WA lawmakers want to limit parking requirements for new development
Sen. Jessica Bateman, chair of the Senate Housing Committee, leads a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Washington state Capitol in Olympia, Wash. (Photo by Ryan Berry/Washington State Standard)
The amount of parking a city can require for new construction may soon be limited.
Senate Bill 5184 would prevent cities and counties from mandating more than one spot for every two housing units. Developers could still add more spots if they choose, but that would not be required.
The policy received a public hearing last week and is scheduled for a vote out of the Senate Housing Committee on Wednesday.
It's another in a host of bills this year aimed at building more housing quickly in Washington.
'Our minimum parking requirements are outdated and archaic, and they're getting in the way of building the housing that our communities desperately need,' bill sponsor Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, said.
Most jurisdictions require new homes to be built with a certain number of parking spaces. Critics of these minimums say that they make it more expensive and complicated to build housing, while also taking up limited space in dense cities.
Along with limiting parking requirements for dwellings, the bill would prohibit cities and counties from requiring more than one space for every 1,000 feet of a commercial building. It would also eliminate parking requirements altogether for certain types of buildings like residences under 1,200 square feet, commercial spaces under 5,000 feet, affordable housing, senior housing and child care facilities.
Bateman said the state needs these types of facilities desperately right now, and limiting how much parking must accompany them could help them get built faster.
Under the proposal, parking restrictions would not apply to accessible spaces in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Oregon and California rolled back some minimum parking requirements in recent years. Some local governments in Washington have limited parking requirements, too, but no statewide proposal has yet to make it across the finish line.
This year, there may be more support — at least from the executive branch.
Bateman's proposal was included as a priority in a housing report from Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and Gov. Bob Ferguson's transition team. Nicholas Carr, Ferguson's senior policy advisor on housing, said parking minimums in Washington are 'arbitrary and difficult to change.'
'Parking spots cost money, a lot of money,' Carr told the Senate Housing Committee. 'This is a real opportunity for savings. That's why Gov. Ferguson supports this bill.'
Research from Sightline Institute found that parking can cost $5,000 to $20,000 per space in a surface-level lot and $60,000 per spot in a garage in Washington.
Sightline's research also found that parking mandates vary significantly across Washington with no scientific backing for how they are set, researcher Catie Gould told the Senate Housing Committee.
'I regret to say that there's no magic parking ratio that will meet the needs of every family or every restaurant,' Gould said.
At Friday's public hearing, many supporters of the proposal argued that it would still give developers the option to build more parking than the minimum required.
'Importantly, this bill does not ban parking nor does it restrict how much parking can be built,' said Riley Benge, commercial government affairs director at Washington Realtors.
Still, some testifiers expressed concerns.
Kelsey Hulse, who represented the Association of Washington Cities and the Washington State Association of Counties, said requiring less parking for new development could result in traffic hazards where people are searching for parking for long periods or parking in areas where it is not allowed, such as shoulders on narrow roads.
Though Hulse said the associations support the bill's idea to build more housing, she urged lawmakers to limit its scope.
Another big concern with the proposal was that it lacked an exemption for the city of SeaTac. With the state's largest airport, the city is home to many professional drivers for Uber, Lyft or taxi services who would suffer if parking spots are limited in nearby neighborhoods, said Amina Abdalla, a lobbyist for the city.
'Their car is their business and livelihood,' Abdalla said.
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