Planners Working on Parking Reform Legislation in Raleigh

"The Raleigh City Council voted 6-to-1 Tuesday to begin a process to remove parking minimums and change parking maximums throughout the city," reports Anna Johnson.

Jason Hardin, a senior planner with the city, is cited in the article explaining how parking reform has been used as a tool for reducing vehicle trips and emissions in cities like Minneapolis and San Francisco.

“Over-reliance on driving contributes to climate change, degrades air quality and creates poor health outcomes,” Hardin said in a city memo. “Minimum parking requirements do the same by acting as an incentive to drive.”

Johnson also documents the City Council discussion that led to the final vote. While opposition was scant on the council, according to Hardin's memo, city planners are anticipating concerns about parking spillover into neighborhoods.

Raleigh Planning Department staff will still have to draft a text change for Planning Commission approval and then a final vote by the Raleigh City Council before parking reforms are implemented. 

In January 2020, Planetizen picked up news that a then-newly elected, younger Raleigh City Council entered office with intentions to implement parking reforms as well as zoning reforms to spur Missing Middle Housing development. The Raleigh parking reform news follows just days after the City Council of Richmond, Virginia voted to take the first steps toward parking reforms.