When It Comes to Parking Reform, Spokane Is Leading the Pack

(Source: Unsplash/Timothy Eberly.)

Washington’s coastal cities tend to receive the lion’s share of the spotlight, but Spokane, a city of almost 800,000 on the state’s eastern front, is leading the charge when it comes to addressing land use and affordability. On July 17, 2023, Spokane City Council adopted an interim ordinance that makes off-street parking optional for all housing that’s within half a mile of a transit stop. By July 2024, the council will revisit the ordinance and move toward permanent parking reforms.

Councilmember Zack Zappone, one of the proposal’s co-sponsors, hopes the move will spark the infill development needed to house the city’s projected population, and that the reduced construction costs will keep Spokane affordable. "A study has shown the cost of development can increase by up to 15% that is then passed on to owners and renters," Zappone said during a June press conference. "That can be about $20,000–45,000 per unit or per house."

“A parking spot can never generate the amount of money it costs to build,” explained Matt Edlen of Edlen & Co., a Spokane developer. Eliminating minimums lets developers decide how much to spend on parking, and conversely gives options to prospective renters and homeowners who either don’t have a car or don’t care for a parking spot.

The move did not come with a provisional parking maximum requirement, so the discretion is left to developers and demand. Edlen doesn’t necessarily expect the appetite for parking to lessen, noting that, even in his own projects, the majority of renters and homeowners prefer to have a dedicated place to park. Nevertheless, the focus on transit proximity in the ordinance suggests Spokane is willing to entertain other preferences. 

"Transit is definitely a key partner for all of development," Zappone told The Inlander. "We are fortunate to have a transit agency that is focusing on transit-oriented development and a city that is aligning with that."

In fact, writing for The Urbanist, Spokane resident Anthony Gill notes that his hometown’s reforms are more ambitious than even those of Seattle, wherein off-street parking is only exempt within a quarter of a mile of “frequent transit service.” To compare, he offered graphics demonstrating how comprehensive Spokane’s reforms are, relative to Seattle’s:

Maps from The Urbanist show the area covered by Spokane’s new ordinance (left) and the area that would be covered if Spokane instead adopted Seattle’s ordinance (right). (Source: Spokane Rising/Anthony Gill.)

Spokane is one of the latest cities in North America to challenge decades-old parking requirements that have wasted productive land on automobile storage. Parking reform is snowballing. You can learn more about why by checking out our priority campaign, End Parking Mandates and Subsidies.

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