Board adopts new commercial parking formula; one supervisor votes no

Bern Township supervisors approved revised commercial parking regulations at their July 6 meeting, enacting new parking‑space requirements and enlarging setback requirements.

The adopted standard sets parking for manufacturing or industrial uses at 1.85 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, with additional spaces required for office, sales or similar uses when those functions exceed 10% of gross floor area. The regulation sets storage or wholesale at 1 space per 1,000 square feet, and sets a five‑space minimum for offices. The required parking setback from property lines was changed from 20 feet to 30 feet.

The motion to adopt the regulations passed with four yes votes (Dr. Boyd Wagner III, Brian Eveland, Jeff Thompson and Irene Reed) and one no vote from Supervisor Daniel Tobias. The Planning Commission and SSM had recommended the change, and the board's minutes record discussion about plantings and buffering in related land‑use items during the same agenda sequence.

The changes will apply to manufacturing, industrial, wholesale and office uses as specified in the new rule language recorded in the meeting minutes.