PARKING

Introduction
Parking is an essential component of the City of Alexandria’s transportation system. The City’s parking resources consist of private and public parking garages, lots, and curbside parking. All of these resources must be managed effectively in order to provide residents and visitors with needed parking. Long- or short-term parking is part of 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 influences people’s housing and transportation choices about where to live and how to travel to work, shop, and conduct personal business. The City’s challenge is to provide enough parking to meet mobility and economic needs, while limiting supply to encourage people to use non-auto modes.¹

A typical automobile is parked 23 hours each day, and uses several parking spaces each week, making parking availability a key contributor to the financial health of the City’s commercial areas.² At the same time, parking management is one of the most important tools for managing congestion, increasing transit ridership and achieving the wider goals of the Transportation Master Plan.³ 

This parking section of the Transportation Master Plan provides a background of the City of Alexandria’s existing parking policies, identifies the guiding principles for the City in the management of parking, and identifies specific actions and strategies for the City to undertake in order to manage parking resources in a cost effective manner that contributes toward the overall vision of the City. The development and implementation of a comprehensive parking strategy will work in tandem with and serve to further the goals, actions and strategies of the City’s plans for transit, streets, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

Goal:
A comprehensive parking management strategy that is fully integrated with the city’s plans for transit, streets, bicycles and pedestrians and functions in coordination with these plans - furthering the city’s overall goals and wider transportation vision. 

The City currently has twelve designated residential parking districts. The districts require residents to display a residential parking permit on their vehicle to park. The annual fee for the residential parking permit is $15 for the first vehicle, $20 for the second vehicle, and $50 for each additional vehicle. The parking permit allows residents to park vehicle anywhere within the permit parking district for which it was issued, provided no other parking restrictions apply. The City code prohibits parking a vehicle in the same place for more than 72 continuous hours. The parking permit does not override this restriction.

It is important to consider the character of distinct areas within the city and what the overall goals for these areas are in order to effectively develop parking policy and programs that are context sensitive. The prioritization matrix below was developed by Arlington County — but is directly applicable to the city of Alexandria’s decision making process regarding parking management.

Minimum requirements for parking throughout the City of Alexandria are established in the City’s zoning ordinance. In addition, parts of the Eisenhower East plan establish maximum limits on parking. The existing minimum parking requirements for the City of Alexandria are outlined in the following table. In addition, Table 2 outlines the required number of parking spaces for retail uses within the City.

Existing Parking Requirements

For all single-family detached and two-family residential dwellings, required off-street parking facilities are required to be located on the same lot as the main building. For all multifamily dwellings, required off-street parking facilities are required to be located on the same lot as the main building lot, on a lot separated from the main building lot by an alley or directly across the street from the main building when separated by a minor local street only. For all commercial or industrial uses, the distance from the off-street parking facility to the commercial or industrial use which it serves shall not exceed 500 feet from the nearest corner of the lot containing the structure to the nearest usable portion of the lot used for parking, provided that such off-street parking facility shall be permitted on land in a commercial or industrial zone only.

Parking Spaces Required for New Retail Uses⁶

Within the Old and Historic Alexandria District, access to all parking is required to be provided from an alley or interior court. Upon a finding by the planning commission or director that it is clearly not feasible to provide such access, a waiver as to part or all of any parking requirement may be granted during the site plan review process. Additional requirements for parking access apply to select districts and buildings throughout the city.

The City of Alexandria’s on-street parking resources are becoming increasingly complex as new uses and services are introduced within the City. Some of the uses that compete for the City’s curbspace include loading zones, bus stops, tour bus parking and taxis. With these competing uses it is imperative for the City to have clear and concise goals, objectives and strategies to guide the decision making process when it comes to parking.

The foundation of this process is the formation of the below parking management principles. The City of Alexandria has adopted the following parking management principles to guide their parking policies and programs. These principles were initially established by the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute and provide the foundation for parking policy in the City of Alexandria.

