Title
Amending Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Chapter XXX to Revise Section 30-2 Definitions and Section 30-7 Off Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations - Citywide - Applicant: City of Alameda. Public hearing to consider recommending that the City Council adopt an ordinance to amend Alameda Municipal Code Chapter XXX to Revise Section 30-2 Definitions and Section 30-7, Off-Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations, to implement the City of Alameda Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and Transportation Choices Plan. The proposed amendments are exempt from the requirements of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), where it can be shown with certainty that the proposed amendments will not have a significant effect on the environment, and Section 15183, projects consistent with a community plan, general plan or zoning, each of which provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA clearance and when viewed collectively provide an overall basis for CEQA clearance. No further environmental review is needed
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Brian McGuire, Planner
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report and the enclosed draft City Council ordinance recommend a comprehensive set of amendments to Alameda Municipal Code Sections 30-2 Definitions and 30-7 Off-Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations. The amendments implement adopted actions, programs, and strategies in the City of Alameda Transportation Choices Plan, City of Alameda Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP), and the City of Alameda 2015-2023 Housing Element.
The proposed amendments are attached as Exhibit 1. The current regulations, for comparison purposes, are attached as Exhibit 2. The draft City Council ordinance is attached as Exhibit 3.
Staff is recommending that the Planning Board hold a public hearing and recommend by motion that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending Alameda Municipal Code Sections 30-2 (Definitions) and 30-7 (Off-Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations).
BACKGROUND
Section 30-7 of the Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) establishes requirements for off-street parking areas in new development for the storage of private automobiles and bicycles by project occupants or visitors.
National and regional studies have shown that these types of off-street automobile parking requirements can significantly increase the cost of housing, can undermine efforts to increase transit use and other environmentally sensitive modes of travel, and undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the climate emergency. A study by the City of San Diego <https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/planning/programs/transportation/mobility/pdf/111231sdafhfinal.pdf> of 21 affordable housing developments found that 39 percent of the parking, or over 400 spaces, were unused - at a cost of between $12 and $30 million. A study by TransForm <http://database.greentrip.org/>, a Bay Area transportation advocacy group, found over 28 percent of parking spaces at 80 multi-family residential buildings around the San Francisco Bay Area were unused - a waste of over 1 million square feet and nearly $200 million in construction costs. UCLA Urban Planning Professor Donald Shoup estimates that on a typical construction site in Los Angeles, parking requirements reduce the number of units in an apartment building by 13% <http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/HighCost.pdf%22%20%5Cl%20%22page=2>. Finally, research by UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies <http://www.its.ucla.edu/research/rpubs/manville_aro_dec_2010.pdf> found that “when parking requirements are removed, developers provide more housing and less parking, and different types of housing: housing in older buildings, in previously disinvested areas, and housing marketed toward non-drivers. This latter category of housing tends to sell for less than housing with parking spaces.”
In recent years, the City of Alameda has taken incremental steps to address the negative impacts of the City’s parking regulations on housing affordability and the environment.
• In 2007, the City Council amended the parking regulations to reduce the number of spaces required for development on the Park Street and Webster Street commercial corridors in recognition that the City does not want to encourage demolition of existing commercial buildings to construct parking lots, and the City does not want to encourage addition of automobile curb cuts across the Park Street and Webster Street sidewalks, which would significantly degrade the pedestrian experience on Alameda’s two main commercial corridors.
• In 2014, the City Council adopted new off-street parking requirements for Alameda Point, which established maximum parking requirements instead of minimum parking requirements. The Alameda Point Transportation Demand Management Plan recognizes that the City’s goal is to manage transportation at Alameda Point and that to effectively manage automobile use at Alameda Point the City should restrict the amount of private parking allowed and maximize the use of public parking facilities, which can be effectively managed through parking pricing and revenues reinvested in the streetscape and improved transportation choices.
• In 2018, the City Council adopted the City of Alameda Transportation Choices Plan. The goal of the Transportation Choices Plan is to reduce congestion at the estuary crossings and on-island corridors by increasing transportation options for Alameda residents and Alameda business employees. The Transportation Choices Plan identifies changes to parking requirements as a high priority, near-term project. It states that abundant free parking encourages driving and disincentivizes a mode shift to transit, biking, and walking for those that have those options available to them. (Transportation Choices Plan, p. 78, Project #8.)
• In 2019, the City Council adopted the City of Alameda Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP), which showed that 70% of Alameda’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the Transportation sector, primarily private automobiles. The CARP sets aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction and calls for eliminating minimum parking requirements in order to encourage mode shift and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (CARP, pp. 32-33.) To accelerate electrification of remaining vehicle trips, CARP Action T6 (p. 29) calls for requiring new developments that do provide parking to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for residents and/or customers.
