Parking mandates add undue cost to housing, prioritize cars over people, says white paper released by Open Plans
Zoning rule adds an estimated 17% to the cost of a unit’s rent
Poll shows 68% of New York City residents support fully lifting parking mandates
NEW YORK, NY – Livability advocates Open Plans released a white paper this week entitled ‘Parking Minimums are Parking Mandates: Lifting Parking Mandates in New York City,’ describing the economic and social consequences of outdated zoning rules that mandate new parking in residential and commercial developments. The organization rallied today with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and fellow members of the Parking Mandates Coalition, including Open New York, Tri-State Trasnportation Campaign, New York League of Conservation Voters, and Transportation Alternatives, to call for an end to outdated parking requirements, citywide.
The white paper examines the overlapping negative impacts of parking mandates, including hindering affordable and market-rate housing development, raising construction costs, encouraging car ownership, increasing air pollution, and laying a disproportionate cost burden on low-income households. Case studies explore cities that have successfully lifted their parking mandates, resulting in increased affordable housing development and a reduction in parking built. The paper makes the persuasive case for lifting all parking mandates, citywide, as the most expedient and impactful way to catalyze new housing, reduce cost, and build more livable neighborhoods.
“New York’s parking mandates prioritize cars over people in a city where the majority of residents don’t drive,” said Sara Lind, Chief Strategy Officer at Open Plans. “This is a disastrous policy, increasing the number of cars on our streets, polluting our air, and undermining public transit. We know what New York City stands to gain by lifting parking mandates because cities across the country have already done it. The proof is here. Parking mandates have negatively impacted our city for decades, but we can begin to reverse course today and build for the city we want and need.”
The white paper includes:
Evidence that lifting parking mandates proactively creates housing; Just one year after mandates were lifted in San Diego, affordable housing development increased sixfold
Cost estimates of housing and parking construction which shows that the cost of building one subgrade parking space ($150,000) is approximately equal to the cost of building one studio apartment
Calculations revealing that every 1.2 parking spaces supplants one unit of housing
Bureaucratic and time-cost benefits to lifting red tape and simplifying the zoning code
A case study from Buffalo, NY, who lifted their parking mandates citywide in 2017 resulting in 47% less new parking
The recommendation for Department of City Planning to fully lift parking mandates, citywide
Open Plans seeks to include citywide elimination of parking mandates in the upcoming Zoning for Housing Opportunity Text Amendment. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get New York City on track,” said Lind. “The Department of City Planning must move to lift these mandates citywide and leave this harmful, car-centric zoning rule in the past once and for all.”
The full white paper is available to view or download on the Open Plans website.
What allies are saying about lifting parking mandates:
“Lifting parking mandates in our city is essential to achieving our goals of creating more housing – especially affordable housing – and responding to the climate crisis,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “These mandates don’t reflect the modern needs of New Yorkers, and every parking space that we build keeps us from becoming a more livable, resilient city. We’ve seen the benefits of doing away with parking mandates in other cities – now, it's time for New York to act."
“Our city and how we move throughout it are changing more and more every day, and our policies must evolve to match,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “The New York of the future prioritizes our environment; walkability, micromobility, and public transit; and using whatever space we can find to provide stable, dignified, and affordable housing for all. Minimum parking mandates do not fit that vision of a better, healthier city, and it’s time we DCP recognizes that in our zoning policies. Thank you to Open Plans for doing the work that will get us to a more equitable and intentional New York City.”
"Removing outdated parking requirements from zoning rules that were created in the 1960s is a crucial step in creating more livable and equitable communities,” said Council Member Jen Gutierrez. “Parking mandates are an outdated, complex, and costly policy that not only perpetuate car dependency, but also require new buildings to dedicate valuable space to storing private vehicles. This results in higher development costs and reduces the availability of affordable housing and commercial spaces. By eliminating these requirements, we can free up valuable land for more productive and community-oriented uses, such as additional housing, green space, and local businesses. It's time to modernize our zoning policies and create more vibrant, sustainable, and people-centered communities.”
“For decades, parking mandates have driven up the cost of housing for homebuyers and renters,” said Annemarie Gray, Executive Director of Open New York.“It is well past time that New York City follos the lead of cities across the country and removes parking mandates from housing development in order to expedite housing construction, bring down costs, and lighten the load on New Yorkers.”
“We cannot drive our way out of the climate crisis,” said Alia Soomro, Deputy Director of New York City Policy for the New York League of Conservation Voters. “If we are going to reduce harmful air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, and stem the tide of climate change, New York must move away from its car-centric culture, and part of that is ridding ourselves of unnecessary parking mandates. These relics from the past do double-damage as they contribute to the urban heat island effect and stormwater runoff, which disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color. The New York League of Conservation Voters joins our partners calling on the City to amend the zoning code in the upcoming Zoning for Housing Opportunity Text Amendment.”
"Our members, New York's building owners and workers, are often stifled by parking minimums in their attempts to build more housing,” said Jay Martin, Executive Director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP). “Removing parking minimums will allow us to create more housing at a time when New Yorkers desperately need it.”
“It is past due to amend New York City's outdated zoning requiring parking in new housing," said Felicia Park-Rogers, Director of Regional Infrastructure Projects for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "Fewer than half of households in NYC are car owners, yet our whole city suffers from a lack of abundant and affordable housing. The time is ripe to lift these mandates and the opportunity is in front of us now."
"Parking minimums are exhortations to drive," said Riders Alliance Policy & Communications Director Danny Pearlstein. "By encouraging driving, parking minimums run counter to every public policy meant to reduce driving and improve the quality, affordability, and efficiency of public transit. Millions of transit riders live more difficult and dangerous lives because of an archaic zoning text determined to trap New York in a mid-twentieth century death spiral of gridlock, congestion, and pollution. Thanks to the great work of Open Plans and this incredible coalition for setting our sights on parking minimums as the hidden scourge of an equitable and livable city."
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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chelsea Dowell
347-439-1596
chelsea@openplans.org