JEDDAH: Shopping malls in Jeddah must have parking areas with a capacity of 500 cars instead of 200, according to new municipal regulations.
“New regulations for parking facilities for buildings have been laid down to guarantee that parking facilities are available, not only at banks, shopping centers, restaurants and malls but at all locations in the city,” Abid Al-Jadaani, director general of the Building Regulations Department at the municipality said in a statement yesterday.
The new guidelines seek problem-free parking without causing traffic bottlenecks on Jeddah roads.
An additional feature of the new regulation is permission to construct common parks by several building owners.
“No building will be exempted from the regulations governing parking specifications. In fact, the regulations have been formulated after research into the expected number of cars likely to be present at a location,” Al-Jadaani said.
The standard specification for the parking area for a residential complex has been fixed at 150 square meters. An office should have a car park covering 70 square meters in the place of the old specification of 60 square meters.
Wholesale and retail business buildings should have 50- to 60-square meter parking areas instead of 45- to 50-square meter areas at present.
Souqs and supermarkets should have 35 square meters set aside in place of 25 square meters. The parking space for hotels, restaurants, banks, travel agencies and furnished apartments has been increased by 10 square meters from the present level.
Al-Jadaani said several buildings have been denied licenses because of insufficient parking spaces.
