Austin will no longer require off-street parking for new construction projects.
Seeking to decrease development costs and encourage new housing, the City Council voted Thursday to amend the city's building code to eliminate minimum parking requirements.
The change affects more or less every kind of property, including single-family homes, multifamily buildings, offices, and mixed-use and retail developments. The amendments make no changes to requirements for parking spaces for those with disabilities, per the Americans With Disabilities Act. The amendments also allow special zoning districts to retain and enforce the city's former parking minimum rules.
The council proposed the amendments in a May resolution, directing city staff directed to investigate the details and craft specific changes for an ordinance. Staff reported that reducing or eliminating parking space requirements on new development projects will promote more efficient land use and encourage use of public transit, bicycling, and walking as alternatives to individual motorized vehicles.
Staff's analysis of off-street parking found surface parking lots in Austin can cost developers $5,000 to $10,000 per space — a number that rises to $20,000 to $60,000 per space for parking structures.
A Housing and Planning Department impact paper predicts that the changes will mean home builders can build less parking "where appropriate," and using more property for housing or other uses necessary a project. The same paper finds that market-rate, income-restricted, and naturally occurring affordable housing units would all face lower costs and be easier to build with no minimum parking requirements.
Taking a recommendation from the Urban Transportation Commission, which voted last month to support the changes, the council tweaked ordinance language to include special direction to ensure more space for bicycles in new developments.
