Too many empty parking lot spots. Why Richland needs to change its rules | Opinion

Suppose we could, without any spending by the city, free up valuable land in Richland for affordable housing, increase city tax revenue, give businesses more customers living nearby and reduce the tax burden of businesses?

We can, by simply eliminating the excessive parking lot minimums for the Central Business District (CBD) of Richland.

Parking lot minimums were introduced in the early days of automobiles clogging city streets. They ensured motorists could find a place to park their vehicle when they drove it to shop in a business, eat at a restaurant, or go to work.

But the minimums have proven to be complicated and excessive. Indeed, a study of parking lot use the Central Business District of Richland concluded that daily use of “off-street parking (i.e., on-site parking lots) peaked at 50%”.

Of the 128 acres of parking space in Richland’s central district, 64 acres is completely unused. What a waste of valuable land.

Why not eliminate the parking lot minimums in that district, so that the owners can put that space to use for housing, more business, or whatever they wish? Give owners the freedom to decide how much parking their customers need and to produce income on the space not needed.

Some of those parking lots are fully utilized so, if the owners want to retain their customers, including businesses if the owners lease their property to businesses, they won’t reduce parking. But other lots are used far less than 50%. Owners of those could sell the excess or develop it themselves.

That development will increase property tax revenue for the city, give the existing businesses more customers living within walking distance and reduce the amount of land that the existing property owners and businesses must pay taxes on.

The mixed-use zoning in the central district already allows owners to put it to many uses: commercial, housing, or both, with commercial on the first floor and housing/office space above. Given the shortage of affordable housing in Richland and nationwide, and the value of having potential customers living within walking distance of their business, adding housing would be an attractive option, particularly if it’s higher density.

The Richland City Council has the information it needs to make the decision. The Benton-Franklin Council of Government had an extensive study done, producing a 144-page report in 2022. Its conclusions are decisive: “Many of the current properties in the CBD possess the potential to accommodate some infill development and/or expansions to their current building(s) while still meeting their required parking obligations.”

It also outlined a development vision of five-story buildings in the central district with attractive commercial space on the first floor and a mix of housing and office space above, creating 6 million square feet of commercial space and 10,000 housing units.

Realizing such a vision would transform the area into a vibrant urban center, with people on the street walking to nearby restaurants, cafes, shops and services.

Whether the owners of those parking lots embrace that vision remains to be seen. But they can’t with the current parking lot minimums.

If the Richland council makes this decision, it will be following more than 50 cities in the U.S., including Spokane, that have eliminated their parking lot minimums. Some started with the inner core and then expanded to the entire city. None have rescinded their decision.

Yes, Richland is not Spokane. But we don’t need more study. The need for more affordable housing is critical, and the opportunity in Richland’s central district is obvious.

We can start by eliminating the minimums in that area. After we see how well this works, we can expand it to Queensgate, where parking lots are also never full, and to the entire city.

Expanding it to the entire city means lower development costs for new commercial buildings that don’t need the current required amount of land for parking and are spared the $2,000 to $5,000 cost of preparing each unnecessary parking space. And more space available for housing!

What can you do? Contact your Richland council members at www.ci.richland.wa.us/government/city-council.

This story was originally published January 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.