Denton City Council to Vote on Proposal that Would Make Car-Free Travel Less Feasible
Update 09/28/22
The Denton City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to approve the proposed increases to minimum parking requirements for Denton’s restaurants, bars and taverns.
This is an average increase of about 400% in the amount of parking these businesses are required to provide. Some businesses can qualify for up to a 50% reduction in the requirement.
If a business was previously required to provide 10 spaces, they will now how be required to provide about 40 spaces. If this business qualifies for a 50% reduction in the requirement, they must provide 20 spaces, which is 10 more spaces than the previous requirement. Ten surface parking spaces cost $70,000 or more to construct.
Video recordings of the meeting are available online:
This Tuesday, the Denton City Council will vote on whether to force certain businesses to build more automobile parking even if they don’t need it. The proposal includes an increase in the city’s mandatory parking minimums for restaurants, bars and taverns across the city, including areas where many customers bike, walk or take transit.
Excessive parking spreads buildings farther apart, which reduces the feasibility of making trips on foot, by bicycle or by bus and leads residents to drive more often and for farther distances.
The High Cost of Mandatory Parking Minimums
Cities use mandatory parking minimums to require developments to build a minimum amount of automobile parking based on things like square footage of the building or number of bedrooms. Developers can build more parking than the minimum, but they cannot build less unless they qualify for a reduction.
Mandatory parking minimums set by cities are an inaccurate pseudoscience, according to prominent parking researcher, Donald Shoup, who wrote a 764-page book on the topic, The High Cost of Free Parking.
Minimum parking requirements are based on the assumption that everyone will drive and that no one will walk, bike or use public transportation. In the typical U.S. city, 30 percent or more of residents legally or physically cannot drive. Additional residents cannot afford a car or may choose to walk, bike or take a bus.
As a result, cities often require much more automobile parking than is needed, mandating huge parking lots that sit half empty most of the time.
These unused parking spaces are not free and carry high costs for a city and its residents.
Makes biking, walking, rolling and efficient bus networks more difficult, because they create sprawling developments where buildings are farther apart and separated by dangerous or unwelcoming spaces.
Increases the cost of housing, consumer goods and the cost of doing business. The average cost of each parking space is $7,000+ for surface parking, $25,000+ for parking garages and $35,000+ per space for underground parking garages. These parking spaces are paid for through higher rents, home prices and the cost to purchase items from places like grocery stores and restaurants. Everyone pays for this parking, including people who can’t afford a car.
Decreases the city’s tax base. Forcing businesses to build and maintain unused parking spaces means the land cannot be used for something more productive, like additional homes or businesses that generate tax revenue to help pay for things like roads and emergency services.
Decreases infill development. Mandatory parking minimums are a key city regulation that prevents empty lots or buildings from being redeveloped. If there is not enough space for the required number of parking spaces, the property cannot be developed and continues to sit empty. This pushes more development towards Denton’s green spaces, where open fields provide plenty of space to build Denton’s required amounts of parking.
Hinders small businesses from getting started or expanding. Forcing a small business to build more parking than they need increases the cost of getting started or expanding, which can price out many of these unique businesses. The result is that corporate chains, which can afford to build the parking, dominate the economic landscape.
Incentivizes more driving, which creates more traffic, congestion, pollution and road expansions that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Increases the urban heat island, which makes Denton even hotter during the summer.
Due to the high cost of unused parking and the inability to accurately predict parking demand, cities across the U.S. have begun eliminating mandatory parking minimums, allowing businesses to build what they need based on the business and location. Fayetteville, Arkansas saw redevelopment increase. Developers in some cities were able to build housing that is more affordable.
Denton’s Parking Proposal
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Denton City Council will vote on several amendments to Denton’s current minimum parking requirements.
Some amendments are a reduction in the minimum amount of parking that’s required for buildings like duplexes and townhomes. This would decrease housing costs and make housing easier to build in existing parts of town instead of the green spaces on the edge of town.
