By Eli Wolfe, San Jose Spotlight, June 15, 2022
“San Jose councilmembers voted unanimously [on June 14th] to create a policy to eliminate the city’s minimum parking requirements for new developments. The policy would incentivize alternative modes of transportation, like biking and public transit. The City Council will consider approving the changes before the end of the year.
“The city has been exploring the idea of eliminating a decades-old minimum parking requirement, which mandates developers include a certain number of parking spaces for vehicles on new projects. … According to city memos, constructing a single parking space in San Jose costs between $30,000 to $100,000 depending on location.
“Councilmember and mayoral candidate Matt Mahan … suggested an expansion of the city’s residential parking permit program.
“Ramses Madou, division manager of planning, policy, and sustainability in San Jose’s Department of Transportation, [said the parking permit program is] expensive …, well under-resourced, and not … very successful at managing parking, and it creates some real equity issues within neighborhoods.’
“Mayor Sam Liccardo said the concept of the policy is on the right track, but city officials need to be upfront about the transportation solutions they present to developers.”
Read the full article here. (~3 min.)