Dallas City Council Approves Sweeping Parking Reform in 14–1 Vote
This story was originally published, in slightly different form, on the writer’s LinkedIn. It is shared here with permission. Image provided by the writer.
Advocates celebrate parking reform in Dallas.
A most significant thing happened this Wednesday in Dallas. With a vote of 14-1, the Dallas City Council passed Parking Reform, updating our 60-year-old parking code.
I've said I wanted more, but there are some very big wins in this first step that I'm excited for:
Eliminating parking mandates downtown and within half a mile of light rail and streetcar stations
Eliminating parking mandates for offices and most retail
Eliminating parking mandates for residential uses, while maintaining one parking space per unit for developments over 200 units
Reducing parking mandates for bars and restaurants while removing mandates completely for establishments under 2,500 square feet
Eliminating parking mandates for designated historic buildings
But what does all this really mean? A real-life example: There is a stretch of buildings along MLK Boulevard that have sat vacant for years. A local restaurant wanted to open up in one of the buildings. Their restaurant is 3,000 square feet. Per our old code, they had to have 30 parking spots.
There are not 30 parking spots.
This meant they'd either have to tear down surrounding buildings to build a parking lot to accommodate this number (which was arbitrarily assigned in 1965 without data) or take all the parking from the other buildings along the street, meaning it would be nearly impossible to rent those out. It took months to figure out a solution that was not ideal but workable.
But after yesterday's vote, this restaurant is now only required to have three spots. (It doesn't mean they can't have more than three.) This means no buildings have to be torn down, no trees have to be ripped out, and other businesses can move in with dedicated parking.
This is huge.
There are so many people who have worked diligently on this for the past six years that it would be impossible to mention them all. But Chad West is the one who got the ball rolling and saw it through to the very end. Andreea Udrea and Michael Wade worked tirelessly to answer the thousands of questions and emails that were constantly sent their way. Tip Housewright worked on it through the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee before bringing a well-crafted version to the City Plan & Zoning Commission where Tony Shidid led the group through hours-long discussions on amendments. Then the Council made a few tweaks before ultimately passing it.
The moment I so loved last night after the 14-1 vote was when it officially passed, and the crowd of folks who had sat through six hours of debate started cheering. There were 55 speakers last night. 48 were for parking reform, six were against, and one was neutral. But these are just a handful of folks who have dug into parking reform through community meetings, book clubs, and panel discussions. Thank you to everyone who has spent hours thinking about parking, the world's least sexy topic.
The work, obviously, is not done. Change doesn't happen overnight, and time will tell how this all goes. But we certainly made a step in the right direction last night, and I'm excited for Dallas' future.
Krista Nightengale is the executive director of the Better Block Foundation, where she helps communities around the world reimagine public spaces through walkable, bikeable design. Krista has worked across media, civic advocacy, and urban innovation in Dallas and has collaborated with 75+ cities globally. A frequent writer and speaker on urbanism and equity, Krista has earned numerous accolades, including Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and DCEO Magazine’s 500.