Parking Management Principles

Funding

The City of Alexandria parking program is funded through revenues generated from parking fees. Currently the City of Alexandria has approximately 1,000 metered parking spaces within the City limits. This total is estimated to increase to approximately 1,500 meters with the completion of the East Eisenhower development. These meters provide approximately $1 million in revenue to the City annually, with a projected increase to $2 million with the completion of the East Eisenhower development. The revenue generated from parking meters is required under City Code to be used for the provision of parking.

In addition to the above future development and redevelopment within the City will contribute to the provision of parking resources. However, efforts will be made by the City to limit the required number of parking spaces and provide incentives to developers for the provision of travel demand management strategies as identified in the required transportation management plan and implemented accordingly.

Actions and Strategies

P1. The City will complete a comprehensive study of City parking supply, demand and parking policies.

P1.1.  The City will identify and designate priority parking districts with common characteristics and goals and reduce the impacts of parking spillover in surrounding neighborhoods.

P1.1.a. The City will modify/revise parking policies based on neighborhood and community characteristics.
P1.1.b. The City will identify incentive and disincentive policies that encourage transit use.

P1.2. The City will designate a Parking Authority to manage the allocation of parking spaces, management, enforcement, development of additional parking,
P1.3. Supply/Demand Study (Include pricing, demand, policy)
P1.4. The City will develop comprehensive guidelines for the management of on-street parking.
P1.5 The City will identify, evaluate and adopt appropriate “best practices” for municipal parking management to more effectively manage its parking resources.

P2.  The City will develop and implement comprehensive guidelines and requirements for transit-oriented development (TOD)that support the principles of TOD and include maximum parking ratios, unbundled parking infrastructure, and parking cash-out programs as parking management strategies for development/redevelopment of properties proximate to Metrorail stations.

P3. The City will ensure parking availability within the City’s commercial, residential and tourist districts through the development of a comprehensive curbspace management program.

P3.1.  The City will establish a method to systematically prioritize curbspace.

P3.1.a. In commercial districts prioritize curb space in the following order: 1) transit stops and layover, 2) passenger and commercial vehicle loading, 3) short-term parking (time limit signs and paid  parking); 4) parking for shared vehicles; and 5) vehicular capacity.
P3.1.b. In residential districts, prioritize curb space in the following order: 1) transit stops and layover; 2) passenger and commercial vehicle loading; 3) parking for local residents and for shared vehicles; and 4) vehicular capacity.

P3.2.  The City will designate meter rates that are based on desired occupancy rates as established by the parking study findings (P5).
P3.3. The City will designate parking for zip cars and flex cars.
P3.4.  Create designated parking zones and spaces for car-sharing parking
P3.5.  Consider installing longer-term paid on-street parking along edges of commercial districts or in office and  institutional zones to regulate curb space where short-term parking demand is low.
P3.6.  The City will explore opportunities to increase the implementation of commercial and residential shared parking.
P3.7.  Develop and promote parking management strategies that favor short-term customer parking over long-term commuter parking.

P4.  The City will implement policies to discourage the development of surface parking lots.

P4.1  The City will study the feasibility of constructing parking structures at the south, west and eastern portals   located at the city boundary aimed at increasing transit ridership.
P4.2.  Encourage parking cash-out and rideshare programs.

P5. The City will increase the use of information technology to provide real-time parking location and availability information.
P6. Educate the property development and management community about unbundling parking from building leases.
P7. The City will seek parking and transit solutions to minimize, if not eliminate, tour bus traffic in the residential areas of Old  Town Alexandria.
P8. The City will seek parking and transit solutions to minimize, if not eliminate, tour bus traffic in the residential areas of Old Town Alexandria.

Endnotes

1. City of Seattle Transportation Strategic Plan. http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/tsphome.htm
2. Litman, Todd. Parking Management: Strategies, Evaluation and Planning. Victoria Transport Policy Institute. 2006.
3. County of Arlington, Virginia Master Transportation Plan. 2006.
4. City of Alexandria Zoning Ordinance
5. City of Alexandria Zoning Ordinance
6. Litman, Todd. Parking Management: Strategies, Evaluation and Planning. Victoria Transport Policy Institute. 2006.