Study finds that the removal of parking requirements in specific zones across NYC has already resulted in a significant increase in affordable housing development in transit-rich neighborhoods
Amending zoning code would follow other cities, including Boston, which last year repealed parking requirements citywide for affordable housing developments
New York, NY – Amid an ongoing affordable housing crisis and as Mayor Adams continues to champion his reformative ‘City of Yes’ zoning initiatives, a new Regional Plan Association (RPA) report analyzes how reducing New York City’s minimum parking requirements for new housing developments can create more space for new housing units and hasten much-needed development.
The study, entitled Parking Policy Is Housing Policy: How Reduction of Parking Requirements Stimulates Affordable Housing Production, found that where the city’s minimum parking requirements have already been abolished, a much greater number of affordable units were built annually compared to geographies where the minimums remained.
With more than half (54%) of New York City households do not own a car and 46% of city residents believe that affordable housing is the most important issue in addressing inequality, reducing parking minimums will better serve the needs of the city’s residents by helping to grow housing opportunities, bring down costs and encourage more transit-oriented development.
“New York and the Tri-state region are at a crossroads right now when it comes to housing and affordability,” said Moses Gates, RPA’s Vice President for Housing and Neighborhood Planning. “With a desperate need for more affordable housing and less than half of New York City residents owning a car, the current zoning provisions are archaic and not meeting the needs of New Yorkers today. Reducing these outdated parking minimums is key to combating the affordability crisis and growing the city’s housing stock in a meaningful, equitable way.”
There have been specific, limited examples throughout the City where parking minimums have already been reduced, which RPA studied as part of its research. A recent initiative adopted in March 2016 – the Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) amendment to the NYC Zoning Resolution – waived parking minimum requirements for affordable and senior housing within certain districts found to be rich with transit options dubbed the “Transit Zone,” among other things. RPA’s study of the ZQA found:
Removing Parking Requirements Facilitated Affordable Housing Development: Since ZQA’s passage at the end of Q1 of 2016 until the onset of the pandemic, the annual number of affordable units introduced to the Transit Zone housing market has shot up – increasing by more than 36%.
The ZQA Unlocked Potential for More As-of-Right, Smaller Affordable Developments: New construction in the Transit Zone post-ZQA is smaller on average – falling from an average of 97 total units to 50 units – thus enabling smaller developers, often M/WBE firms or nonprofit housing providers, to have access to more development opportunities.
A Significant Increase In New Affordable Housing Construction Within the Transit Zone After Parking Requirements Were Waived: The share of newly constructed affordable units in the Transit Zone rose significantly from 63% pre-ZQA in 2015 to 81% post-ZQA in 2017.
Other cities in the Northeastern United States have taken bold actions in repealing parking requirements for new buildings. Last December, Boston repealed parking requirements citywide for affordable housing developments and the City of Cambridge followed suit with the removal of such requirements for all new buildings – not limited to just residential or affordable housing developments.
RPA recommends the following actions:
Expand the boundaries of the transit zone, and incorporate additional transit-rich areas that were initially excluded during the ZQA negotiations in 2016. A new transit zone should also include areas served by Select Bus Service and places where the MTA is redesigning and improving bus networks for more frequent, dependable service.
Expand the types of developments that are exempt from parking requirements, including extending the waivers to all market-rate residential development via the yet-to-be-defined City of Yes text amendments.
Change zoning incentives that encourage more affordable or senior housing to ensure the amount of affordable housing does not fall short of goals. This would be especially helpful in a scenario where market-rate housing is exempted from parking requirements.
“Eliminating parking minimums would spur denser development, encourage transit use, and lower housing construction costs” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “By establishing the value of critical land use reforms, RPA has mapped out an important path for adding much-needed affordable housing in the city’s transit-rich neighborhoods.”
“When we put people before parking, we help put roofs over the heads of New York families, we bring down the rent, and we make our city greener and safer,” said Daniel R. Garodnick, Chair of the City Planning Commission and the Director of the Department of City Planning “We have a lot of work to do, and I want to thank RPA for their incredible advocacy on this front and on so many leading issues of our day,”
