Parking Requirements and Housing Affordability

1. Parking Requirements and Housing Affordability Michael Manville Department of City and Regional Planning Cornell University September 19, 2013

2. The Purpose of Parking Requirements • Prevent congested curb parking

3. Problem 1: They Don’t Work Very Well Westwood Village Parking Requirement: 1.5 spaces per efficiency apartment, 2.5 spaces per 2-bedroom apartment

4. Problem 2: Distorted Development Decisions, Distorted Landscapes Pre-War Building 7,500 sq ftPre- 100% efficiency

5. Same Building, 2013: 3,125 sq. ft. (improvements) 12 stalls (4 per 1,000 sq. ft.) 42% efficiency Illustration: MDA Johnson Favaro Architecture & Urban Design

6. All transportation systems have three basic elements: VehiclesRights of wayTerminal capacity Trains Tracks Stations Airplanes Sky Airports Ships Oceans Seaports Cars Roads Parking spaces

7. Shifting the Cost of Vehicle Ownerhsip into Cost of Housing • Makes it difficult to build housing • For certain people (those who don’t own cars or don’t need them on-site with housing) • On some parcels (small lots) • In some buildings (historic structures with no parking and no room to provide it) • In some neighborhoods (if a neighborhood is dominated by small parcels/old buildings) In sum: infill gets harder. Housing at lower price-points gets harder.

8. 50 apartments 550 sq feet apiece You think you can sell 50 units to people you don’t want onsite parking

9. 1 space per unit parking requirement – 50 spaces • 1 sq ft parking per 2 sq ft of apartment • Go underground: lose six units to the ramp • Underground only holds 33 spaces ($40-50k per space) • 44 units, 33 spaces • Dig second level ($$$) • Can’t just dig 11 spaces – end up with 66 spaces for 44 units • Marginal cost of the 34th space is extraordinary • You need a variance (Good luck) • Even with the variance, you are now building to a higher price point

10. Surface parking instead Building shrinks to 30 units You have 19 spaces Still not enough; need to shrink to 25 units or get a variance Again building for a higher price point Things that don’t matter to the city: How much each additional space costs Whether off-street parking is abundant in the neighborhood (how much you could sell your spaces for) Whether transit is nearby

11. Why Can’t the Private-Sector Provide Lower-Income Housing?

13. Why Do Old Buildings Sit Vacant? • 322 apartments, developer added 200 on-site spaces • Downtown Requirement: 1 space per unit minimum • With parking requirement, maximum 200 units • Would not have penciled out • Historic building, fully occupied, $1,200 month • Illegal to build it today

14. Concerns • No one will build parking/ Spillover parking • Meters (or permits)manage curb parking

15. Conclusions • Parking requirements mandate quantity and location without respect to cost • Attempt to solve a problem on public streets by regulating private land • If cities manage street-parking, off-street parking takes care of itself • Cities that think they need parking requirements usually need parking meters