Bill 2- Rightsizing Parking Regulations

Photo courtesy of Civil Beat.

This legislation is intended to make housing more affordable and incentive multi-modal transportation by making parking requirements more flexible. This will help make streets safer, less congested, and more pleasant for walking and prioritize sustainable transportation options -- like walking, biking, and taking TheBus -- while giving more much-needed housing options to local families. Read Bill 2 here.

——-SAMPLE TESTIMONY FOR NEXT HEARING——

Aloha Chair Menor and members of the committee,

I am reaching out in strong support of Bill 2 (2020) Relating to Off-street Parking and Loading. Passing Bill 2 is a critical step in refocusing development to prioritize people, lower housing costs, and reduce the harmful climate impacts of our current transportation system. It will create more flexibility and options for Honolulu residents and developers, and will help Honolulu reach our climate resilience goals, reorient our community around people, and reduce the costs of development and the costs of housing.

Mahalo,

[Sign your full name, your city]

More info. on why this matters:

Makes homeownership more attainable. Parking is expensive to provide. A structured parking space can cost up to $50,000 to build on Oʻahu, and in San Francisco parking increased housing prices 12-13% and put mortgages out of reach for an additional 20-24% of lower income households.(1) Unbundled parking, combined with no parking minimums, allows developers to build only what is needed and residents to only pay for parking they will use.

Provides more equity and choice in our parking system. Traditionally the cost of parking is paid by all tenants and bundled into in their rent or mortgage payment even if they don’t have a car. Currently, 43.7% of Oʻahu households have zero or one car, and 59.3% of rental household have zero or one car, but they are often overpaying for parking they don’t use.(2) Unbundling allows people to choose how much parking they want to pay for, and helps car-free households save money.

Allows developers and the market to govern development and reduce oversupply. Much of the nation’s parking inventory goes unused. In Seattle, about one-third of multi-family parking inventory sit unoccupied (3) and on Oʻahu a study showed that 25-30% of off-street parking in Waikīki was unoccupied.(4)  Unbundling allows developers to be market driven about parking they provide and building owners to better manage parking over time.

It is one of the most effective ways to support sustainable transportation and fight climate change. Studies have found that unbundling parking reduces automobile ownership by 5-15%.(5) Unbundling can drive alternative travel modes, and bolster taxpayer investments in bus, rail, pedestrian and bike infrastructure. 

Reduces the pressure to build more parking in neighborhoods. Unbundling results in more efficient use of fewer spots and reducing the overall demand for spaces by tenants. Where there is a need for parking in the adjacent neighborhood, any unused spaces (day or night) can be rented to people outside the building thereby contributing to a developer’s bottom line and limited on-street parking. 

Unbundled parking is already a best practice on Oʻahu that should be scaled through market-based policies. NO minimum requirements, NO parking maximums; and NO “free” parking included in the unit price.

1. Smart Growth America, Technical Memorandum: Best Practices (2019)
2. The U.S Census: Car Ownership Data
3. Schmidt, Angie (2018). “Landlords in Seattle can’t force renters to pay for parking anymore.” Streetsblog.
4. See Walker Parking Consultants. 2015. Waikīkī Parking Meter Study and Pricing Plan. City and County of Honolulu  
5. Littman (2006), retrieved from MTC’s Parking Policy Project: Parking Policies and Best Practices (2015)