Slowly, and then all at once, as the saying goes, the Austin City Council has taken a major step toward unyoking developers from city rules mandating parking in their new projects.
On Thursday, the council voted by consent to direct city staff to eliminate parking requirements from local land use regulations for new residential and retail developments outside the central business district.
The city eliminated downtown parking requirements, except for spaces for those with disabilities, in 2013 — a move that didn't deter developers of new downtown projects from voluntarily building what the bill's sponsor, Council Member Zohaib Qadri, characterized as “a generous amount of parking.”
The cost of building a single parking space ranges from $10,000 to $40,000, according to the resolution. Under current regulations still applicable in most of the rest of the city, a new apartment complex must have 1.5 parking spaces for every one-bedroom unit on the property.
The resolution also noted that parking requirements such as the formerly mandated minimums downtown, which were based on peak-use times, "can have unintended consequences, such as developments providing more parking than is necessary, encouraging the use of single-occupancy vehicles, contributing to traffic congestion, air pollution, and flooding, and discouraging the development of more affordable housing."
The resolution directed interim City Manager Jesús Garza to bring back the code amendment to eliminate parking requirements by Dec. 31.
Thursday’s resolution would not change Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
