1996-241J \gPDOCS\ORD~ARTZCLE3 AHD
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AMENDING ARTICLE III
ENTITLED "REQUIRED IMPROVEMENTS AND GENERAL DESIGN STANDARDS" OF
THE SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER OF THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, BY AMENDING SECTION 34-115
RELATING TO ACCESS TO ARTERIAL AND COLLECTOR STREETS; BY ADOPTING
APPENDIX A-8 AND APPENDIX A-9 RELATING TO CIRCULAR DRIVES ON SINGLE
AMD TWO-FAMILY LOTS; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A
SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY NOT TO EXCEED $500.00 (FIVE
HUNDRED DOLLARS) FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS ORDINANCE; AND DECLARING
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS'
SECTION I. That Subsection (d) of Section 34-115 of the Code
of Ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas, is hereby amended to
read as follows:
(d) Access to arterial streets. The requirements for access
to arterial streets shall be as follows:
(1) Purpose. The access regulations of this subsection are
adopted in recognltlon that primary and secondary
arterial streets are designed and intended to be used as
major routes carrying h~gh volumes of traffic. Each
driveway access allowed to an arterial street w~ll
necessarily lnterfere with the function of those streets.
This subsection, therefore is adopted for the purpose of
preserving and enhancing the traffic capacity of arterial
streets by strictly l~mltlng d~rect driveway access to
those streets.
(2) Access criteria. Driveway access to a primary or
secondary arterial street shall be governed by the
following cr~terla:
a. Access to any arterial street shall not be allowed unless
there is no other reasonable means of providing safe and
adequate access to the property.
b. Developments and resldentlal subdivisions shall be
required to provide a public marginal parallel access
street, alley or private parallel access drive to serve
the development or ~ndlvldual lots fronting the arterial
street, unless the requirement would make the property
wholly useless for any permitted use as zoned.
c. No development shall be allowed access to an arterial
street if property excluded from the development plans
could have reasonably been used to provide adequate
alternative access.
d. Any property previously subdivided 1n violation of state
law or city ordinance shall not be allowed access to any
arterial street, if other access could have been provided
except for such unapproved subdivision of the property
e. Existing single-family and two-family lots not developed
in accordance with paragraph b of this section may be
developed with a circular drive constructed in accordance
wlthAppendix A-8 and Appendix A-9. Such driveways must
be at least 50 feet from any intersection measured from
the right-of-way line and must be at least 10 feet away
from any adjacent driveway measured between radius. The
circular drives shall not be designed such that a
connection from a residential to an arterial street
created.
(3) Aocess standards. When driveway access to an arterial
street is the only reasonable means of providing safe and
adequate access to the property as determined
accordance with this section, the following standards
shall apply:
a. Commercial
1. Only one (1) driveway per property shall be
permitted, unless all of the following conditions
are met:
1. The applicant submits a traffic engineering
study performed in accordance wlth accepted
professional traffic engineering standards as
determined by the city engineer, clearly showing
that the traffic for the single permitted driveway
would exceed five thousand (5,000) trips per day or
five hundred (500) trips per hour during peak hour
use;
ii. Permitting the additional driveway would not
violate driveway separation or corner clearance
standards; and
iii. The need for each additional driveway would
substantially outweigh any traffic problems or
hazards created on the arterial street by allowing
the additional driveway.
2. The driveway shall, whenever possible, be
required to be located and deslgned so as to
provide joint or shared access with adjoining
properties.
Page 2
3. The development which is allowed access shall
be required to pay for, design or provide, at no
cost to the city, all traffic-control signs,
equipment, structures, devices or lmprovements
which are reasonably necessary to mlnimlze the
effect of the additional access allowed or to
provide for the safe movement of traffic or
pedestrlans.
b. Residentlal
Only one (1) driveway per lot shall be permitted, except
that a c~rcular drive constructed in accordance with
Appendix A-8 and Appendlx A-9 and meeting the applicable
corner clearance and separation standards may be
permitted.
SECTION II. That Subsectlon (e) of Section 34-115 shall be
amended to read as follows:
(e) Access to collector streets. The requirements for access
to collector streets shall be as follows:
(1) Commercial, industrial and multi-family properties
fronting on collector streets shall be allowed one (1)
driveway for each seventy-five (75) feet of frontage on
one (1) street, provided that each driveway would meet
the separation and corner clearance requirements of this
section. The driveway shall, whenever possible, be
required to be located and designed so as to provide
joint or shared access with adjoining properties.
(2) Single and two-family resldentlal developments shall be
designed so that lots do not require drlveway access to
exlstlng or proposed collector streets. If the shape or
size of the property is such that the lots cannot be
designed to avoid driveway access to a collector street,
driveway access may be designed in accordance with the
requirements for existing single family and two family
lots.
(3) Ex~stlng single-family and two-family lots may be
developed with a standard residential driveway or a
clrcular drive constructed in accordance with Appendix A-
S and Appendix A-9. Such driveways must be at least 50
feet from any intersection measured from the right-of-way
line and must be at least 10 feet away from any adjacent
driveway measured between radius. The circular dr~ves
shall not be designed such that a connection from a
residential to a collector street is created.
Page 3
SECTION III That Appendices A-8 and A-9 as referenced
herein, are adopted as part of the regulations and requirements of
this ordinance, as though fully incorporated herein
SECTION IV That if any provision of this ordinance or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
such lnval~d~ty shall not affect other provisions or applications,
and to this end the provlslons of thzs ordinance are severable
SECTION V That any person vlolatlng any provzslon of this
ordinance shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not exceedzng Five
Hundred Dollars ($500 00) Each day that a provision of this
ordinance is violated shall constitute a separate and distinct
offense
SECTION VI. That all provisions of the ordinances of the
City of Denton in conflzct with the provisions of th~s ordinance
are hereby repealed, and all other provisions of the ordinances of
the City of Denton, not in conflict with the provisions of th~s
ordinance, shall remain in full force and effect
SECTION VII That this ordinance shall become effective
fourteen (14) days from the date of its passage, and the City
Secretary is hereby directed to cause the captzon of this ordinance
to be published twice ~n the Denton Record-Chronicle the official
newspaper of the Czty of Denton, Texas, within ten (10) days of the
date of its passage
PASSED AND APPROVED this the ~day of ~, 1996
JAC~ILLER, MAYOR
ATTEST
JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY
A LEGAL FORM
HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY
/ ~age 4