Five Cities That Repealed Parking Mandates in 2023 (So Far)
In almost every American city, for virtually every type of land use from residential to restaurant to retail, the minimum number of parking stalls built is mandated by state and municipal ordinances. In many instances, these regulations haven’t been updated since the 1960s, leaving business owners, residents, and cities in 2023 subject to the whims of city planners from decades past.
In Dallas, for example, regulations dating back to 1965 thwarted German Sierra’s plans to open a humble coffee shop and community space in 2022. Despite doing everything the city recommended to be granted a parking exemption, Dallas was unwilling to let Sierra open Graph Coffee’s unless he provided 18 parking spots, amounting to more square footage than his property possessed.
Sierra’s struggle highlighted the uncompromising realities of parking minimums, which put undue strain on small businesses. At the same time, his story also highlighted the arbitrary calculus that characterizes these regulations. For example, Dallas has drawn a distinction between a “dry cleaner” and a “laundry service” through its code, mandating that the former must provide 30% more parking than the latter even though critics argue they’re effectively the same use. Earlier this year, the Washington Post reported that San Jose, California, at one point required miniature golf courses to have 1.25 parking spaces per golf tee. In Seattle, bowling alleys needed five spaces per lane.
Ending the mandates and subsidies that require property owners to waste productive land on automobile storage is a priority for Strong Towns. We recognize that empty parking lots are financially unproductive, costly to maintain, and often in conflict with the types of places cities across North America want to be.
In recent years, a rapidly growing number of cities across North America have begun repealing these mandatory minimums. Here are a few highlights from the first half of 2023.
(Source: Unsplash/Florence Jones.)
1. Austin, Texas
On May 5, 2023, the Austin City Council directed city staff to eliminate parking mandates for new residential and retail developments outside of the central business district. “I think our priorities should be space for people rather than mandating space for cars,” remarked the leading sponsor of the resolution, District 9 Council Member Zo Qadri. This move comes a decade after Austin eliminated parking mandates in its downtown district.
The Austin Monitor reported that locals have been urging Austin to repeal parking mandates for years: “If Christian Chaffee were to build an accessory dwelling unit in his backyard, he would have to build a parking space for that unit even though he lives a one-minute walk from a bus stop for the bus that brought him to City Hall.” With the mandates eliminated, Austinites like Chaffee should be able to make small changes to their property without incurring penalties or being forced to cede hundreds of square feet to asphalt they don’t want or need.
(Source: Flickr/Scott McLeod.)
2. Burlington, Vermont
By a margin of 10–1, the Burlington City Council voted to replace its minimum parking requirements with parking maximums in January 2023. Much like with Austin, the decision extended an earlier ordinance that applied only to Burlington’s downtown to the entire city. “We will still have parking in the city,” city councilor Ben Traverse said. “It’s just that we’ll have the parking we need.”
The push for repealing costly mandates in Burlington was largely championed by a Strong Towns Local Conversation, Vermonters for People-Oriented Places.
(Source: Flickr/Andy Melton.)
3. Bend, Oregon
Joining Burlington less than two weeks later, Bend eliminated parking minimums from its city code on January 18, 2023. While the decision was marred in controversy, particularly in its 2022 iterations, the Bend City Council ultimately voted 4–2, citing the desire to reduce the cost of new housing, reduce vehicle emissions, and encourage more walkable communities.
“Cities across America are realizing the need to shift away from costly government parking mandates that drive up the price of housing and increase our reliance on vehicles,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said in a press release. “I’m proud and excited for Bend to be among the leading cities in Oregon making this smart policy change, which will free up land and resources for housing while also helping us address climate change.”
(Source: Wikimedia Commons/Bobak Ha’Eri.)
4. Willmar, Minnesota
“Obviously the ordinance isn’t working,” Justice Walker, Willmar’s Planning and Development Director, said of Willmar’s mandatory parking minimums during a June city council meeting. Later that meeting, the city of approximately 20,000 situated halfway between Minneapolis and the South Dakota border eliminated its parking requirements.
In addition to providing more flexibility, in a place like Willmar, repealing minimums became a matter of common sense. In Walker’s department, parking variances are the most requested petition. “Generally speaking, if you have that many variance requests around a single ordinance, you should change the ordinance,” he suggested.
(Source: Flickr/Ken Lund.)
5. Spokane, Washington
On July 17, 2023, Spokane City Council adopted an interim ordinance that makes off-street parking optional for all housing use within a half-mile of a transit stop. By July 2024, the council will revisit the ordinance and move towards permanent parking reforms.
In fact, writing for The Urbanist, Spokane resident Anthony Gill notes that his hometown’s reforms are more ambitious than even those of Seattle, wherein off-street parking is only exempt within a quarter mile of “frequent transit service.” To compare, he offered graphics demonstrating how comprehensive Spokane’s reforms are relative to Seattle’s:
These are some of the latest cities in North America to challenge decades-old parking requirements that have wasted productive land on automobile storage. Parking reform is snowballing. You can learn more about why by checking out our priority campaign: End Parking Mandates and Subsidies.
Additional Resources:
Explore: The Parking Mandates Map, maintained by the Parking Reform Network
Watch: “But Where Will I Park?”
Listen: Upzoned podcast episode, “Parking Regulations Threaten to Demolish a Coffee Shop.”
Read: “Death by Parking.”
As Dallas examines its land use plan, it's time to talk about parking lots.