Parking Requirements Among Changes in a Big Week for Planning in New York

Stephen Miller reports on the release of on a pair of proposals from New York City Hall last week, including a new Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program and a Zoning for Quality and Affordability Program [pdf]. Miller focuses on a key component of the latter—the reduction of parking requirements for residential development.

According to Miller, "[t]he de Blasio administration is proposing to reduce parking requirements near transit, but primarily for subsidized housing, not the market-rate construction the city expects to account for most new development."

As for the policy language that enacts the changes, Miller writes that "[p]erhaps the biggest change in the plan…is the creation of a 'transit zone' covering most land that allows new multi-family housing within a half-mile of a subway line." Miller adds more specifics: "Within the transit zone, off-street parking would not be required for new public housing, senior housing, or apartments reserved for people earning below a certain income. Buildings that include a mix of market-rate and subsidized housing could apply for a special permit to reduce or eliminate parking requirements on a case-by-case basis [PDF]."

Outside the transit zone, which, for the record, excludes lots of transit-adjacent neighborhoods, parking regulations remain largely the same.

It was a big week for planning in New York City. In addition to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program and the Zoning for Quality and Affordability Program, which will both now begin the official public review process, the Department of City Planning also released the East New York plan, which has already yielded a provocative editorial from Crain's New York Business.