PC Meeting Date: May 16, 2024
To: Members of the Planning Commission
From: Mathias Hughey, Associate City Planner
Lori Johnson, WSB (Consulting Planner)
Title
Review of Draft Text Amendments to Parking Standards
Body
Action Requested:
The Planning Commission (PC) is asked to review proposed changes to the parking standards in the Land Development Code (LDC).
Summary Report:
Reviewing parking standards, particularly parking minimums are an item on the Planning Commission’s work plan. Removing parking minimums is a current best practice, among others, to help reduce vehicle miles traveled, encourage other modes of transportation and meet climate action goals, as well as reduce the cost burden on developers, particularly housing development.
Under the direction of the City Planner, consulting planning staff at WSB provided a preliminary review of the City’s existing parking standards found in Article 3.3 of the LDC and a draft revised version of parking standards at the February 2024 Planning Commission meeting. The proposal included eliminating minimum parking requirements city-wide and adapting maximum parking limitations to be applicable without the underlying minimum requirements. The planning commission raised several important considerations and asked staff to return with more information to continue the discussion.
The commission requested information and/or consideration of the following:
1. Clarify parking regulations in residential neighborhoods, especially regarding parking in rear yards.
2. Address the process of site-plan review for sites with parking in excess of the newly implemented parking maximums.
3. A survey of other vehicle parking maximum limits and bicycle parking requirements to ensure that any proposal was consistent with best practices.
4. Include clear graphics or illustrations depicting appropriate bicycle parking facilities and standards.
Vehicle Storage in Rear Yards
The phrase “Operational and licensed vehicles stored on a paved driveway, or paved pad immediately adjacent to a garage shall be exempt from this provision.” Has been added to clarify that where driveways or garages are located within rear yards, vehicles that would otherwise not be considered a nuisance, are exempt from the prohibition on parking or storing vehicles in a rear yard
Existing Excess Parking
The reviewed code documents do not have a process to bring over-parked sites into compliance. Codes generally set a threshold requiring review of compliance. In these scenarios, when entities apply for other forms of planning and zoning approval, they are required to bring the entire site into compliance. This may be limited by the size or nature of the expansion or changes. For instance, when applying for a new sign the cost of bringing a parking lot into compliance may be disproportionate to the proposed changes and could have a chilling effect on simple maintenance projects.
Survey of Other Regulations
Staff conducted a review of municipalities with maximum parking regulations, including Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Calumet, MI, and West Allis, WI. These were compared to Northfield’s existing maximum parking regulations. Staff identified categories where Northfield’s regulations were out of step with current best practice and/or presented difficulty in implementation.
Staff conducted a similar review of municipalities with bicycle parking requirements, including the above cities, with the addition of Grand Rapids, MI and a cursory review of bicycle parking requirements in Portland, OR.
Bicycle Parking Standards
Member of the Planning Commission asked staff to consider Bicycle Parking Guidelines, 2nd Edition from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP), a document that represents guidance on best practices in bicycle parking. Best practices included in the Guidelines and implemented by other cities include:
1. Differentiation between long-term and short-term bicycle parking
2. Defining bicycle rack standards
3. Defining parking area standards, including dimensions, accessibility, and location
The attached bicycle parking requirements and standards are updated to reflect the APBP Guidelines. The differentiation between long and short-term parking is based on the expected duration of bicycle parking and draws a continuum between convenience/ease of access and security/weather protection. Provisions include access without navigating stairs, access to electricity where long-term bike parking is provided, and racks that support the frame of the bicycle while allowing locking of the frame and front wheel using a U-lock (the most popular and secure type of bike lock). With the substantial growth in the popularity of e-bikes since the Guidelines were created, providing adequately secure and accessible parking has become more important than ever.
Approaches
Municipalities have based the minimum required bicycle parking spaces on a target of 5% bicycle mode share, by tying the number of bicycle parking spaces to the number of vehicle parking spaces or by indexing it to the number of employees, capacity, or square footage. While aspirational in some contexts, approximately 42% of Northfield residents walk, bike, work from home, or use another form of transportation besides private automobile, making a 5% target potentially inadequate. Cities that have invested in completing bicycle infrastructure networks also see bicycle mode share exceeding 5%. As the city’s bicycle infrastructure network grows, bicycle mode share will likely increase.
At a national level, more than 50% of households report owning a bicycle. Assuming that some of those own more than one bicycle, and in keeping with the APBP Guidelines, the required bicycle parking for residential development is proposed at one (1) per unit, unless individual enclosed garages are provided.
Rental Housing
A section of the rental housing ordinance (Northfield City Code, Chapter 14 - Businesses, Article iii. - Rental Housing) requires a minimum of two (2) parking spaces per unit for rental properties in the R1 and R2 districts. A proposed draft of amended text, shown in strikeouts/underlines is attached. The draft as proposed establishes a maximum number of surface parking spaces for rental properties. Best practice in parking recommends codes allow for the developer/project proposer and therefore the market to dictate the minimum number of spaces.
Alternatively, this section may be eliminated from the rental housing section and instead incorporate the general parking standards by reference.
Alternative Options:
Additional changes to the document can be recommended by the Planning Commissioners.
Financial Impacts:
NA
Tentative Timelines:
Following the discussion, staff and the consultant team would like to finalize these changes and move ahead with a public hearing on proposed text amendments.