Pushing the Austin City Council to Ditch Parking Minimums

Austin seems like a safe bet to be one fo the next cities to end parking minimums citywide, and advocates are already pressing for the change.

1 minute read

February 27, 2019, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


The High Cost of Free Parking

Kokoulina / Shutterstock

The Austin Pedestrian Advisory Council is recommending that the City Council eliminate parking minimums from the city's land use code entirely.

"The Pedestrian Advisory Council is asking City Council to confront a broad spectrum of issues this year with a simple change to the city’s dated land use code," reports Ryan Thornton.

Earlier this month, "PAC approved a recommendation to Council to eliminate mandated parking minimums from the city’s land use code entirely. Among other requests, the recommendation includes managing parking supply with dynamic pricing adjustments, citywide expansion of the current Parking Benefit District structure and disincentivizing construction of aboveground parking garages in new developments," according to Thornton.

Thornton headlines this news by teasing the possibility that 2019 could be the year that Austin ends parking minimums citywide. A 2013 law ended parking minimums for the central business district, and locals report little impact on development in the area.  

Thursday, February 7, 2019 in Austin Monitor

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