lot or to parking on adjacent lots in the same block; b. Existing topography does not permit alley access; c. At least 50 percent of alley frontage abuts property in a nonresidential zone; d. Due to the relationship of the alley to the street system, use of the alley for parking access would create a significant safety hazard; e. Parking access must be from the street in order to provide access to a parking space that complies with Chapter 11 of the Seattle Building Code; or f. Providing alley access would require removal of a tree on private property that is a Tier 1 or Tier 2 tree and all other applicable criteria for tree protection in Chapter 25.11 are met. D. Location of parking. Except as provided below, parking is not allowed within 20 feet of a front lot line or within 5 feet of a side street lot line: 1. If access to required parking passes through a required setback, automobiles, motorcycles, and similar vehicles may be parked on the open access located in a required setback. 2. If access is taken directly from an alley, surface parking may be located within 20 feet of a street lot line if it is located within 28 feet of an alley lot line and is no closer than 7 feet to any street lot line. 3. For lots at least 40 feet in width, up to two surface parking spaces are allowed within 20 feet of a street lot line provided: a. Access to parking is allowed through the required setback abutting the street by subsection 23.44.160.C; b. The parking spaces are located perpendicular to the street lot line from which they are accessed; c. On corner lots, the parking spaces are not located within 20 feet of the street lot line parallel to the parking spaces; d. No other parking spaces or driveways are located on the lot; e. The parking spaces are not located within 10 feet of a street lot line; and f. The combined width of the parking spaces shall not exceed 20 feet. 4. Lots with uphill setbacks abutting streets. Parking may be located in a required setback abutting a street provided: a. Access to parking is allowed through the required setback abutting the street by subsection 23.44.160.C; b. The existing grade of the lot slopes upward from the street lot line an average of at least 6 feet above sidewalk grade at a line that is 10 feet from the street lot line; c. The parking area shall be at least an average of 6 feet below the existing grade prior to excavation and/or construction at a line that is 10 feet from the street lot line; d. No other parking spaces or driveways are located on the lot; e. If no garage is provided, the combined width of the parking spaces shall not exceed 20 feet. If a garage is provided, the width of a garage structure shall not exceed 24 feet; and f. The total width of parking spaces and garages is not more than 60 percent of the width of the lot. 5. Lots with downhill setbacks abutting streets. Parking may be located in a required setback abutting a street if the following conditions are met: a. Access to parking is allowed through the required setback abutting the street by subsection 23.44.160.C; b. The existing grade slopes downward from the street lot line that the parking faces; c. For parking located in a front setback, the lot has a vertical drop of at least 6 feet in the first 10 feet, measured along a line from the midpoint of the front lot line to the midpoint of the rear lot line; d. Parking is not located in required side setbacks abutting a street; e. No other parking spaces or driveways are located on the lot; f. If no garage is provided, the combined width of the parking spaces shall not exceed 20 feet. If a garage is provided, the width of a garage structure shall not exceed 24 feet; and g. The total width of parking spaces and garages is not more than 60 percent of the width of the lot. E. No more than three vehicles may be parked outdoors per dwelling unit on a lot. F. Trailers, boats, recreational vehicles, and similar equipment shall not be parked in required setbacks, unless fully enclosed in a structure otherwise allowed in a required setback by subsection 23.44.160.D. G. The total combined horizontal width of all garage entrances that are located on front facades may not be more than 50 percent of the horizontal width of the street-level front facades or 10 feet, whichever is greater. No dwelling unit may have a garage entrance on both a front facade and a side facade. H. Except as provided in subsections 23.44.160.D.4 and 23.44.160.D.5, garage entrances facing the street shall be set back at least 20 feet from the street lot line. (Ord. 127376 , § 31, 2025.)