Official: Repealed requirements could spur business development

City officials and downtown organizations are looking to make the area more inclusive and public-friendly though parking changes and potentially creative uses for alleys.

Councilman Chris Riley, who sponsored an ordinance to repeal off-street parking requirements for businesses downtown, said the efforts are a way to respond to an already-changing downtown and make the best use of the space.

"There are a few things at play," Riley said. "One is to be able to respond to shifting market preferences. As we see more and more people that are open to [reducing their reliance on cars], it is important we recognize that we no longer need to devote as much of our space to parking as we did in the past."

According to the Downtown Austin Plan that was adopted by Austin City Council in 2011, the vision for downtown includes encouraging an array of "innovative" businesses and establishing a multimodal transportation system.

Downtown parking requirements

At the April 11 council meeting, council members approved an ordinance eliminating off-street vehicle parking requirements for businesses downtown. The ordinance also made loading and unloading in alleys a permitted use.

Before the ordinance, the city required businesses to provide a certain amount of off-street parking, such as parking garages or surface parking, based on various formulas with variables including the size of the business and the type of business. Historic buildings as well as businesses that use less than 6,000 square feet also were already exempted from providing off-street, Americans with Disabilities Act–compliant parking.

Riley said one motivation for the amendments is to bolster small businesses as well as to revitalize older buildings in the downtown area, both of which could see an immediate effect from the resolution. He said those businesses and spaces have a harder time meeting the old parking requirements.

"As a longtime downtown resident, I would be glad to see more activity in those older buildings rather than the alternatives, which include either those buildings sitting vacant, or, in some cases, we have actually lost buildings," Riley said. "... Given the choice between all those possibilities, I like the idea of allowing property owners to bring activity into those existing buildings."

Charlie Betts, executive director of the Downtown Austin Alliance—an organization that comprises downtown businesses and property owners who aim to promote the value and vitality of the area—said he thinks it is wise for the city to rescind its minimum parking requirements in favor of allowing the market to dictate the amount of parking required for developments.

"We don't think it will have a significant impact on downtown because the marketplace, the developer and the developer's lender are going to determine what kind of parking needs to be furnished in any given development in order for it to be successful," Betts said.

Even though the minimum parking requirements are eliminated, Riley said parking is still a concern, but that it does not correlate to a reduction in available parking downtown.

"There is actually a wealth of parking that is currently underutilized in existing buildings," Riley said. "There are dozens of parking garages downtown that are largely empty for much of the day."

According to city staff, in 2012, the average occupancy rate of existing off-street parking was 26 percent, with peak occupancy reaching about 67 percent. Two reasons Riley pointed out for the underused parking include garages that are not open to the public and drivers having difficulty in finding available parking.

One point of discussion in the ordinance was addressing ADA-compliant parking. In the approved ordinance, businesses may be eligible to pay a fee in lieu of providing accessible parking spaces, or the requirement may be waived entirely.

Councilwoman Laura Morrison said she wanted to make sure that buildings and businesses that qualified for the fee would still be accessible and that funds collected from the fee could go back to making those areas more accessible.

"My only concern would be to make sure that we keep in mind that we're talking about a building that may not have parking close enough," Morrison said.

Betts said that as the city moves ahead, he hopes to see a decreased need in parking downtown.

"We would hope that 10, 15, 20 years from today, if and when our city has an exemplary public transportation system, that developers and lenders will recognize that there's not a particular need to build as much parking," Betts said. "That would be the ideal future for downtown."

Re-envisioning downtown alleys

Another point of contention raised by the approved ordinance centered on uses for the city's alleys. At the March 21 meeting, council members passed a resolution for the city manager to develop a Downtown Alley Master Plan, identifying which alleys have the potential for uses outside of loading, unloading and trash collection.

"Alleys have traditionally served as places for trash pickup. Sometimes they are associated with crime," said Councilwoman Kathie Tovo, who sponsored the resolution. "But what some experiments in other cities have shown is that they can be transformed to serve really public uses."

Some of the uses Tovo mentioned that other cities have utilized include opening cafes and small businesses in the alleys, as well as establishing art installations and miniature parks in those spaces. Her concern was that by making loading and unloading in the alleys a right for businesses, the rule could take away the ability to use those spaces in other ways.

Betts said he believes a balance can be struck between the functional and more creative uses of the alleys.

"We don't think it's in conflict," Betts said. "If the property owners are interested in utilizing the alley in a more unique, interesting way, we certainly don't have a problem with that. We would encourage that."

Tovo said alternative uses for those spaces could allow the city to have more diverse offerings for residents and encourage them to spend time downtown.

"Downtown should be a place where all Austinites feel comfortable and want to come and spend time," Tovo said. "Creating more reasons for them to do so is really a benefit, I believe, to the city."

Riley said the end goal of the initiatives is to make sure downtown remains unique.

"Downtown is never going to be able to compete with the suburbs in providing acres of open parking," Riley said. "But we can compete in providing special places that draw people in and make them want to visit. That's what we're focusing on."