During Tuesday’s meeting, the Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission approved a request to reduce the parking ratio for an urban living community within the Frisco Station mixed-use development.

The developer, Novare Group, plans to build a 25-story apartment community with 332 urban living units, and requested for the parking ratio for studio apartments to be reduced from the city’s requirement of 1.5 parking space/unit to 1.25 parking space/unit. There will be a total of 80 studio apartments.

The developer said the reduced parking ratio is appropriate because the studio apartments have fewer residents due the smaller size. Based on the demographics in other projects, the developer said they do not see a lot of couples in studio units. 

The reduced parking ratio would mean 21 fewer parking spaces. The developer proposed to place the additional spaces on a lot south of the building.

According to the city, when urban living projects were being proposed in Frisco, city staff studied surrounding communities with similar urban living communities and found that the norm was to have 1.5 parking spaces for one- or two-bedroom units. However, a separate parking ratio for studio apartments was not examined, so the parking ratio of 1.5 spaces/unit remained the same for studio units. To date, there have been no issues regarding urban living parking in the city, according to city staff.

However, city staff members said they see the value in further studying whether there needs to be a separate parking ratio for studio apartments.

Frisco Development Services Director John Lettelleir said the reduced parking ratio will only be on a trial basis for this development. Once the project is completed and occupied, city staff will monitor the parking levels of the development and determine if the parking ratio for studio apartments is appropriate.

Lettelleir said no other parking reductions will be considered until staff has completed its assessment.