Regulation around parking could not sound more boring on its face, but there’s a reason people get worked up about it – the number of parking spots the city requires to be constructed with every new building has an effect on most every goal Austin has: affordability, carbon footprint, mobility, beauty, and the list goes on.
First, amid a housing crisis, there’s the issue of developers turning valuable land into parking spots instead of more units because code requires them to. Then, the cost of each of those newly built parking spots (between $10,000 and $40,000, per a May 4 Council resolution) is passed on to residents through increased rent. As The Washington Post‘s climate column headline put it Tuesday, “free street parking could be costing you hundreds more in rent.” In terms of carbon emissions, the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan points out that minimum parking requirements have created an “overabundance” of parking spots that “have continued to encourage people to drive to their destination … even when short trips can be easily accessed by walking, bicycling, or by taking transit.”
So Council is all but certain to pass a sweeping resolution today, Thursday, May 4, which would start the process to eliminate parking minimums citywide. (If a developer chooses not to build any parking on-site, ADA-required accessible parking spots won’t be required, so the resolution would also direct the city manager to figure out how developers can ensure accessible parking on-street or near any development that plans to have zero parking on-site.)
Last June, a less adamantly urbanist Council approved a resolution to relax minimum parking requirements for developments along public transit corridors, passing 11-0. Despite some tweaking, it was a no-brainer – presumably people living in new apartments right by bus stops could go without a car, and requiring fewer expensive-to-build parking spots would make room and save money for developers to put more units on those corridors, decreasing sprawl, decreasing traffic, decreasing carbon emissions.
Last month, our new Council passed a resolution (with Alison Alter abstaining) to initiate the elimination of parking mandates for cocktail lounges. That was also an easier sell than today’s resolution, because of a logical impact on the city’s Vision Zero plan to reduce deaths from car accidents. In a letter posted to the Council message board April 25, District 9 Council Member Zo Qadri pointed out the dissonance between Vision Zero and a requirement that bars “make costly accommodations for people to drive to and from their establishments.”
The new, broader resolution has broad support on Council (it’s sponsored by Qadri and CMs Vanessa Fuentes, Ryan Alter, Leslie Pool, and Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis, with Chito Vela and José Velásquez requesting to be added). It echoes policy in other progressive cities. The Parking Reform Network reports that at least 35 cities and towns in North America have eliminated citywide parking mandates since 2017 – Minneapolis, Buffalo, and Fayetteville among them. Data from Seattle and Buffalo show roughly 70% of the new homes built post-parking reforms would not have been possible under previous city code. Austin’s dabbled in shedding parking minimums since 2013, too, with developments in the Central Business District excluded from parking minimums. And Qadri says that “virtually every new development since then has included ample parking.” In specific parts of Austin where demand for parking is insane, Qadri says “other tools in the toolbox” include creating more parking management districts, like the one along South Congress Avenue, where service workers struggle with unaffordable parking daily. Council approved SoCo’s Parking & Transportation Management District March 9, and paid parking to encourage turnover in spots where cars camp out all day is part of the deal. Other recommendations from a city study on the SoCo parking problem, including a pilot valet program and simplified Residential permit program, haven’t been realized, but they may signal where the city is headed to handle parts of town where parking is a nightmare.
This article appears in May 5 • 2023.