Some amendments, however, would force restaurants, bars and taverns to construct more parking than is currently required. According to an August presentation from city planning staff, it would be a 400 percent increase over current requirements. In a bar or tavern with lots of standing space for performances, it can be a 10,000 percent increase in mandatory parking, making these types of venues more challenging to build.
In an August 24th presentation to the Denton Planning & Zoning Commission, city staff shared examples of how the proposed parking amendments would impact restaurants in Denton.
Current and proposed parking requirements for three example businesses.
All three examples restaurants used by staff are corporate chains located in car-oriented developments and already have more parking than the current minimum required by the City. Businesses are free to build more than the minimum amount if they think it’s needed.
In the case of I-HOP, the 58 additional required spaces would cost at least $406,000 to construct if they didn’t exist already. For a corporate chain restaurant, this can be done. For a Denton resident trying to start a unique restaurant, this cost may put their dreams out of reach.
If the proposals to increase mandatory parking minimums passes, most restaurants, bars and taverns in Denton’s more pedestrian- and bike-friendly areas will be out of compliance. If these businesses never expand their building or staffing levels, they won’t be impacted. However, the new parking requirements may block them from expanding and may harm the resell value of the property because the parking requirements will limit what the property can be used for.
In Denton’s core, businesses are exempt from mandatory parking minimums. This allows buildings to be closer together and is part of what makes downtown the most walkable area of Denton.
Downtown area where businesses are exempt from the city’s mandatory parking minimums. (Image credit: Kristine Bray, @dTXTransitPosts)
Businesses just outside of the exempted downtown area must provide the mandatory amount of automobile parking even if many of their customers and staff will walk, bike or take a bus to get there.
Some businesses can qualify for up to a 50 percent reduction in required minimum parking. However, when the proposed increases are about 400 percent, it is still an increase for effectively every restaurant, bar and tavern in Denton.
In many cases, the only way to meet the new parking requirements in the core of town would involve demolishing a neighboring building that could have generated tax revenue and converting it into a low-value parking lot.
Why is the City Proposing an Increase to Mandatory Parking Minimums?
According to staff comments in backup materials for the meeting, the city is proposing to increase mandatory parking minimums because some establishments did not build enough parking for their business. All examples provided by staff were chain restaurants located in car-dependent locations, like along I-35.
Proposed changes and comments to mandatory parking minimums for restaurants, bars and taverns.
Mandatory parking minimums are a floor, not a ceiling. Businesses are free to build more parking than the minimum if they feel it’s needed for their business to be successful. Mandatory parking minimums do not prevent them from building more.
It is unclear why the city chose a blanket proposal to force all restaurants, bars and taverns to build more parking rather than allowing car-oriented businesses to build more if they need it.
Not every restaurant is the same. Not every location is the same. There are high costs to mandating too much automobile parking, especially in the more pedestrian-friendly areas of Denton.
Get Involved
The Denton City Council is scheduled to vote on this proposal at the end of their meeting on Tuesday, September 27. The meeting begins at 6:30 PM. The parking amendments are item 7(C) on page 17 of the agenda.
Viewers at home can watch the livestream of the meeting starting at 6:30 PM.
There are a few ways to share your comments.
Contact City Council members as soon as possible so they might read your comments prior to their meeting and vote. You can message them all at once using the form at the bottom of the linked page or email them separately using their individual email addresses.
Speak at the meeting by phone. Register by 12 PM on Tuesday to comment by phone on Public Hearing Item C. You will have four (4) minutes to speak unless the Mayor chooses to reduce that time.
Speak in person at the meeting. This item is a public hearing, so you do not have to pre-register to speak. However, the City Secretary may ask you to fill out a blue speaker card after you speak. You will have four (4) minutes to speak unless the Mayor chooses to reduce that time.
Denton City Hall is located at 215 E McKinney Street. There are two bike racks on the McKinney-facing side of the building. Automobile parking is available in front of the building or next door at the Denton Civic Center.
The City Council Chambers (i.e. meeting room) are located in the southeast corner of the building. Go through the central courtyard, enter the building and turn right to enter the chambers.
