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Image courtesy city of Boston
Large developments in Boston will qualify for lower parking requirements under new regulations announced by acting Mayor Kim Janey.
The new system will reduce development costs that can make it harder to finance projects including affordable housing, city officials said Wednesday.
The new system for projects over 50,000 square feet gives developers various options to reduce on-site parking requirements, such as transit passes. It assigns every property a mobility score based upon factors such as walkability and access to public transit, employment centers and grocery stores. The score is used to determine the maximum parking ratio on a parcel.
“These transportation management standards will help our city expand in the right way, by making sure building does not come at the expense of green space and encouraging use of public transit,” Janey said in a statement.
For residential developments, the lowest parking requirements are located in downtown, Bay Back and parts of the North End. The maximum parking ratio in those areas will be 0.35 spaces per unit for apartments and 0.5 spaces per unit for condos. Maximum ratios range up to 1.25 for condos in parts of West Roxbury and Hyde Park.
A point system calculated by a downloadable spreadsheet gives developers a variety of ways to reduce required parking and encourage use of public transit, from subsidized MBTA passes to parking pricing.
The new regulations were announced as city councilors continue to review potential changes to parking requirements for developments that are fully dedicated to affordable housing.
In May, councilors Kenzie Bok and Matt O’Malley filed the zoning amendment eliminating minimum parking requirements for such projects, arguing that insufficient parking is often used as an argument by opponents challenging projects’ approval. The legislation has since been broadened to encompass projects including at least 60 percent affordable units.
