16.3.4 Building Access
A. General Access Requirement
Except along a freeway or similar NCDOT right-of-way, each street frontage facade or pedestrian mall facade shall have at least one entrance with direct access to the street or pedestrian mall.
B. Primary or Main Entrance
1. A primary entrance shall be on a street frontage façade and shall:
a. Be within 30 vertical inches of the street grade;
b. Face the street unless otherwise allowed; and
c. Have direct access to the street.
2. Primary entrances shall be:
a. Clearly defined and articulated by decorative surrounds, thresholds, pediments, distinctive lighting, lintels, sidelights, canopies, or other distinctive architectural elements which frame and identify the entrance; and
b. Larger in scale than secondary entrances.
3. Entries from parking areas shall be secondary in nature and articulation.
C. Exemptions
Exemptions from paragraph B, Primary or Main Entrance, above, are as follows:
1. Entrances to the Courtyard and Forecourt Frontage Types, per paragraph 16.3.1F, Courtyard Frontage Type, and paragraph 16.3.1G, Forecourt Frontage Type.
2. Existing entrances designed and used as the primary entrance for the building, as long as access to the street is maintained.
3. The standards shall not apply to frontage along a freeway or other similar NCDOT right-of-way.