Title
Downtown Residential Parking Incentives Briefing
Recommended Action
Information only. No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Discussion on the Downtown Parking Incentives for residential development
Staff Contact:
Joyce Phillips, Principal Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.570.3722
Presenter(s):
Joyce Phillips, Principal Planner, Community Planning and Development
Max DeJarnatt, Program Analyst, Community Planning and Development
Background and Analysis:
At its February 17, 2022, meeting, the Land Use and Environment Committee (LUEC) referred to the Planning Commission a potential revision to the Downtown Exempt Parking Area map and requirements. The proposal, if approved, would make the area within the boundary exempt from parking requirements for residential development.
Approximately 2 years ago, Community Planning and Development staff noted that several housing projects that had gone through the presubmission conference stage of review were not proceeding to the application stage. Upon inquiry, it was noted that the parking requirements were one of the reasons some of these projects were not moving forward.
In March 2021 the LUEC discussed potential revisions to the Downtown Exempt Parking Area boundary. The proposal was to keep the outer boundary the same, as is shown in Figure 38-2 of Chapter 18.38 of the Olympia Code (see Attachment 1), but to make the entire area exempt from minimum parking requirements for residential development rather than having a portion of the boundary limited to a 10% reduction in residential parking requirements.
The Committee referred the issue to the Planning Commission but asked staff to first compile data to help inform the Commission about parking demands in the area and the impact any changes would have on surrounding neighborhoods.
Staff have collected and reviewed data but it does not provide the level of detail that was originally requested by the LUEC.
Staff have been surveying the downtown core sporadically since 2019 and regularly since 2021, but the data does not appear to be very relevant to the discussion, for a few reasons.
1. The area surveyed does not encompass most of the new apartments, and/or;
2. The surveys do not go far enough back in time to get the baseline data which could help illustrate the impact of the added housing.
Staff spoke with property managers of five of the newer Downtown apartment developments, who shared that their parking is consistently leased to capacity. The City does not currently have this data summarized.
It should be noted that the parking exemption does not apply to new commercial development and that most residential projects do provide off-street parking, even when not required by the City. In those cases, parking is typically provided at 0.7-0.8 spaces per unit. Staff anticipates that most developers will continue to provide parking at a similar amount based on market and financing requirements.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
The City is in its early stages of outreach on this topic. To date, the comments received have been in support of this revision to the residential parking exemption area standards.
Options:
Information only - no action requested.
Financial Impact:
There is no direct financial impact to the City to process the referral from the LUEC to the Planning Commission.
Attachments:
Existing Map
Proposed Map