Houston City Council approves new Midtown parking proposals

Houston City Council voted to approve an ordinance April 6 that creates a Parking Benefit District and designates Midtown as a Community Parking Program area, both efforts to address and mitigate parking concerns.

Under the Community Parking Program, the Houston Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department will ensure Midtown residents will receive authorized permits that exempt them from on-street parking restrictions, such as metered parking and time limits for parking that occurs after 6 p.m. According to the ordinance, the CPP will be used in areas that rely on the curb space, such as residential, commercial, small businesses and museum districts.

With the creation of the Parking Benefit District, the city will split net revenue that is made through city parking meters after 6 p.m. as well as CPP permit revenue. The ordinance specifies that 60% of net revenue will go into a PBD fund, and 40% will go to the city's ParkHouston special revenue fund.

Shared revenue must be used for other infrastructure improvement projects within the district. The Midtown Management District will act as management for the PBD.

Before coming to council, the CPP and PBD were discussed at multiple town hall meetings with the management district and super neighborhood stakeholders, according to the ordinance. Over the course of a 30-day public comment period, 62% of respondents supported the PBD while 60% supported the CPP.

As previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper, data from seven surveys that were conducted in Midtown in early 2021 by the city of Houston showed that parked cars take up roughly 85% of free parking on more than 40% of streets in the study.

According to the ordinance, the permit will be effective in 60 days.