In an effort to provide parking for two new mixed-use retail and offices on the corner of Belk Drive and South Lamar Boulevard – while reducing the amount of asphalt on-site, the Chamblee Hospitality Group was granted a special exception Monday by the Oxford Planning Committee to share parking with the nearby hotel.

The special exception allows the use of shared parking for offices to provide the required number of parking space by city code for developments.

The two-building center is located adjacent to the Hilton Home 2 Hotel that is currently under construction and is also owned by CHG.

The CHG states that the development being proposed will be “urban mixed-use where dense parking is expected.”

In support of the proposal, they reference the difference between the peak parking for the hotel and the peak parking for the new commercial center. The Trip Generation Manual of the Institute of Transportation Engineers is referenced, citing peak parking for General Office as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. which corresponds with lowest use time for hotels, when less than 20-percent occupancy can be expected; which allows 80 percent of the parking to be shared by an adjoining use.

The 57 spaces is 55.3 percent of the hotel parking spaces.

“Shared parking is common in more urban areas, and staff appreciates the effort on the part of the developer to limit additional paved area and impervious surfaces by proposing this shared parking,” said City Planner Judy Daniel at the meeting.

The commission unanimously approved the special exception with little discussion.