06-16-2025 - Agenda Packet Planning Commission - Planning Commission Packet

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7 THE BASIS FOR ZONING CODE PARKING REQUIREMENTS Purpose statements found in municipal zoning codes can provide some guidance regarding the rationale behind off-street parking requirements. However, most simply have statements such as, “The provisions of this chapter have been established to ensure that adequate off-street parking is provided to meet the parking needs of uses located within the city.” Some codes, such as Pittsburgh’s, make a point of mentioning flexibility in the purpose statement of its off-street parking chapter, as follows: Purpose. The purpose of these regulations is to: • allow flexibility in addressing vehicle parking, loading, and access is- sues; • present a menu of strategies to solve parking issues rather than parking space requirements; • maintain and enhance a safe and efficient transportation system that is consistent with environmental goals and clean air; and • ensure that off-street parking, loading, and access demands associated with new development will be met without adversely affecting other nearby land uses and surrounding neighborhoods. (Article 6, Section 9.14.01, amended August 24, 2000) Determining the appropriate amount of off-street parking that should be required by a municipal zoning ordinance, like many aspects of planning, is part art and part science—and is done within a political context. When municipal officials write or rewrite their off-street parking provisions, the list of sources consulted is often short and has remained largely the same for years. Many rely on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) for information related to parking demand generated by various land uses. Some zoning codes state that, when an individual land use is not covered in the city’s off-street parking chapter, ITE standards apply. Despite the fact that ITE’s information may be the most extensive quantitative data readily available for purchase, ITE cautions that much of the information is based on studies conducted in locations where few transportation alternatives exist and/or are based on studies with a very small sample size (ITE 1987). [Editor’s note: The Parking Council of ITE had a new version of the trip generation manual in press at the time this PAS Report was in final produc- tion. Readers should consult the new manual, which, we are told, is quite different in its approach.] Donald Shoup, chair of the Urban Planning Department at UCLA, has noted that parking demand studies are generally conducted in an environ- ment where off-street parking is provided without a direct fee (i.e., areas outside of downtown, where fees are almost always charged). Using these studies to determine minimum requirements means that such requirements are based on the demand for parking at a price of zero, which leads to a vicious circle of an oversupply of “free” (but subsidized by somebody) park- ing virtually everywhere in the metropolitan landscape (Shoup 1999). The most popular method for determining off-street parking requirements may be to borrow from the ordinances of other communities. To a large degree, it’s difficult to fault this approach. APA would not be publishing this report if it thought that borrowing standards from other cities—or at least having an awareness of the range of standards that exist—was an un- acceptable approach. When APA’s Planning Advisory Service (PAS) receives inquiries related to off-street parking standards, PAS provides subscribers with ordinances, studies, and guides such as this one. Adoption of another jurisdiction’s standards, without consideration of local socioeconomic standards, comprehensive plan, political environment, 124