Members of the Dallas City Council are debating the future of parking requirements in the city.
The City’s current parking regulations were adopted in 1965. Some council members are arguing that the regulations are outdated and should be done away with entirely. Others said they think the regulations should be updated but do not agree with a blanket elimination.
Council Member Chad West (District 1) has been leading the charge to reduce parking regulations, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. In August, he published a memo directing City Manager T.C. Broadnax to look into the “elimination of minimum parking requirements throughout the City.”
The memo was also signed by Council Members Adam Bazaldua (District 7), Gay Donnell Willis (District 13), Jaime Resendez (District 5), and Jaynie Schultz (District 11). The regulations were discussed with City staff during a City Council briefing last week. Much of the discussion revolved around parking requirements for apartment complexes.
Under the City’s current regulations, apartment complex developers must build one parking spot per bedroom in the complex.
West argued that in District 1, developers are forced to install more parking spaces than tenants need. He offered a hypothetical example of a two-bedroom apartment where a parent occupies one bedroom while a child occupies the second. The apartment complex would need two parking spaces. However, only one parking space would be used.
West previously wrote an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News further outlining his position on this issue.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) pushed back on a blanket elimination of the requirements, calling it a “one-size-fits-all” approach to regulations across the city.
She said having multiple adults living together in a one-bedroom apartment was far more common in her district.
“What we have are very large apartment complexes that do have the one bedroom … but unlike the example of a two-bedroom apartment with a single mom, it’s much more likely to be a couple in a one bedroom with two cars, sometimes even more, with only one spot designated to them,” Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn argued that such situations crowd the streets with on-street parking, resulting in slower traffic on narrower roads. She said her constituents in District 12 were “upset” about on-street parking “because there’s not sufficient parking at the apartment complexes.”
Furthermore, Mendelsohn suggested the over-parked streets could create problems for law enforcement and Dallas Fire-Rescue.
“I don’t know if its necessarily a challenge for policing, although obviously less congested parking would make it easier,” said Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia when questioned. “I think it definitely is a problem for our residents.”
Council Member Paul Ridley agreed that a “one-size-fits-all” approach was inappropriate for Dallas.
“It is a very diverse city in the sense of types of development density, amount of parking, and the usages of the land that results in different parking demands,” he said. “And it’s not the city it was in 1965 when we didn’t have mass transit like we do today.”
“This needs to be a very particularized, thoughtful study of the requirements in different parts of the city, urban versus suburban or whatever that divide is so that it can provide appropriate solutions for all areas and types of development,” Ridley said.
No decisions were made, and no vote was taken during last week’s briefing.
The City Council will meet on Wednesday to consider passing a resolution declaring September 15 “Park(ing) Day.” Council members will also consider requesting Broadnax to begin planning and implementing actions to reduce parking in Dallas.
