HomeMy WebLinkAbout010224 email Housing and parking opportunityHi y’all!
As you are aware, the the Transportation Lab has a goal ot building a better community through transportation planning and policy. Last Spring the T-Lab put on a one day conference
where we learned about the effects parking policy has on transportation mode choice and traffic, transit use, housing costs, sprawl, walkability, health, climate, tax revenue, and community
involvement. We also learned that minimum parking requirements have no science to back them. They were the offspring of suburban mall planning. They were then shared community to
community. Eventually that resulted in the 8 spaces per vehicle we have nationwide,… and the indirect affects noted.
Our concern is about the 17 acres Habitat purchased to construct 120 housing units.
No matter which of the above issues you care about most, if providing housing for unused motor vehicles is the most significant land use of any project, the parking exacerbates all those
indirectly affected issues. That is why the Transportation Lab asks that you do as a growing number of jurisdictions are doing around the world:
rescind all off-street parking requirements. Please do it before you lock in unneeded parking at the new Habitat project. Perhaps consider an interim ordinance while awaiting the comp
plan update.
A few points for your discussions:
*Every new building under your current code adds another mandated investment by the owner in everything we don’t want.
*Parking will still be developed as builders decide how much parking they need.
*When parking requirements are rescinded, other communities found nothing changes significantly overnight.
*Over time, the more compact development led to positive outcomes for all the above listed indirect effects.
If you choose adoption of an interim ordinance, we will then have some important data for the comrehensive plan update.
Incidentally, the T-Lab is planning another conference this Spring with a similar theme with a deeper exploration followed by an exploration of best practices for processing the comp
plan updates.
Best to all y’all,
Scott and T-Lab