by Adam Millard-Ball

Parking is one of the toughest and most sensitive issues confronting planning staff and elected officials. Few topics are capable of engendering such controversy and emotion from local residents, businesses and other members of the community.

The traditional solution is to ensure that new developments cater for their entire parking demand, through levying minimum parking requirements. But parking is no exception to the rule that you can have too much of a good thing. While they ensure that parking is plentiful and protect adjacent residential areas from overspill, high minimum parking requirements can contribute to traffic growth, stand in the way of affordable housing projects, and prevent the development of livable, walkable communities.

Cities around the country are increasingly realizing that limits on parking provision, or tailoring parking requirements more closely to actual demand, can be critical tools to limit automobile trips, create compact, walkable neighborhoods and promote true transit-oriented development.