In June 2021, the Commission on Persons with Disabilities held a discussion on the possible elimination of minimum off-street parking and how to meet the City’s climate change, affordable housing, and transportation goals without disproportionately impacting persons with disabilities that rely on accessible parking.
Also in June 2021, the Planning Board held a study session on an earlier draft of the proposed amendments to give direction on changes to consider and additional information to provide before returning with the enclosed draft ordinance.
In July 2021, the Transportation Commission discussed the proposed amendments and unanimously recommended City Council adoption.
DISCUSSION
Amendment Objectives: Staff’s goal in preparing the draft amendments is to achieve the following major objectives:
• Update the off-street parking requirements to reflect current City of Alameda policy objectives and current (2021) market and development conditions in Alameda.
• Establish an equitable approach to the provision of parking for people with disabilities in new development.
• Establish citywide requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities in new development.
• Establish citywide transportation demand management requirements for new development.
• Create a more user-friendly and less confusing set of regulations that will be easier for the public to understand and for staff to implement, and result in fewer waivers and exemptions than are currently being requested with the current regulations.
Major Changes: Major changes proposed to Section 30-7 include the following:
Purpose and Intent. Section 30-7.1 Purpose and Intent is amended to update the intent and public purpose of the regulations, which were revised to read as follows:
a) To implement City of Alameda climate change, transportation, affordable housing, economic development, and historic preservation policy objectives established by the City of Alameda General Plan, Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, and Transportation Choices Plan;
b) To relieve automobile congestion and provide for the safe, efficient, and equitable use of the public street network by pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, emergency vehicles, and automobiles; and
c) To reduce the environmental impacts such as air pollution, storm water runoff, urban heat island effects, and greenhouse gas emissions generated by automobile use.
Maximum Off-Street Parking Requirements. Section 30-7.6 Schedule of Required Off-Street Parking is revised to replace the existing minimum off-street parking requirements with maximum off-street parking requirements. With the proposed standards (Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.3), the project proponent or user will be able to identify the amount of parking that is needed for the proposed use of the site, given its location in the City, the nature of the use, and/or the configuration of the property. A maximum standard is proposed because the City of Alameda seeks to avoid too much off-street parking provided on any given site due to the impacts of large parking areas on the environment, the transportation system, and the cost of development in Alameda, which has limited land resources.
The maximum standards proposed in Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.3 (Table A), generally reflect the maximum parking requirements established by the Alameda Point parking ordinance, which has been in effect since 2014, and the amount of parking that has been approved for residential and commercial projects in Alameda in recent years.
In recent years, it has been rare for project proponents to propose, and the City to approve, the amount of parking required by the current minimum. The current minimums are simply too high and do not accurately reflect current 2021 parking needs. As a result, applicants have consistently requested -- and the Planning Board has consistently granted -- parking waivers, parking reductions. The Planning Board and in some cases the City Council has approved reduced parking requirements for new office buildings in the Harbor Bay Business Park, new hotels in the Business Park and on Park Street, new businesses on Park Street and Webster Street, and new residential developments citywide. With very few exceptions, all of the developments approved by the Planning Board over the last 5 to 6 years have required waivers from the current parking requirements, but each of those projects would be consistent with the maximum parking requirements proposed in Exhibit 1. The table below shows several recently approved projects, the amount of parking the current AMC required, and the amount of parking approved by the Planning Board and/or City Council.
|
Project |
Parking Spaces Required by Existing Parking Regulations |
Parking Spaces Approved |
|
1825 Park St. |
9 |
0 spaces |
|
Del Monte |
2 per unit |
1.5 per unit |
|
1929 Webster Street |
48 |
0 spaces |
|
Encinal Terminals |
2 per unit |
1.5 per unit; 2 per townhome |
|
VF Outdoor |
5.0 per thousand sq. ft. |
3.0 per thousand sq. ft. |
|
Exelixis |
5.0 per thousand sq. ft. |
3.0 per thousand sq. ft. |
|
Home2 Suites Hotel (Harbor Bay) |
1.25 per room |
.83 per room |
|
Holiday Inn Express (Park St.) |
1.25 per room |
.83 per room |
|
Marriott Hotel (Harbor Bay) |
1.25 per room |
.83 per room plus 100 extra for ferry |
|
1435 Webster (Taylor Lot) |
2 per unit + 2.5 per thousand ground floor for 24 total. |
1.5 per unit plus 3 for commercial |
The proposed amendments include a process to allow the Planning Board or Zoning Administrator to increase the maximum limit for a particular project, upon issuance of a use permit, if all of the following determinations are met:
• Transportation demand management measures will reduce the need for the additional off-street parking;
• The additional parking demand cannot reasonably be accommodated through formal arrangements such as shared parking or reciprocal parking agreements that make use of other available off-site parking;
• There are unique characteristics of the users or the land use activity that result in a high level of automobile parking demand; and
• The project provides positive environmental, social, or other community benefits that outweigh the adverse effects of additional parking, such as improving public safety, or improving and/or preserving access for pedestrians, cyclists or users of public transit.
