Dallas homeowners fear dropping city's parking requirement will inundate neighborhood streets

DALLAS - The city of Dallas is considering a bold move that would release developers from being required to provide parking. 

Advocates say it will create space for more affordable housing in the city. But others are concerned it will create chaos on neighborhood streets.

The big debate is whether fewer parking spaces in Dallas will lead to more people using public transportation and walking or if it will lead to spillover parking jamming neighborhoods.

The backstory:

Dallas City Councilman Chad West first proposed getting rid of parking requirements nearly six years ago. He says the city's 1960s parking code is out of date.

"The parking code really hasn't kept up with our change in our lifestyle. So, it's time. It's beyond time for us to reconsider revising and updating the parking code," he said. "Of course, Dallas is very much a driving city. But we're much less so than we were in the 1960s. We now have other things like Uber to get us around, better public transportation."

West says building parking is expensive. So requiring developers to build a minimum number of parking spaces drives up the cost of housing.

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"The code now requires a builder to build one parking space for every bedroom in their unit," he said.

If the city removes that requirement, West believes developers would build the right amount of parking based on their own calculations. 

But some Dallas homeowners are skeptical.    

What they're saying:

Mike Northrup lives in the Lower Greenville area, a neighborhood that’s experienced the effect of spillover parking first-hand. 

"People will want parking. And if they don't have it, they park in surrounding neighborhoods, and residential areas will wind up having to bear that burden," he said. "What you hear people say is, ‘If I can't find parking at a particular business, I'll just stop going there.’"

Northrup says he is also concerned about who will be most burdened by less parking. 

"It's the lower income persons who may work three jobs have to get from one part of the city to another quickly without mass transit, and mass transit doesn't work that well in our city," he said.

What's next:

The Dallas City Plan Commission is closing in on making a recommendation to the Dallas City Council. 

The commission will be hearing public comment on Thursday no earlier than noon. 

People interested in speaking can register here: Online Speaker Registration Form