Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parking Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission adopts 2024 parking advisory communication, calls for parking audit and district planning
Summary
The Edina Planning Commission unanimously adopted a 2024 Parking Advisory Communication to the City Council that recommends a multi-year menu of actions: a parking audit by commercial node, updates to the off-street parking ordinance, a new on-street parking plan, and a district-parking strategy.
The Edina Planning Commission on Jan. 15 adopted and forwarded to the City Council a parking advisory communication that identifies a multi-year, menu-style program of actions to guide city parking policy over the next decade.
Planning staff and commissioners said the project is intended as a practical, iterative work plan — “a menu,” in staff’s words — rather than a single prescriptive ordinance change. The communication sets four priority program areas: (1) a parking audit (quantifying on-street and off-street capacity and usage by commercial node), (2) further updates to the city’s off-street parking ordinance (including possible reduced minimums near transit, updated EV and bike parking standards and surface-parking design standards), (3) a new on-street parking plan (to identify where on-street parking could be reallocated to bike lanes, trees or pedestrian space), and (4) planning for district parking in specific commercial nodes.
Staff said an audit would give the city data-based choices about whether particular nodes are over- or under-parked and would support targeted policy changes. Commissioners emphasized the need to treat districts differently — e.g., Southdale, 50th & France and Grandview can have different expectations — and recommended iterative updates rather than a single, infrequent rewrite. The commission also discussed plug-in electric vehicle parking standards, updated bike/ebike parking requirements, and incentives to reduce minimum parking for projects close to transit or district parking.
After discussion, the commission moved to adopt the advisory communication and forward it to the City Council; the motion passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition. Staff and commissioners said the work would be phased and will compete with other planning priorities, but several commissioners encouraged including the initiative in the comprehensive-plan and zoning update work over the next one to three years.
