Denver city officials have laid out a fresh blueprint aiming to strip away outdated parking quotas, a move that could streamline housing development and slice through red tape. As detailed by the City and County of Denver, the new Modernizing Parking Requirements project takes a hacksaw to the rigid rules of yesteryear, abolishing mandatory parking minimums that have long governed the landscape of urban planning, potentially easing the path for housing projects and allowing developers to tailor parking solutions to market demands. If realized, these tweaked regulations would bid to trim down review times for development applications, a boon for both city staff and builders.
Denver's current zoning laws have developers jumping through hoops to hit specific parking space targets, a costly game that could inflate housing prices and sideline living units for car storage areas. Under the proposed project, which Denver Mayor Mike Johnston says is a "market-based solution" to make the city more affordable for working families, it wouldn't just be affordable housing beneficiaries reaping the reduced parking perks instead, this ordinance overhaul would spread city-wide, broadening the horizon for construction ventures and chopping down the hours poured into administrative parking reviews. "Making Denver more affordable for all Denverites means breaking down barriers and making it easier to build housing in our city," said Johnston, as per City and County of Denver.
But even with slashed requirements, some projects still lavish space on parking. Case in point, a whopping 633 spots provided by the 1901 Lawrence Street office building, the catch here being zero were mandated, a telling sign that developers might continue to bet big on Denver drivers, despite the leeway. There are even examples like 600 Park Avenue and 1145 South Broadway where developers went above and beyond, providing 217 parking spaces for 230 units and 691 for 470 units, respectively, when none or fewer were required, according to City and County of Denver.
Nodding to the necessity of getting around the sans vehicle, Denver's not solely banking on parking cutbacks, it's also tightening Transportation Demand Management obligations to promote alternatives, think subsidized transit passes, and support for car sharing. All this aligns with Colorado's fresh mandate for cities to nix parking minimums near transit routes for residential-heavy building revamps, a state law deadline looming on the horizon come June 30, 2025, the city racing against this ticking clock emboldens communities with choices while ensuring not to leave car owners in a lurch, assures Manish Kumar, Executive Director of Community Planning and Development, who remarked, "This fix would allow our staff and residents to focus on project priorities instead of spending hundreds of hours reviewing complicated parking regulations. This gives residents more flexibility while still providing the parking Denverites need,” as obtained by the City and County of Denver.
