Survey shows strong local preference for parking; commissioners debate trade-offs with added housing

A majority of survey respondents signaled that dedicated parking matters. Speaker 2 told the commission that about 77% of respondents said it is important that businesses offer dedicated off-street parking and that, when forced to choose, 57% favored prioritizing dedicated business parking even if it reduced building square footage. On housing, Speaker 2 said 64% favored requiring dedicated parking spaces for homes even if it meant fewer new homes overall.

Commissioners and staff repeatedly cautioned that the results are skewed toward homeowners — the sample included a large share of owner-occupied households — and that how questions are framed can change priorities. Speaker 9 and others suggested alternative survey wording to compare parking preferences directly with affordable housing trade-offs; Speaker 2 acknowledged that question design affects interpretation.

The group discussed practical design compromises: allowing smaller building footprints while preserving required parking counts, encouraging on-site or shared parking near commercial areas, and using design requirements (form-based code) to ensure new businesses and housing fit neighborhood character. Speaker 5 emphasized that the form-based code recommended by the master plan helps articulate neighborhood character and could make mixed uses more acceptable if new buildings are designed to match existing areas.

Staff and commissioners also noted that neighborhood complaints about parking are often hyper-local, and that while a small number of streets face acute parking shortages, the citywide survey showed most respondents can usually find parking in their neighborhood. Speaker 2 said that staff will use table breakdowns by ward and other demographics to identify problem streets and route enforcement or infrastructure follow-up to the appropriate departments.