Too Picky Over Parking: Washington's New Residential Development Parking Law

Starting next month, parking requirements for new housing developments across Washington will be a little more relaxed. SSB 6015, which goes into effect June 6, 2024, prohibits Growth Management Act ("GMA") cities and counties from imposing certain residential parking restrictions that advocates of the bill argue have worsened housing affordability. Under the new law, jurisdictions cannot be so picky about required off-street parking specifications. For example, they may not require that spaces be inside garages or carports, enclosed, or unnecessarily large (greater than 20 by 8 feet, unless necessary for people with disabilities). They must allow grass block paver, tandem (one vehicle in front of the other with shared ingress/egress), and even a limited number of gravel spaces to count toward parking minimums.

The law also directs jurisdictions to prioritize trees over parking, prohibiting counties and cities with populations greater than 6,000 from requiring off-street parking altogether where the otherwise applicable parking requirement would conflict with tree retention requirements.

The bill did not go as far as some advocates would have hoped. Previous versions of the bill contemplated requiring adjacent on-street parking, spaces in yard setbacks, and offsite spaces within 2,000 feet to count toward minimums.

Areas within one mile of SeaTac airport are exempt from the new law.

Takeaways

While simple, SSB 6015's mandatory easing of parking requirements will be enough to change the calculus for some developers and individual homebuilders.

The legislation should be consulted for additional details. Contact DWT's land use team with questions regarding the potential impacts of these regulations on specific projects.

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