This brief is adapted from notes taken by Documenters Holly Melling and Afua Nyela Waiss, who covered the July Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee. Read more about what happened.
Councilor Jesse Brown proposed to eliminate parking minimums at the July City-County Council Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee meeting.
A parking minimum is a city requirement for new homes and businesses. The rule guides developers on the number of parking spaces they need.
Megan Vukusich, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development, explained why the city requires parking minimums. Vukusich said the rule keeps parking demand from spilling into nearby neighborhoods and ensures a development can handle its own parking needs.
Why does it matter?
According to the Parking Reform Network, a parking policy advocacy group, downtown Indianapolis is 27% parking lots.
Cities like Toledo, Ohio, Lexington, Kentucky, and even South Bend have removed parking minimum requirements.
Councilor Brown said parking lots provide the least amount of tax revenue and are bad for the stormwater system.
“It causes all sorts of problems,” Brown said.
What now?
Councilors don’t want to stop parking minimums entirely. They want to make it optional instead of a requirement.
Vukusich said the DMD is completing an eight-month parking study to look at how much parking currently exists and how much the city will need in the future. She said the goal is a data-driven foundation for any policy changes.
The committee tabled the proposal until its Nov. 9 meeting.
What’s next?
The next Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St.
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