Zoning reform

What Are Parking Minimums? Parking Reform and What It Changes for a Site

What minimum parking requirements are, how cities and states are reducing or removing them, which laws apply where, and what parking reform changes for site yield, small lots, and building conversions.

By Nathan Robinson, Founder, Plotzy Published 6 min read

Parking minimums are zoning rules that require a set number of off-street parking spaces for each home, or for each increment of commercial floor area, in a new building. Parking reform reduces or removes those requirements, which leaves the amount of parking to the developer, the lender, and the market. Removing a minimum does not ban parking. It removes the mandate.

How parking minimums work

A zoning code sets a ratio for each use: so many spaces per dwelling unit, per bedroom, or per 1,000 square feet of retail. The project must provide at least that many spaces to get a permit. New York City, for example, required parking for 50 percent of the units in a new building in an R6 district before its 2024 reform, according to the city's parking guide.

Because every space takes land or structure, the ratio often decides how many units fit on a site before density or height limits do.

How parking reform works

Reforms take three main forms.

Full repeal. The city deletes minimum parking requirements from its code. Austin's City Council adopted Ordinance No. 20231102-028 at its November 2, 2023 meeting, eliminating minimum parking space requirements in its land development code, except for accessible spaces. See our Austin zoning guide.

Repeal near transit. The minimum goes away within a set distance of transit.

  • California's AB 2097, signed September 22, 2022, bars public agencies from imposing minimum parking on residential, commercial, or other development within one-half mile of a major transit stop.
  • Colorado's HB24-1304 bars local governments in metropolitan planning areas from enforcing minimums for multifamily and certain mixed-use and adaptive reuse projects within a quarter mile of certain transit stops, starting June 30, 2025.
  • New York City's City of Yes uses three tiers: no parking mandates for new housing in the Inner Transit Zone, reduced mandates in the Outer Transit Zone, and mandates largely unchanged beyond it.

Caps on what a city may require. The state leaves parking rules in place but limits the ratio.

  • Washington's SB 5184, effective July 27, 2025, bars covered cities and counties from requiring more than 0.5 spaces per multifamily unit, one space per single-family home, or two spaces per 1,000 square feet of commercial space. It bars any minimum for residences under 1,200 square feet, commercial spaces under 3,000 square feet, affordable housing, senior housing, child care facilities, and buildings changing from nonresidential to residential use. Cities of 30,000 or fewer people are exempt, and larger jurisdictions have 18 months to three years from the effective date to implement it.
  • Texas SB 840 bars covered cities from requiring more than one space per unit, or a multilevel parking structure, for multifamily and mixed-use residential projects in commercial zones.
  • Florida's Live Local Act requires a 15 percent parking reduction on request for qualifying projects near transit or with available parking within 600 feet, and removes parking requirements for qualifying mixed-use projects in transit-oriented development areas.

What this changes for a site

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Yield. Where the parking ratio was the binding limit, removing or cutting it raises the number of units a site can carry under the same density and height rules.

Small and irregular lots. Lots too narrow or shallow for a compliant parking layout become usable. This matters most for infill parcels and for missing middle housing on house lots.

Conversions and changes of use. Under many codes, an older building with little parking could not change use without adding spaces it had no room for. Washington's law bars minimums for changes from nonresidential to residential use. Texas SB 840 bars cities from requiring additional parking when a qualifying office, retail, or warehouse building is converted to housing.

Which parcels are affected. Read how the rule is drawn:

  • Citywide repeal covers every parcel, subject to any carve-outs in the ordinance.
  • Transit-based rules depend on measured distance to a qualifying stop, and the definition of a qualifying stop is in the statute.
  • State caps apply only in cities above the population threshold.

What limits remain.

  • Accessible parking. AB 2097 keeps requirements for spaces accessible to people with disabilities and for electric vehicle charging spaces. Washington's law does not apply to accessible spaces required under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Local exceptions. Under AB 2097, a city can still impose parking if it makes written findings within 30 days that going without would have a substantially negative impact. That exception is not available against certain housing projects, including those with fewer than 20 units.
  • Existing parking. New York's guide notes that removing existing parking still takes a discretionary approval.
  • The market. Lenders, tenants, and buyers may still expect parking. Reform changes what the city requires, not what a project needs to lease or sell.

How to check a specific parcel

  1. Read the parking table in the current local code for your use and district.
  2. Check for a state law or citywide amendment that removes or caps the requirement, and whether the city is above the population threshold.
  3. For transit-based rules, confirm the parcel's distance to a stop that meets the statutory definition. Ask planning staff which stops they treat as qualifying.
  4. Check what remains: accessible spaces and any findings-based exception the city could use.

In Plotzy, filter parcels by zoning designation and lot size to find sites that only work without a large parking field, then ask Zoning AI "What is the minimum off-street parking for multifamily in this district?" for an answer with the code section cited.

Frequently asked questions

What are parking minimums?

They are zoning requirements that a new building or a new use provide at least a set number of off-street parking spaces, calculated per unit, per bedroom, or per square foot of floor area.

Does removing parking minimums mean no parking?

No. It means the city no longer requires a set number. New York City's guide to its reform states that zoning still allows parking in new buildings and that no new parking maximums were added.

Which cities and states have removed parking minimums?

Austin removed minimums citywide. California removed them within half a mile of major transit stops through AB 2097. New York City removed them for new housing in its Inner Transit Zone. Colorado, Washington, Texas, and Florida limit what cities can require for certain projects.

Do parking reforms apply to commercial buildings?

Some do. California's AB 2097 covers residential, commercial, and other development near transit. Washington's law caps commercial parking at two spaces per 1,000 square feet. The Texas and Florida provisions apply only to the housing projects those laws cover.

Sources

The bills, statutes, court decisions, and agency documents cited on this page were checked on October 4, 2026. These laws have been amended and litigated since they passed, so confirm the current text and status before relying on any detail. This page is general information, not legal advice.

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