Portlanders for Parking Reform

Better Parking Policy For The City of Roses

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Parking Wonk Night: Tuesday 3/29 6-9PM

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Join us next Tuesday, March 29th from 6-9PM at the downtown Portland offices of Lancaster Engineering for  a BikePortland Wonk Night featuring “Parking Superheroes.”

Lancaster Engineering’s offices are located at 321 SW 4th Ave #400, Portland, OR. Parking Lot

Momentum is building around parking policy changes here in Portland and there should be lots to talk about:

It sounds like there will be a great group of folks present to answer questions, present information, and just help the conversation along:

  • Chris Smith from the Planning and Sustainability Commission
  • Joe Cortright from CityObservatory
  • Your’s truly, Tony Jordan from Portland Shoupistas
  • Brian Davis from Lancaster Engineering
  • City staff are very likely to attend as well
  • Most importantly, YOU and other Shoupistas!

You can read more at the BikePortland event page or on the Facebook event page.  Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Hope to see you there!

 

Portland’s Central Eastside to Blaze the Way for Market Rate Permits

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Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) has a parking problem, and the Central Eastside Industrial Council (CEIC) is pursuing a smart solution.  The CEID doesn’t have any dedicated parking garages and with rapid growth on the horizon the on-street parking situation will only get more congested.  Fortunately, rather than requesting (or demanding) minimum on-site parking requirements in the area, the CEIC plans to raise the price of parking permits to rates rarely seen in the United States.

According to this notice sent to residents and businesses affected, the price of area parking permits in the zones N

ndustrial Portland Oregon
Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/71380981@N06/

and G will double on May 1st, going from $70 a year to $140.  At the same time, the district will begin restricting access to permits by way of attrition.

But the move towards market rate prices won’t stop there.  In May of 2017, permits will be renewed for $210 per year and the in 2018 a permit renewal in these zones will cost a respectable $300 per year.

While still far cheaper than the cost many apartment dwellers would be expected to pay for on-site structured parking, $25 a month is much closer to what we would expect a market rate for on-street parking than the $5 a month charged, currently, for a “hunting license” in Northwest Portland.

Indeed, with the prospects for minimum parking requirements in Northwest Portland looking not-so-good, Rick Michaelson and the Northwest Parking District Stakeholder Advisory Committee would do well to follow the CEID’s lead and set a schedule for increasing permit rates.

This is a major step in the right direction for permit pricing, hopefully the CEIC decision will embolden PBOT staffers and city council to pursue similar rates for the new residential permit programs which may come before council this spring.

 

Comments on Portland’s Transportation System Plan

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It’s a bit of late notice, but the Planning and Sustainability Commission will hold a hearing today on Stage 2 of the Transportation System Plan.  The plan, which you can read about here is long and covers a lot of topics.  I’ve scanned the document for parking references and made some comments on those parts of the plan.

There is an opportunity tonight to testify in person:

1900 SW 4th Avenue, Room 2500, Portland, OR Tuesday, March 8, 2016; 12:30 –
5:00 PM* Tuesday, March 22, 2016; 5:00 – 9:00 PM*

You can also modify the following testimony and Email: psc@portlandoregon.gov with subject line “TSP Testimony” this afternoon.

A google document is available here for easier editing.

Re: Comment on Transportation System Plan, Stage 2

Chair Schultz and Commissioners:

Please accept the following testimony for Task 5 of the Transportation System Plan (TSP).  This testimony concerns parking related sections of the TSP.

Section 14: Transportation and Parking Demand Management  

The city should incentivize car-share participation as part of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs. Such benefits might, somewhat counterintuitively, be provided to car owners and parking permit holders in an effort to increase the supply of peer-to-peer carshare participation (with services such as GetAround and Turo).

One way to do this would be to partner with peer-to-peer systems and provide priority access to permits, or discounted permit prices, for car owners who make their vehicles available for neighbors for at least a certain percentage (say 50%) of the day.  

Private housing developments should, similarly, offer discounted or free on-site parking (when available) to tenants who, likewise, regularly offer their vehicles for rental.

Integrating TDM and parking requirements is an important mitigation of the harms caused by our minimum on-site parking requirements.  Developers should be allowed to reduce their parking requirement by providing progressively more intensive TDM benefits.  

Centers & Corridors Parking and Transportation Demand Management

The Centers + Corridors Stakeholder Advisory Committee wanted the price of permits to be above cost recovery to make the permit programs more effective.  TDM was one acceptable use of additional revenue, however there was also a strong desire for such revenue to be spent as locally as possible.   Spending revenue generated on permits sold in a residential permit zone on TDM for residents outside of the zone could be politically contentious and appear as more of a tax than a management tool.   TDM paid for with revenue from parking permits should be focused on residents in  the permit zones, for example by discounting transit passes for households with no registered vehicles or purchased permits.  TDM in commercially zoned apartments should be paid for by the property manager or owner.

Section 15: Parking Code Amendment—Commercial Parking in Mixed Use Zones

Mixed Use Zones Project

Parking requirements for residential developments proximate to frequent transit should be removed in anticipation of the Centers + Corridors recommended permit program availability.  These requirements have had a detrimental effect on the production of new housing stock, decrease the affordability of the housing that is created, and contribute to a fractured streetscape with cars driving across our sidewalks..  Furthermore, trends in technology (TNCs and self-parking cars) and vehicle ownership and usage point to a future where we are likely to have an oversupply of parking.

