Years of Mobility Lab and Arlington studies have shown that people in the county who live near transit don’t have many cars and rarely need the ones they do have.
So it comes as a pleasant example of local government following data to make new policy that will allow developers to not have to build as many parking spaces near Metro as they traditionally have done.
The County Board voted to allow developers of some new projects along the Ballston-Rosslyn and U.S. 1 corridors to cut the parking they provide by as much as 50 percent, so long as they offer bicycle parking, on-site car sharing and unlimited Metrorail or Metrobus passes for residents.
“Keeping excess parking . . . has really high costs for the county,” said Katie Cristol, the board’s vice chair, who described the change as “not a cudgel, but a series of carrots. We’re not trying to badger anybody into a lifestyle that doesn’t match their needs.”
The same thing is happening across the Potomac and in other nearby jurisdictions.
The District last year rezoned minimum parking requirements for multifamily residences in many areas and reduced parking minimums close to Metro or bus routes in other parts of the city to less than one space for every five units. Fairfax County limited the maximum number of parking spots at buildings within a quarter-mile of Metro stations in Tysons Corner seven years ago, and is considering lowering the minimum parking requirements near other transit stations.
In Montgomery County, multifamily buildings must provide one parking space per bedroom, but less parking is required for affordable units and age-restricted buildings. Prince George’s County is working on a proposal to remove all minimum parking requirements for buildings near certain regional transit zones.
In Buffalo, minimum parking requirements were eliminated with a zoning ordinance 11 months ago. About one-third of apartments built recently near Seattle’s downtown had no parking, under a decade-old policy to reduce traffic and developers’ costs so they could build more affordable residences.
In Arlington, where the median housing value is $651,400, according to the online real estate company Zillow, and where the cost of entry-level condos has zoomed out of reach of many young professionals, one underground parking spot costs between $30,000 and $60,000 to build, a county report estimated. The board’s new guidelines will allow the county to grant approval to developers of multifamily housing in the two Metro corridors to build between 0.2 and 0.6 spaces per unit, down from between 0.8 and 1.25 spaces per unit.
Board chair Jay Fisette said the changes will be “incremental and prudent,” and reminded concerned residents that guidelines will not affect existing residential parking. “I think a lot of angst and excitement about this is overblown,” he said.
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