Parking Study Blog

Maximum Requirements for Off-Street Parking

offstreetparkingstudy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:46:41 +0000

Saint Paul’s proposed off-street parking code seeks to limit the size of off-street parking facilities larger than ten spaces to 170% of the minimum required off-street parking by type of use unless structured parking is provided.

Instilling a maximum off-street parking requirements is a best practice used around the country as a way to discourage oversupply of off-street parking, encourage more efficient land use, reduce blight, and support multi-modal transportation options. Some cities vary their maximum parking threshold by type of use (e.g., Minneapolis, Milwaukee), others employ an across the board maximum (like St. Paul is proposing), still other cities do not have a maximum parking requirement thereby leaving “the market” to determine the max (e.g., Seattle and Chicago outside of certain zones).

Should Saint Paul have off-street parking maximums? If so, in what form?

Landscaping for Off-Street Parking Facilities

offstreetparkingstudy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:08:17 +0000

Do Saint Paul’s proposed changes to landscaping and stormwater management for off-street parking facilities go far enough or too far towards increasing environmental stewardship and reducing blight? Proposed requirements include:

Perimeter landscaping - A landscaped yard at least 4 feet wide along the public street or sidewalk (same as current code requirement)
Interior landscaping – At least 15 sq ft of interior landscaping is required for every 100 sq ft of paving for parking facilities with more than 20 parking spaces or 6,000 sq ft, whichever is less (interior landscape required for >50 parking spaces under current code)
Tree plantings – All parking lots require one shade tree per 80 linear feet of parking (new requirement)
Parking space layout – Wheel stops allow for up to 2 ft of landscaped vehicle overhang (new requirement)
Stormwater landscaping - For lots > ¼ acre, 30 sq ft of stormwater landscaping provided per parking space over a given use’s minimum required parking (new requirement)

Trade-off between property reuse and meeting average parking demand

offstreetparkingstudy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:45:22 +0000

Objectives of Saint Paul’s proposed off-street parking requirements include: 1) encouraging development, redevelopment, reuse, and 2) better aligning parking requirements with demand. Should restaurants have the same off-street parking requirement as retail/office in order to facilitate building reuse, knowing that in some cases there may be less off-street parking supplied than the average demand for restaurant parking?

Attend a Public Meeting

offstreetparkingstudy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:48:52 +0000

Save the date! Three public meetings are scheduled on the proposed off-street parking revisions to provide information to and seek feedback from Saint Paul residents, business owners, property owners, employees and customers. Join City Staff for a presentation of the draft off-street parking revisions at one of the following meetings:

Nov. 5 (Thurs), 7:00 to 8:30 pm at West 7^th Community Center, 265 Oneida St
Nov. 7 (Sat), 10:00 to 11:30 am at Como Park Pavilion, 1360 N Lexington Pkwy
Nov. 10 (Tues), 6:30 to 8:00 pm at Dayton’s Bluff Recreation Center, 800 Conway St