Chapter 3.1
Development Patterns and Infill

• ALL
• Remove Code Barriers
• Create Incentives
• Fill Regulatory Gaps

Limit Garage Walls Facing Street

INTRODUCTION

The success of a public space—whether it is active, vibrant, and commercially productive depends largely on the quality of its perimeter.[1] The best perimeters are active and engaging; they provide interesting places for people to shop, dine, and linger.[2] Few structures provide less interesting and engaging edges than parking garages. With their long, blank facades, sparse entrances, and inactive nature, parking garages create dull perimeters that are uninviting to pedestrians. Some developers have sought to remedy this by designing more attractive and interesting garages, like the $65 million parking structure in Miami Beach designed by a renowned architecture firm and used as an event space for weddings, yoga classes, and wine tastings.[3] But the reality is most parking garages stand as mundane eyesores that discourage pedestrian mobility.[4]

Local governments can promote the development of interesting, attractive, and pedestrian-friendly urban spaces by implementing ordinances that limit the amount of a parcel’s perimeter that can be occupied by a parking garage or parking lot. Typically, these ordinances require that active uses occupy a certain percentage of a building’s street-level façade or a parcel’s buildable lot line.[5] Active uses generally include retailers, restaurants, hotel lobbies, residences, cultural amenities, and recreational space.

There are two general strategies to ensure active uses occupy a parking garage’s exterior. First, local governments can require active uses on the ground floor, while allowing the parking structure to sit below grade or occupy the façade on upper levels. Alternatively, local governments can require parking garages and lots to be pushed back from the street altogether, with active uses lining the entire façade of the structure; this strategy generally pushes the parking to the center of the block.[6] Some local governments implement a mix of these two strategies. For instance, a local government may require the entire ground-floor of a building be occupied by active uses, while requiring a portion of the upper floors to be wrapped in uses such as housing, hotel rooms, or offices. Some ordinances require a certain depth of active uses; for example, the first 20 feet behind the buildable lot line must house active uses, while the remaining depth of the block may house structured parking.

Many local governments that implement such ordinances also require screening to cover the part of the parking garage visible from the street. The screens help hide parked cars, sloped floors, and internal lighting. A local government may exempt affordable housing from parking garage façade requirements, similar to an exemption for general parking requirements.[7] Additionally, some jurisdictions impose heightened parking façade restrictions in culturally active areas, like historic districts, transit routes, and nightlife areas.[8]

A more flexible approach to address the challenges that parking garage exteriors present is to allow parking garages to face the sidewalk but require the garage to be designed and built so the ground-level space can later be renovated into active uses.[9] This more permissive approach lends itself to areas where demand for commercial and retail space has not yet materialized but may in the future. Additionally, such flexible designs may become more desirable as ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft and the development of autonomous vehicles reduce the need for parking garages altogether.[10]

EFFECTS

Local governments can expect to see various benefits from limiting the amount of parking garage walls and parking lots that can face the street. First, such ordinances provide for more active, interesting, and inviting streets for pedestrians. Parking garages repel pedestrians with their cold, monotonous façades.[11] Wrapping them with active uses such as coffee shops, storefronts, and restaurants, provides pedestrians with a pleasant and interesting place to walk, shop, and linger.[12] Second, the active uses wrapped around a parking garage can bring more people to an area, helping both fill the garage and increase pedestrian traffic.[13] Additionally, hiding parking garages can serve a psychological purpose. Walking past enormous parking structures reminds pedestrians that cars dominate the area. Conversely, a sidewalk lined with apartment stoops, cafes, and shops demonstrates that the urban environment belongs to pedestrians and the community. Ordinances that require parking garages to be built so they can later be converted to active uses provide municipalities with the flexibility to adapt to a future in which ride-sharing services and autonomous vehicles have reduced the demand for parking.[14]

EXAMPLES

Minneapolis, MN

Like many cities, Minneapolis faced a parking dilemma: How does the City cater to the need for parking in its downtown core without allowing bland, imposing parking garages to mar the cityscape?[15] In 2006, the Minneapolis looked for a solution underground; the City passed an ordinance requiring parking garages in the downtown district to be built below grade, unless the garage doubled as a transit facility.[16] A decade later, the City acknowledged the ordinance had several shortcomings and embarked to update its parking garage zoning provisions again, this time seeking to (1) address perceived parking shortages in certain downtown districts and (2) bring the zoning ordinance in conformity with the City’s master plan, which called for parking garages to be below grade or “embedded within mixed-use development projects that feature active uses on all street frontages.”[17]

Adopted in 2017, Minneapolis’ zoning amendments require parking garages to be largely shielded from public view by placing them behind active uses, such as retail space or residential units. In the City’s downtown district, the ordinance requires the ground floor of accessory and principal parking garages to have commercial, residential, office, or hotel uses located between the parking garage and any public sidewalk, except for driveways for access to the garage.[18] In districts outside downtown, buildings must be designed to accommodate active uses on the ground floor so that no more than 30 percent of the frontage facing a public street, sidewalk or pathway is occupied by a parking, loading, storage, or equipment rooms.[19] This frontage restriction applies to both parking garages and parking lots.

