COLUMBUS — Since 2019, at least 14 states have enacted 34 laws reducing or eliminating parking minimums, according to the Parking Reform Network. Since 2017, 116 cities have removed all parking minimums citywide, including Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Hartford, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the first statewide ban on parking minimums in the fall of 2022. The law, which prohibits parking requirements for housing developments or businesses within a half mile of a transit station, went into effect at the beginning of 2023. California also enacted legislation that reduces parking requirements in residential zones, restricts local governments from increasing minimum parking for renovations and additions to single-family homes, and caps parking requirements for multifamily housing developments. The state approved a measure allowing developers to use shared parking spaces to meet minimum requirements.

Other states have advanced similar legislation. Oregon enacted a law in 2023 that prohibits or restricts parking minimums in 48 cities and three counties across the state's eight metropolitan regions with populations of at least 50,000. North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed a measure eliminating minimum parking mandates in most counties in his state. "This bill gives North Carolina another tool in the toolbox to build more homes and make housing more affordable," Stein said. He added, "This change will lower rents for people."

In April, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation prohibiting localities from imposing parking minimums within a half mile of mass transit stations. Additionally, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, and Washington have enacted laws in the past three years that restrict or prohibit parking minimums. Virginia Delegate Irene Shin stated, "We've come to a point where the state is much more interested in stepping in to increase housing because the localities on their own just haven't been doing enough."

Catie Gould, a senior researcher at the Sightline Institute, described the impetus for these changes. "I don't think parking reform would be happening if we weren't having a housing crisis," Gould said. She also noted, "Many cities and towns aren't really prepared for that scenario."

The policy shift contrasts with historical trends in parking regulation. In 1923, Columbus, Ohio, enacted the first known off-street parking requirement for new apartment buildings. By 1954, a Columbus apartment building with 100 one-bedroom units was required to have 100 parking spaces. By 2022, the minimum for such a building was 150 spaces. The parking mandate for a 2,500-square-foot restaurant in Columbus increased from nine to 34 spaces.

Forty-five percent of renter households in Fairfax County spend over 30% of their income on rent and utilities. One inch of rain on a single acre of impervious parking surface can generate 27,000 gallons of storm runoff into the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.