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Developers favor ITE parking metric; board debates limits on office conversions
Summary
The applicant proposed the ITE industrial parking metric (about 1.01 spaces per 1,000 sq ft) instead of the town's traditional per‑100‑sq‑ft standard; board members worried that without limits a future owner could convert space to office uses and strain parking, while staff and a consultant urged industry standards as more practical to administer.
The applicant argued that the ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) baseline for industrial projects — roughly 1.01 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet — better reflects mixed industrial/office operations and avoids overparking. "This IT standard is an accepted... designation for this is the amount of parking that industrial projects need," the developer said, urging the board to accept the methodology rather than the town's older 1-per-100-sq-ft office standard.
Committee members countered that permitting no cap on office conversions could allow a future owner to reconfigure space into higher-intensity office or call-center uses, increasing parking demand. Board discussion led to a recommendation that Planning & Zoning consider a condition or review approach; staff and a planning consultant cautioned that rigid caps are administratively difficult and that industry standards are often used to set reasonable averages for large mixed-use industrial projects.
