This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Does Montgomery County Need Parking Requirements?

The question is raised as a zoning code update goes to a Montgomery County Council hearing Tuesday.

Are parking requirements still needed in Montgomery County?

Just Up the Pike blogger Dan Reed raises the question in a recent post just as a proposed new version of the county's zoning code is set to go to a public hearing Tuesday before the Montgomery County Council.

First drafted in 1928, Montgomery County’s zoning code has been revised several times, but not since 1977, when Montgomery County was predominantly suburban, Matt Johnson wrote on Greater Greater Washington.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Proposed code updates lessen the parking requirements that developers and property owners are supposed to provide in increasingly urban areas like Bethesda, Silver Spring, Wheaton and Silver Spring, where there is public parking.

Under the current code, restaurants are required to have 25 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet, Reed writes. The new version only requires between four and 10 spaces, depending on whether the restaurant is in a parking district.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bike parking, car sharing spaces, charging stations and carpool spaces are all considered in the code update, Reed notes.

While the new code lessens parking requirements, Reed posits whether requiring parking minimums is necessary at all.

Reed sits on the board of the Action Committee for Transit, which, along with the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Montgomery County Sierra Club, are against parking minimums, he writes.

Citing expenses inherent in building parking spaces and pollution caused by stormwater runoff from lots, Reed writes that some parking lots could be better utilized for buildings or parks.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?