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Residential streets and parking lot checklist

Use the following checklist as a tool to better site design (early on and throughout the design process) for street and parking lot development, redevelopment and retrofits. Place a check in the appropriate boxes if you think this approach will work in your site.

Check box Checklist item
image showing a check box Design residential streets for the minimum required pavement width needed to support travel lanes, on-street parking, and emergency, maintenance, and service vehicle access. These widths should be based on traffic volume.
image showing a check box Reduce the total length of residential streets by examining alternative street layouts to determine the best option for increasing the number of homes per unit length.
image showing a check box Wherever possible, residential street right-of-way widths should reflect the minimum required to accommodate the travel-way, the sidewalk, and vegetated open channels. Utilities and storm drains should be located outside of the BMPs section of the right-of-way wherever feasible.
image showing a check box Minimize the number of residential street cul-de-sacs and incorporate landscaped areas to reduce impervious cover. The radius of cul-de-sacs should be the minimum required to accommodate emergency and maintenance vehicles. Alternative turnarounds should be considered.
image showing a check box Where density, topography, soils, and slope allow, vegetated open channels should be used in the street right-of-way to convey and treat stormwater runoff.
image showing a check box Enforce the required parking ratio governing a particular land use or activity as both a maximum and a minimum, in order to curb excess parking space construction. Existing parking ratios should be reviewed for conformance, taking into account local and national experience to determine if lower ratios are warranted and feasible.
image showing a check box Revise parking codes to lower parking requirements where mass transit is available or enforceable shared parking arrangements are made.
image showing a check box Reduce the overall imperviousness associated with parking lots by providing compact car spaces, minimizing stall dimensions, incorporating efficient parking lanes, making use of vegetated parking islands, and using pervious materials in spillover parking areas where possible.
image showing a check box Provide meaningful incentives to encourage structured and shared parking to increase economic viability.
image showing a check box Provide stormwater treatment, wherever possible, for parking lot runoff using bioretention areas, filter strips, and/or other practices that can be integrated into required landscaping areas and traffic islands.