News
October 21, 2008
Report On Right-Sizing Citywide Off-Street Parking Standards
In 2007, the Raleigh City Council directed the Department of City Planning to undertake a thorough review of the City’s off-street parking standards and recommend modifications and revisions intended to result in a substantially revised, state-of-the-art ordinance.
The City of Raleigh Department of City Planning, with assistance from Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates, sought to establish the foundation for a fully modernized parking ordinance that includes:
- The quantity of parking that should be required, including the most appropriate basis for setting parking standards for various uses, whether it would be appropriate for Raleigh to consider imposing parking maximums citywide or under selected circumstances, and requiring bicycle parking for all land uses;
- Standards for shared parking in mixed-use developments;
- Appropriate standards for older, pedestrian-oriented business corridors and solutions where on-street parking may potentially spill-over into adjacent neighborhoods;
- Design standards for parking areas addressing dimensions, location, pedestrian circulation, and materials; and,
- Opportunities to encourage green practices into parking lot design, such as permeable pavement.
Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates completed a review of the City’s ordinances, Raleigh’s parking trends case studies, transit services, best practices, peer cities review, and roundtable discussions with citizens and developers.
The recommendations to the Raleigh City Council include:
- Creating an appropriately low minimum requirement for elderly and low-income housing;
- Reducing the minimum parking requirement for general retail use -Reduction from 1 space per 200 square feet to 1 space per 300 square feet; reduce the minimum parking requirement for shopping centers from 1 space per 250 square feet to 1 space per 330 square feet; and reduce the parking requirement for restaurants from 1 space per 50 square feet of public floor area to 1 space per 75 square feet of public floor area.
- Expanding the maximum parking standards for all planning districts – Set a default maximum standard for all uses at 125% of the minimum standard of all uses. The maximum amount of parking allowed could be exceeded when specific performance standards are met;
- Adding bicycle parking, and motorcycle parking requirements- Implement minimum bicycle parking requirements for all uses and all districts based on a ratio of bicycle spaces required to vehicle spaces built. Require that 2 percent, or a minimum of two spaces, of the minimum number of automobile parking spaces be provided as motorcycle/ scooter parking for most or all uses;
- Adding shared parking requirement – Require that townhouse developments provide shared spaces in addition to the base requirement of standard spaces;
- Adopting a standard model for calculating shared parking efficiencies for purposes of allowing reduced parking for mixed-use developments;
- Developing facility design standards – revised or create zoning standards for parking facility design; and,
- Developing design guidelines for area plans- Attention to the design and location of off-street parking to benefit the neighborhood quality and pedestrian environment.
The City Council directed the City staff to prepare the necessary text changes for its consideration of whether to move forward with a public hearing to revise the current regulations. To see the entire report, click here.
Prepared by:
Chris Riley
Senior Public Affairs Specialist
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Greg Hallam
Senior Planner
Planning Department
One Exchange Plaza, Suite 304
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-516-2636
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