Section 10-A415. T-3.2 CURBSIDE MANAGEMENT AND PARKING

 

415.1Long- or short-term parking is part of almost every car trip, and parking-especially when free-is a key factor in the mode choice for a trip. The availability and price of parking can influence people’s choices about how to travel to work, shop, and conduct personal business. The District’s challenge, like that of many other major cities, is to manage limited curbside space to accommodate ever increasing parking demand. 415.1

 

415.2There are approximately 400,000 parking spaces in the District of Columbia. The majority of these parking spaces (260,000) are on-street parallel-parking type spaces. About 6 percent of these on-street spaces (16,000) have parking meters. Another 140,000 parking spaces are located off-street in parking lots and garages. The majority of the off-street spaces are located in Downtown parking garages. 415.2

 

415.3Policy T-3.2.1: Parking Duration in Commercial Areas

 

Encourage the supply and management of public parking in commercial areas to afford priority to customers and others on business errands, and discourage the use of these spaces by all-day parkers, including establishment employees. 415.3

 

415.4Policy T-3.2.2: Employing Innovations in Parking

 

Consider and implement new technologies to increase the efficiency, management, and ease of use of parking. These include consolidated meters, changeable parking meter fees by time of day or day of the week, shared-use parking, vertical/stacked parking, electronic ticketing of parking offenders and other innovations. 415.4

 

415.5Action T-3.2.A: Short-Term Parking

 

Continue to work with existing private parking facilities to encourage and provide incentives to convert a portion of the spaces now designated for all day commuter parking to shorter-term parking. The purpose of this action is to meet the demand for retail, entertainment, and mid-day parking. 415.5

 

415.6Action T-3.2.B: Car-Share Parking

 

Continue to provide strategically placed and well-defined curbside parking for car-share vehicles, particularly near Metrorail stations, major transit nodes, and major employment destinations, and in medium and high density neighborhoods. 415.6

 

415.7Action T-3.2.C: Curbside Management Techniques

 

Revise curbside management and on-street parking policies to:

 

a.adjust parking pricing to reflect the demand for and value of curb space;

 

b.adjust the boundaries for residential parking zones;

 

c.establish parking policies that respond to the different parking needs of different types of areas;

 

d.expand the times and days for meter parking enforcement in commercial areas;

 

e.promote management of parking facilities that serve multiple uses (e.g., commuters, shoppers, recreation, entertainment, churches, special events, etc.);

 

f.improve the flexibility and management of parking through midblock meters, provided that such meters are reasonably spaced and located to accommodate disabled and special needs populations;

 

g.preserve, manage, and increase alley space or similar off-street loading space; and

 

h.increase enforcement of parking limits, double-parking and other curbside violations, including graduated fines for repeat offenses and towing for violations on key designated arterials. 415.7

 

415.8Action T-3.2.D: Unbundle Parking Cost

 

Find ways to “unbundle” the cost of parking from residential units, allowing those purchasing or

renting property to opt out of buying or renting parking spaces. “Unbundling” should be required for District-owned or subsidized development, and the amount of parking in such development should not exceed that required by Zoning. Further measures to reduce housing costs associated with off-street parking requirements, including waived or reduced parking requirements in the vicinity of Metrorail stations and along major transit corridors, should be pursued during the revision of the Zoning Regulations. These efforts should be coupled with programs to better manage residential street parking in neighborhoods of high parking demand, including adjustments to the costs of residential parking permits. 415.8

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.