In its decision the Planning Board or Zoning Administrator may impose such conditions as are necessary to minimize transportation impacts from the increased parking.
Minimum Off-Street Parking for People with Disabilities. One of the stated intents of the proposed amendments is to provide for the safe, efficient, and equitable use of the public street network by pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, emergency vehicles, and automobiles. Meeting this objective requires the acknowledgement that some people are more dependent on access to parking than others. Ensuring an adequate supply of parking for people with disabilities is critical to ensure safe, efficient and equitable access.
To address the need for an adequate supply of parking for disabled people, Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.4 Off Street Parking for Persons with Disabilities maintains a minimum standard for the provision of parking for individuals with disabilities. The minimum number of accessible spaces required by the California Building Code (CBC) shall be calculated based on the maximum number of spaces set forth in Section 30-7.3.
To recognize that in some locations, such as the Park Street Historic District and Webster Street, it is not possible or not desirable to provide any off-street parking, the proposed amendments exempt certain projects that provide no parking and maintains the ability to waive the requirement for the minimum number of disabled parking spaces via a use permit. In no circumstance can the CBC standards be waived.
Minimum Electric Vehicle Charging Requirements. Currently the AMC does not include any standards for EV charging in parking lots and garages. The Climate Action and Resiliency Plan recognizes the lack of standards as an obstacle to the City meeting its greenhouse gas reduction goals. The City has been negotiating inclusion of EV charging on a project-by-project basis, but the results of that approach have not been consistent or adequate. The 2019 California Green Building Code Update (Title 24, Part 11) increases requirements for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in new construction.
The proposed standards (Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.5 Off-Street Electrical Vehicle (EV) Charging Requirements) are modeled on reach code standards developed by the City’s own consultants with Peninsula Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and the Statewide Program’s team to establish new construction EV requirements which are more in line with local EV adoption trends, tailored to Alameda’s needs while providing flexibility for the builder and keeping construction costs as low as possible.
Transportation Demand Management Requirements. The proposed amendments (Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.7 Transportation Demand Management Requirements) include a requirement for transportation demand management (TDM) programs for any large scale project that will result in a significant increase in vehicle trips on Alameda public roadways. The provisions apply to projects subject to the Parking Ordinance that generates a net increase of over 110 vehicle trips on the adjacent public rights of way. Any project that meets these criteria will be conditioned to the following requirements:
• Include a TDM program, similar to the programs that have been adopted for all major projects in Alameda since 2006. The specifics of the program for each project will depend on the project, but TDM programs for prior projects in Alameda have included requirements for participation in the Alameda Transportation Management Association, annual fees for supplemental transit services, and AC Transit easy passes for all project residents or employees.
• Unbundle the cost of parking from the cost for the housing unit in residential projects of ten (10) or more units. All off-street parking spaces will be leased or sold separately from the rental or purchase fees for the individual units for the life of the units, such that potential renters or buyers have the option of renting or buying a unit at a price lower than would be the case if there were a single price for both the unit and the parking space(s). The proposed provisions are modeled on the provisions adopted for Alameda Point in 2014.
Minimum Bicycle Parking. The proposed amendments (Exhibit 1, Section 30-7.6 Off-Street Bicycle Parking Requirements) simplify and include modifications to the bicycle parking requirements to make long term bicycle parking more usable for those unable to lift their bicycle off the ground and accommodate more non-traditional bicycles such as cargo bikes and adult tricycles.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The proposed amendments are intended to improve environmental quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the City of Alameda Climate Action and Resiliency Plan. Furthermore, a loss of parking or a reduction in parking is not considered an impact to the environment under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Therefore, the proposed amendments are exempt from the requirements of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), where it can be shown with certainty that the proposed amendments will not have a significant effect on the environment, and Section 15183, projects consistent with a community plan, general plan or zoning, each of which provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA clearance and when viewed collectively provide an overall basis for CEQA clearance. No further environmental review is needed.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The proposed amendment is recommended in the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and consistent with the Plan recommendations.
RECOMMENDATION
That the Planning Board hold a public hearing and recommend by motion that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending Alameda Municipal Code Sections 30-2 (Definitions) and 30-7 (Off-Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations).
Respectfully submitted,
Brian McGuire, Planner
Reviewed By,
Andrew Thomas, Planning Building and Transportation Director
Allen Tai, City Planner
Exhibits:
1. Proposed off-street parking requirements
2. Existing off-street parking requirements
3. Draft Ordinance