PRESENTER: Presenter
Matt Greene, Principal Planner
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SUBJECT: Title
ORD24-250 Public hearing to consider a recommendation to City Council on proposed amendments to Chapter 144 regarding parking requirements.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development Services
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Case No. ORD24-250
Applicant: City of New Braunfels
550 Landa Street
New Braunfels, TX 78130
Staff Contact: Matt Greene
(830) 221-4053 | mgreene@newbraunfels.gov
In concert with the Land Development Ordinance (LDO), City Council directed staff to examine New Braunfels’ current parking requirements and to recommend a more market-driven, demand-based approach. The proposed amendments reflect current national and state trends, are more contemplative of current shopping and travel habits of Americans, and would be in accordance with Envision New Braunfels, the New Braunfels Strategic Plan, the LDO Assessment Report, and the recently completed Land Use Fiscal Analysis.
ISSUE:
Multiple factors related to the growth and development of the city have led to the consideration of revisions to the current parking standards. Many cities, including New Braunfels, have had minimum parking requirements for all uses that predate online shopping, online services and societal shifts that have resulted in a reduction in parking demand. There is a growing national trend that advocates for removing city-imposed minimum parking requirements.
There are many benefits to removing the minimum parking requirements, which include but are not limited to:
• Decreasing the need to offset stormwater and water quality challenges resulting from unnecessarily large impervious surfaces.
• Opportunities to increase the sales and property tax base as more land will be used for commercial and housing instead of excessive parking supply existing simply to meet a city’s outdated minimum numbers.
• The ability for more building area to be constructed on a property, increasing its economic potential and usefulness, and causing sprawl-type development to become less desirable.
• The removal of obstacles to walkability, ADA accessibility and overall pedestrian movement throughout the city.
• Decreasing the heat island effects of parking lots.
A Land Use Fiscal Analysis was recently conducted for the city and is scheduled to be presented to City Council on August 19th. In the conclusion, the analysis indicates the city’s current codes and approach to development should be revised to allow more infill and mixed-use development. The standards should be improved to ensure it is efficient and cost-effective for developers to build infill and compact development that produces the highest returns on investment and ensures the city has a diverse mix of housing that will be attractive and affordable to our residents. Removing overburdensome and unnecessary minimum parking requirements is one avenue to accomplish the recommendation. Especially considering the true numbers required for a use’s success are not often in concert with a city’s outdated parking tables.
Staff also reviewed the parking requirements of several cities within Texas and across the country, to identify those that have eliminated parking requirements. Notably, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, and Taylor have eliminated minimum parking requirements. Additionally, over 20 other cities across the country with populations similar to New Braunfels have also removed minimum parking requirements.
Most of New Braunfels’ Special Districts refer to Section 144.51 of the city’s Zoning Ordinance for minimum parking requirements. However, Special Neighborhood District-1 (SND-1), the Walnut Neighborhood Special District (WNSD), and the Advantage Drive Special District (ADSD) all have defined parking standards. There are no proposed modifications to these latter district standards at this time. However, if City Council chooses to relinquish the parking requirements of these Special Districts, they can be included in the amendment as well.
Staff has not proposed eliminating the current minimum parking requirements for tube outfitter businesses, as this particular use has unique impacts that resulted in its specially designed parking requirements. As the City has experienced, tube rental outfitters do not require a great deal of real estate to operate, however, this type of business does produce large volumes of customers needing to park their vehicles for multiple hours while utilizing the business’ services. Tube rental businesses are often located near areas of residential use, and customer parking can create nuisances for the neighborhoods when adequate off-street parking is not provided. (Unrelated to parking, the amendments include a use name change from “tube rentals” to “river outfitters”, which would capture the rental of tubes as well as stand-up paddle boards (SUPs), kayaks, rafts and similar recreational flotation devices. This term better reflects the current industry, and is an update already included in the drafts of the LDO.)
Staff does not recommend eliminating the minimum or maximum parking requirements for short term rentals. This use is often located within residential neighborhoods and the off-street parking requirements for such facilities minimizes the impact on neighborhoods. However, the recommendation does include removal of the current disallowance on using the home’s garage to count toward the minimum parking requirements.
Finally, it is important to note that the LDO will include recommendations for maximum parking requirements, particularly over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. This amendment does not address maximum parking, only the issues associated with minimum parking requirements.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REFERENCE:
• Action 1.3: Encourage balanced and fiscally responsible land use patterns.
• Action 1.5: Promote economic centers by ensuring adequate parking for people to visit businesses/restaurants/shops.
• Action 1.6: Incentivize infill development and redevelopment to take advantage of existing infrastructure.
• Action 1.11: Update policies and codes to achieve development patterns that implement the goals of this plan.
• Action 2.33: Encourage vertical growth and development of key areas to take advantage of infrastructure capacity, maintain the core, and to discourage sprawl.
• Action 3.10: Change zoning/land use and platting rules, and create tax and permit fee incentives in under utilized neighborhoods, nodes, and corridors to encourage redevelopment.
• Action 3.19: Improve walkability across town to attract younger generations seeking pedestrian connections.
• Action 3.31: Adopt policies and ordinances supportive of workforce housing, creating opportunities that make investment in workforce housing more feasible for private and nonprofit developers.
• Action 5.6: Implement measures to achieve and maintain a high National Flood Insurance Program CRS rating to ensure the safety of all residents and to reduce property owner flood insurance rates.
• Action 7.8: Enhance pedestrian quality of the City by limiting the realm of the automobile.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☒Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☒Community Identity
☐Organizational Excellence ☐Community Well-Being ☐N/A
• Objective: Incentivize mixed-use developments and redevelopments in targeted locations to create a built environment with integrated housing, commercial centers, and opportunities for improved connectivity.
• Objective: Develop capital and staffing investments that improve safety, reduce heat islands, and encourage transportation modes that support healthier lifestyles and exercise such as biking, walking and running.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Removing the barrier for minimum parking requirements will allow more flexibility for development and redevelopment, making it possible to increase the sales and property tax base and enhance return on investment as recommended in the Land Use Fiscal Analysis recently conducted for the City.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Approval. The proposed amendments would:
• Remove outdated development requirements.
• Allow more development flexibility through a market-driven approach.
• Incentivize redevelopment and inner-city infill to address issues of the community approaching full build-out.
• Create opportunities for increased workforce housing.
• Reduce impervious cover.
• Achieve positive fiscal impact as noted above.
• Make the community more walkable and pedestrian friendly by reducing the realm of the automobile.
• Meet goals and objectives of Envision New Braunfels and the New Braunfels Strategic Plan, recommendations in the LDO Assessment Report, and recommendations in the Land Use Fiscal Analysis.
Resource Links:
• Article: “Yes, Even Walmart Wants to Build Smaller Parking Lots”
<https://www.sightline.org/2021/12/16/yes-even-walmart-wants-to-build-smaller-parking-lots/>
• Article: “Reforming Parking by Changing One Word” <https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2024/07/11/reforming-parking-changing-one-word?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0gdfzmFjkUUnvidkFXKAkIpG_SqHZdg9K1p-oUiu98YSIEbFm34OL2Jp4_aem_92EZrnkYrRgIFlSg8r9qAA>
• Article: “A Business Case for Dropping Parking Minimums” <https://www.planning.org/planning/2022/spring/a-business-case-for-dropping-parking-minimums/>