Eliminating Parking Requirements

An explanation of how this will create more parking.

Richmond has grown significantly in the last several years, with our population increasing by more than 30,000 since 2000. This growth comes with rising home values, rental costs, and more traffic. One of the main complaints has been parking issues, from access to parking when trying to enjoy one of our excellent restaurants to shopping at one of our many boutiques or going to their home. Frequently, the biggest target for addressing this issue has been a long-standing policy for developments that requires parking based on square footage, number of housing units, and other factors. Parking Requirements are often viewed as how to create new parking to support new developments, but they rarely solve the problem as intended. Planning Director Kevin Vonck has summarized this issue by stating: we can require that new developments build parking, but we cannot require people to park there.

On April 26, 2021, I led the introduction of Res. 2021-R027 which declared a public necessity to create an ordinance to eliminate parking minimums from the City’s zoning ordinance, which was approved in May 2021. On Monday April 17th, the resulting legislation Ord. 2023–101 that outlines how to eliminate parking minimums was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission. Almost two-years after initial introduction, City Council will vote on this ordinance on Monday April 24th, 2023.

A brief history of parking requirements.

Originating in 1943 after the decline of the streetcar, our appeal to the automobile changed our zoning and building codes to require space for cars to park. Since then, this policy has expanded and been modified as new types of developments, housing, and other projects have caused changes to our growing city. Interestingly, several neighborhoods that oppose eliminating the parking requirement were built before the 1943 parking requirement policy and would not be allowed to be constructed today. Given our current zoning requirements, the charm and beauty of many old and historic neighborhoods would not be permitted to be built today.

In an analysis of 50 development projects over the last several years, planning staff found that our current parking requirement mandated that 4,800 parking spots be built—those 50 developments built over 12,000 parking spaces, well above the parking requirement. Developers often build more parking because they believe future residents will demand it. Financial institutions will not invest in projects that don’t meet what they see as the market demand for parking in that area. In Richmond, developers built 8,000 additional parking spots in that time; however, due to their requirement as part of those individual developments, they are not available other than for that specific use. For example, in Scott’s Addition, there has been much growth with new businesses and apartments. Most new apartments have parking that sits vacant most of the day, and businesses have lots sitting empty on the weekends. Some are unused because tenants would prefer to find free on-street parking than pay more for a spot in the parking deck. People often complain about how hard it is to park there. It is hard to find on-street parking, but in the evenings, many parking lots sit vacant with “No Parking” and “Towing Enforced” signs posted. This is the product of having a parking requirement. This singular use of parking creates inefficient use and restricted access to the neighborhoods we want to visit.

Let’s dispel a few myths:

Parking is hard enough now as it is. Now you want to get rid of it?

It’s hard to find on-street parking near most places of interest. We will not build more on-street parking as I do not see the city creating new streets. This change will not eliminate parking, just the single-use requirement that has existed for many decades. This change aims to make more off-street parking available through shared parking agreements and investment in transit, bike, and walking infrastructure.

But Parking Requirements build more parking, which we need!

True, parking is built in new developments, but its use is restricted to patrons of that business or apartment building residents. During the day, hundreds of parking spaces are available downtown, in Scott’s Addition, and in Manchester that are vacant because they are required for a specific building. Imagine if those spaces were open to be parked in during the day by visitors of nearby restaurants and shops. That’s what this initiative will help achieve.

You want to eliminate parking?

No. This eliminates the requirement of a minimum number of parking spaces to build new housing or open a business. Current parking options are not going away, and new parking will be built. Existing parking will remain. Eliminating the parking requirement can create market-driven solutions to make more off-street parking options available across the city.

Here are the following steps to address several concerns and issues:

1. Modernize and Improve the Residential Parking Program — we can protect residents from encroaching parking due to nearby growth by protecting residential streets with “Parking by Permit” zones with enforcement. We can push visitors and employees to park in places that do not impact adjacent homeowners and residents. Not every neighborhood is the same and creating new residential parking program options that support the growth nodes of the Richmond 300 Master Plan is our next step.
2. Shared Parking Initiative — as new developments build parking, providing a shared parking policy that provides the resources, safety, and access for use by more people is a critical next step. A shared parking initiative may require lobbying the General Assembly for more options and authority, but it is done in other cities.
3. Economic Development focused public parking — downtown Charlottesville built a public parking deck to support the Downtown Mall and the new amphitheater. This economic-focused location for parking supports walkability and attracts visitors to the area. We should transition from depending on new buildings to meet all the neighborhood parking needs and focus on strategic parking locations to support economic development projects and commercial corridors. We can and should make these areas more accessible with investments in multimodal infrastructure and thoughtfully placed parking infrastructure.
4. Smart Parking Management Technology — some solutions can show you where parking spots are available, both on-street and off-street, to simplify finding parking. We can adopt these technology options as we can create more shared parking options in developments across the city. Imagine using Google Maps in your car and showing you the closest parking spots and decks.

I understand this may seem counter-intuitive, but removing the parking requirement will provide ways to make more parking available. Parking requirements have not increased available parking but rather have built more inefficient single-use parking. This increases the construction cost of building new housing, which leads to higher rents, increased fixed costs, and complex barriers to entry for small business owners. To build a more sustainable, accessible, and affordable future city, we must revisit old policies and laws to analyze the impact in practice. Eliminating parking requirements has already been done in cities like Raleigh, NC, Buffalo, NY, Minneapolis, MN, and several others. Not only will this change create new parking opportunities, but it will also support making our city more accessible.