Citywide, several other restrictions on parking garages apply. The ordinance seeks to prevent parking garages from dominating any development by prohibiting the percentage of above-grade floor area used for parking from exceeding the gross floor area of all other uses on the same lot.[20] Above the ground floor, parking garages can occupy no more than 30 percent of the public-facing frontage. Finally, the code requires garages to be screened so that vehicles, lighting, and sloping floors are hidden from public view, and so that the top level of multi-story parking garages is screened from above.

Like other cities, Minneapolis places heightened restrictions on parking facades in culturally significant areas. Specifically, the City’s code requires 18 feet of commercial, residential, office, or hotel space between any parking garage and Nicollet Mall, the pedestrian plaza in the heart of the City’s downtown.[21]

To view the provision, see Minneapolis, MN, Code § 549.410. See also Minneapolis, MN, Code § 530.120; Minneapolis, MN, Code § 551.930(c).

Denver, CO

In regulating parking garage façades, Denver takes a more permissive approach with an eye toward future redevelopment. In the City’s denser and more urban districts, including the Downtown Core, the Downtown Theater District, the Golden Triangle District, and the Arapahoe Square District, the zoning ordinance provides two options for parking garage designs: (1) they must have active uses along ground floor frontages; or (2) they must be designed so that active uses may occupy the ground floor frontages in the future.[22] Active uses are generally defined to include retail, banking, dining, personal services, hotel lobbies, entertainment and recreation businesses, parks, open spaces, and arts and cultural facilities, but not uses such as auto sales, gas stations, pawn shops, and adult businesses.[23] Designing garages so the ground floor may later be converted to active uses requires the developer to construct flat, rather than sloping, floors and consider ceiling heights, utility layouts, and structure openings.[24]

Along transit-oriented and culturally rich streets, Denver imposes more stringent parking garage façade regulations. Specifically, 65 percent of the public frontage of parking garages along light-rail lines and on certain shopping and dining streets must be occupied by active uses; this requirement cannot be satisfied with spaces designed to be converted to active uses later.[25]

To view the provision, see Denver, CO, Code § 8.6.1.4(C)(3) (2010).

Miami, FL

Miami addresses the siting of parking garages through a layered-design approach. The City’s zoning ordinance divides lots into three layers: The first layer spans from the front lot line to the building setback; the second layer includes the portion of the building that faces the public street; the third layer sits behind the second layer and is least visible from the street.[26] In specified urban zones, all parking lots, parking garages, drop-off zones, and loading areas must be located in the third layer, and must be hidden from the street by a Liner Building (a building with habitable space meant to face the public frontage) or a Streetscreen (a freestanding wall). [27] Parking may extend into the second layer—that is to the front of the buildable area—if the City Planning Director grants a waiver and if the parking is completely covered by a glass or art installation.[28] Even with a waiver, parking may occupy no more than 25 percent or 50 feet total of the primary frontage.

Miami’s zoning ordinance provides more lenient parking façade regulations for affordable housing.[29] Developments that provide affordable, attainable mixed-income, or workforce housing, may include parking that extends into the second layer discussed above, provided that the parking is screened to conceal it from the street.[30]

To view the provision, see Miami, FL, 21 Code § 5.5 (2018).

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

Seattle, WA Land Use Code § 23.49.019(B)(1) (Sept. 28, 2018) (prohibiting parking on street level unless separated from the street by other uses on Class 1 pedestrian streets and green streets; allowing parking on street level on Class II pedestrian streets provided that at least 30 percent of the street frontage of any parking area is separated from the street by other uses).

Miami-Dade County, FL, Code § 33-284.86(f)(6) (Sept. 7, 2018) (in the standard urban center district, requiring parking garages to be screened from the street by a building with a depth of at least 20 habitable feet).

Portland, OR, Code § 33.266.130 (Jan. 1, 1991) (in the Central City plan district, no more than 50 percent of a frontage of a street may be occupied by vehicle areas, which including parking, loading areas, and driveways. The stated purpose of the ordinance is to create an area inviting to pedestrians and transit users).