Council Enacts Zoning Measure to Encourage Car-Free Living and the Development of More Housing Near Transit by Eliminating Parking Requirements

From the Offices of Council President Andrew Friedson and Councilmembers Kristin Mink and Evan Glass:

The Montgomery County Council voted today to enact a zoning measure that will encourage the development of housing, including affordable units, near transit corridors and will help Montgomery County reach its climate goals by encouraging housing options that are less dependent on cars. Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 23-10, Parking, Queuing and Loading – Calculation of Required Parking will eliminate parking requirements within a half-mile radius of a Metro or Purple Line station, and quarter-mile radius of an existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Station or a BRT Station that is funded for construction in the current Capital Improvements Program.

“Montgomery County shouldn’t impose unnecessary costs on desperately needed housing that’s critical to creating more walkable and liveable communities, said Council President Andrew Friedson. “This commonsense change eliminates outdated, one-size-fits-all policies and embraces current, market-based approaches to enable the development of more affordable housing in line with our environmental and new housing generation goals.”

“It is expensive to build parking. Each underground parking space in our downtown urban areas costs between $70,000 – $100,000 to construct. Those costs are currently passed down to residents, whether they own a car or not,”  said Councilmember Evan Glass. “By eliminating these outdated requirements, we are reducing housing costs while also supporting public transportation —  two critically important goals for our community. We need to continue building upon this initiative to make housing more affordable and transit more accessible in Montgomery County.”

“This measure does not take away existing parking. It simply allows future, transit-oriented residential construction to right-size parking – to include only the amount of parking the market actually needs, rather than a blanket government-imposed minimum,”  said Councilmember Kristin Mink. “Today, Montgomery County joins hundreds of jurisdictions across the country, from big cities to small towns, that have been passing common-sense parking reforms like this.”