MEDIA CONTACT: Catie Gould, Sightline Institute, catie@sightline.org
Full Article: Washington Bill Would Cap Excessive Parking Mandates Around the State
SEATTLE, WA – Washington state Senator Jessica Bateman introduced the Parking Reform and Modernization Act, SB 5184, set for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Housing on Friday, Jan. 24.
The bill would cap how many parking spots local governments can mandate for new housing and commercial buildings and give full parking flexibility to certain building types that need it the most.
One-size-fits-all parking requirements exacerbate the housing shortage in Washington and write sprawl into city law, according to research from regional think tank Sightline Institute, which analyzed parking requirements across Washington’s largest cities and counties.
SB 5184 would create consistent statewide standards that would unlock more opportunities for homes and small businesses alike. The new legislation:
- Caps excessive minimum parking mandates for new residential buildings. To set a statewide standard for limiting the damage done to housing by excessive parking, SB 5184 would prevent cities from requiring more than 1 parking space per home. Counties and non-code cities would be capped at 0.5 parking spaces per home.
- Caps commercial mandates to provide relief for businesses. Parking mandates are a tax on businesses that limit opportunities for new establishments, conversions of historic buildings, and other uses. At 1 parking space per 1,000 square feet, the legislation would ensure that governments can’t require parking that amounts to more than a third of the floorspace of any commercial property.
- Provides full parking flexibility for building types that need it the most. SB 5184 exempts select building uses from mandates, including buildings undergoing a change of use (like from an office to a coffeeshop), senior housing, facilities that serve alcohol, and commercial spaces in mixed-use buildings.
The bill does not place any restrictions on how much parking people can build. When given full flexibility, developers frequently still choose to build parking, but in different amounts than zoning codes prescribe.
Sightline’s 2024 Washington Parking Report found that:
- Parking is overbuilt for most residences: One in four homeowner households in Washington have one or no cars, but 91 percent of jurisdictions require two or more off-street parking spaces for every single-detached home.
- Each parking space can add $200 per month in rent, whether tenants need that parking space or not.
- Homes go unbuilt across Washington because of parking mandates, especially on small lots.
- Parking lots are often forced to be as large or larger than the buildings they serve.
- Parking mandates can block critical services like daycares.
Some Washington jurisdictions have already begun eliminating parking mandates, returning decisions about parking needs to individual property owners.
Catie Gould, senior transportation researcher for Sightline Institute, is available to comment on her parking research and on details of SB 5184.
“Arbitrary parking mandates have been quietly shaping Washington’s towns and cities for decades,” says Gould. “This bill is an opportunity to correct the course—to allow builders, homeowners, and businesses decide the amount of parking that is right for them. Ultimately that will allow communities to build more of what they need, like affordable housing or daycares, and less asphalt that they don’t.”
More on SB 5184: Washington Bill Would Cap Excessive Parking Mandates Around the State
Read the statewide report: The State of Parking Mandates in Washington
Related:
- Washington’s most parking-burdened towns and cities | A new Sightline report details the arcane, arbitrary, and pernicious rules blocking homes and businesses across the state.
- Bellingham’s parking reform pilot pays off | A new building project has more than double the number of homes and less parking than old code would have allowed. The rest of the city might follow suit.
- Unlock middle housing with parking reform | As long as parking is required, smaller, lower-cost homes are still illegal.
- Parking Mandates Are Keeping Kids Out of Daycare | But cities can ditch these arbitrary rules and help families out of the daycare desert.
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Catie Gould is a senior transportation researcher for Sightline Institute, specializing in parking policy. Find her latest research here, and follow her on Bluesky or X.
Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of housing, democracy, energy, and forests policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.
