Boston Introduces 'Maximum Parking Ratios' for Large Buildings

Christian MilNeil reports: "The City of Boston recently announced new planning guidelines for large developments that will limit the amount of parking that developers will be allowed to build, with stricter limits applying in the city’s most transit-accessible neighborhoods."

The city laid out the new "Maximum Parking Ratios" in a new map, with tables and a color code that matches ratios to corresponding land uses.

"In downtown, the South End, and Back Bay, where transit options are most abundant and city streets are the most congested, the new rules would limit developers to building, at most, 0.35 parking spaces per rental apartment, and 0.3 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office or lab space," explains MilNeil to provide some specificity on the parking ratios.

"The new maximum parking ratios only to large projects that are over 50,000 square feet in size, which is roughly the size of a 50-unit apartment building."

Differentiating these Maximum Parking Ratios from zoning reforms that remove minimum parking requirements—a more common practice in U.S. cities with every passing year—MilNeil explains that political support is building for more comprehensive parking reforms.

These Maximum Parking Ratios are a critical first step in the larger reform effort.

The Maximum Parking Ratios do accomplish reforms for minimum parking requirements, however. "Throughout the entire city, the new guidelines also specify that zero parking would be allowed for new developments, in conjunction with required 'transportation demand management' plans to provide more car-free transportation options," adds MilNeil.