Here’s a biggie.

For years now, when discussing various controversial parking issues – from 315 West Ponce to Farm Burger – we keep hearing from residents who say Decatur needs to fix its parking ordinance.  Parking variances can be a regular agenda item for the Zoning Board of Appeals agenda, as new developments and businesses fail to meet the 1 parking spot per 100 square feet (for restaurants) and 400 square feet (for office space).

The 2010 Strategic Plan suggests the same thing. Task 14H: UPDATE PARKING STANDARDS TO ALLOW INNOVATIVE PARKING STRATEGIES SUCH AS SHARED PARKING.

Currently, shared parking arrangements with neighboring properties often need approval from the ZBA, due in part to the limited nature of the shared parking rule that requires complementary use and a location within 300 feet.

Task #4 on the Zoning Ordinance Update Task Force list is updating the parking ordinance to allow more flexibility in the definition of “shared parking”, as well as looking at lowering the overall requirements for parking inside the city limits.

According to ZOUTF’s  presentation from March, parking studies in 2009 and 2011 show that “the downtown area has opportunities for shared parking among existing sites and that parking requirements could be reduced for new developments.”

So, how is ZOUTF currently looking to “update” the parking ordinance?  Here are the ideas currently being floated…

• Allowing shared parking for different land uses on the same site.
• Increasing the distance allowed for shared parking between sites.
• Modifying minimum and maximum parking requirements based on the land uses that will share parking.
• Allowing owners to pay into a parking bank in lieu of providing parking onsite.
• Allowing on-street parking to count towards parking requirements.

Feedback, questions, comments should be shared with Decatur’s Planning Director Amanda Thompson at amanda.thompson@decaturga.com.