Parking minimums are zoning rules that require a new building to provide at least a set number of off-street parking spaces, usually stated as a ratio per housing unit or per 1,000 square feet of floor area.
Why they matter
- Every required stall is built whether or not anyone needs it, so the rule sets a floor under construction cost. Structured stalls typically cost tens of thousands of dollars each, and underground stalls cost the most.
- On small urban lots, the parking requirement often decides the building more than height or density limits do: ramps, aisles and excavation consume the site.
- Minimums are usually set from suburban demand data, so they can overstate how many cars residents near transit actually own.
Reform
- California’s AB 2097 (2022) bars cities from imposing or enforcing parking minimums on most projects within a half mile of a major transit stop.
- Removing a minimum does not ban parking. Developers can still build what the market supports, and the question becomes what to build instead.
Related terms: Required parking spaces, Parking Ratios, AB 2097, Unbundled Parking, Shared Parking.