The zoning change will significantly reduce the cost of building affordable housing developments.
The Denver City Council has approved a change to the city's zoning code that reduces minimum parking requirements for affordable housing developments, reports Daliah Singer. "Among other things, the just-updated code lowers the 'affordable housing alternative minimum parking ratio' for affordable housing projects in any district to 0.1, or one spot for every 10 units. It also upped the applicable AMI from 40 percent to 60 percent to encompass more housing."The update comes as an acknowledgement of the pivotal role parking requirements play in housing affordability and the vast number of unused parking spaces in the city's housing developments. A December 2020 study found that income-restricted properties provide, on average, "50 percent more parking than residents use." Another audit of affordable and supportive housing in the city found that "Denver’s zoning code required 5.5 times more parking than was needed."
The excess isn't just wasted space, Singer says. "Experts say parking is one of the most significant barriers to affordable housing projects both locally and across the country, sidelining or completely halting in-the-works projects because developers couldn’t make the zoning-required parking work." One parking space costs, on average, "between $20,000 and $30,000 to construct and maintain. The Shopworks/Fox Tuttle study valued the cost of unused parking at $9,284,000—the equivalent cost to build an entire 40-unit affordable housing property."
Advocates of the zoning change hope it will inspire other cities to take similar actions. In Denver, "[t]he change is having an immediate impact: Charity’s House Apartments, a supportive housing complex in Five Points that Shopworks is involved with and had been halted for at least six months due to parking issues, is now able to break ground."
FULL STORY: Affordable Housing in Denver Just Got a Big Boost
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
New York’s Deadliest Neighborhoods for Pedestrians
Pedestrian deaths rose last year, but remain below pre-2020 levels.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.