Maximum parking entitlements for residential developments along corridors are encouraged and should be lower than 1.35 stalls per unit, a suggested amount would be the .7 stalls per unit regularly requested by neighbors.

Parking buy-down opportunities for developers should be expanded (assuming minimum requirements stay in place) .  Developers should be able to buy down their entire requirement, rather than a maximum of 50%.  The recently passed inclusionary zoning bill in Salem allows for a buy down of all affordable units in a development, there is no reason mandatory parking should be given a higher priority than mandatory affordable housing for people.

More flexibility in siting any required parking should be allowed.  Shared parking among developments and off-site parking should be encouraged.  Ideally, parking requirements should be eliminated in favor of on-street parking management, in which case there is no need to regulate shared and off-site parking other than enacting a maximum entitlement.

Portland Planning Commission Declines To Recommend New Parking Requirements

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Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission, on March 8, heard staff recommendations to impose mandatory minimum parking requirements in densely populated NW Portland.

Northwest Portland, because it is in a plan district, was left out zoning changes passed in 2013 which required parking in new multi-family developments with more than 30 housing units.  Neighbors argued that the region was short 2000 parking spaces already and that new developments proposed would exacerbate the problem further in the future.

Housing affordability advocates, transportation activists, and Portland Shoupistas countered that minimum requirements were a step in the wrong direction during a housing crisis.  Portland Shoupistas pointed out that there are many parking management strategies available to the district, such as limiting the number of permits and charging market rates, that would lead to right-sized parking being built at the developer’s discretion.

Commissioners agreed with concerns about the effect of minimum requirements on housing affordability and cited lack of any data or studies on the impact of the 2013 requirements as a reason to proceed with caution.Northwest Portland Parking

Commissioner Chris Smith moved to recommend only the shared parking provisions of the staff proposal, which would allow for more flexible use of off street parking.  The commission also recommended that the process to gain approval for shared parking be streamlined.

The recommendations will be heard at City Council where it is likely some NW residents will attempt to convince city commissioners to impose requirements contrary to the recommendation of the PSC.  Such an outcome, however, is far less likely now due, in part, to the work of Portland Shoupistas and our allies.

Minimum Parking Requirements Can Neutralize Inclusionary Zoning

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A long awaited re-legalization of mandatory inclusionary zoning looks likely to make it to Governor Kate Brown’s desk this Spring, opening up the possibility that Portland could see some council actions by late 2016 to deal with the housing crisis. But before we see any laws passed that require housing for lower-income Portlanders, council could require more mandatory housing for cars in parts of the city.

Comparing the inclusionary zoning possibilities to the mandatory parking realities is eye-opening:

Housing People vs. Housing Cars

SB 1533Minimum Parking Requirements
Up to 20% of units must be affordable to 80% median income household.Parking must be provided to no less than 20% of units and can be required for 33% of units in large developments.
Developers can avoid building any affordable units if they pay an in-lieu fee"Developers can reduce requirement by no more than 50% through various measures.
City must provide financial incentive to developers who build "mandatory" affordable units.Cost of parking space construction, maintenance, and opportunity is passed onto tenants.
Applies to new construction containing 20 or more units.Applies to new construction containing more than 30 units, with two additional tiers which trigger additional parking requirements.
Could lower rent on average 2 bedroom apartment by $400.A structured parking space can easily add $200 to monthly rent. Underground parking costs much more.

Portland is facing a housing crisis and applying the existing minimum parking requirements to more areas of the city will lead to higher rents in new apartments and will likely lead to less housing being built.

How many fewer units will we see built in Northwest Portland?  How much higher will rents be in these apartments?  To

Graphic showing that 1.5 parking spaces takes up 488 sq/ft where a 2 bedroom apartment is 900 sq/ft.
Courtesy of http://graphingparking.com/

our knowledge the city has not performed any studies on the affect of 2013’s zoning changes to require more parking.

Minimum parking requirements work at cross purposes to affordable housing policies.  City Council and the Bureau of Development Services should work to reduce or remove minimum parking requirements rather than impose new ones.  Managing our on-street parking supply with improved residential permit programs can ensure the right amount of parking is built by developers and not a space more.

On March 8, 2016 the Planning and Sustainability Commission will hear this proposal.  Portland Shoupistas encourages testimony, both written and in person, opposing the imposition of new parking requirements.  NWPD should be fast-tracking more modern and effective parking management, such as market rate permit prices, limiting permit supply, and longer meter hours, to deal with parking congestion.

The public is invited to provide testimony on this proposal in person at the public hearing in front of the Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC).

Planning and Sustainability Commission Public Hearing
Northwest Parking Update Project
March 8, 2016 at 12:30 pm.
1900 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 2500A (second floor)
Please call 503-823-7700 or check the PSC calendar (http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/35452) for the scheduled time.

Testimony may also be submitted before the hearing in writing via the following:

By U.S. Mail:
Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission
1900 SW 4th Avenue Suite 7100
Portland, OR 97201
Attn: NW District Parking Update

By email: psc@portlandoregon.gov