Minimum Parking Requirements

The act prohibits a municipality that is within a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) or a county that has unincorporated areas within an MPO (local government), on or after June 30, 2025, from enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements that apply to a land use approval for a multi-family residential development, adaptive re-use for residential purposes, or adaptive re-use mixed-use purposes which include at least 50% of use for residential purposes that is within, as applicable, the unincorporated area of the county or the municipality, within a metropolitan planning organization, and at least partially within an applicable transit service area. An applicable transit service area is an area identified by a map published by the department of local affairs as an area that is one-quarter mile of certain transit stops.

The prohibition on enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements does not lower the protections provided for persons with disabilities or prohibit a local government from:

• Enacting or enforcing a maximum parking requirement;
• Enforcing any agreement made before the effective date of the act in connection with a land use approval to provide regulated affordable housing in exchange for reducing minimum parking requirements;
• Being awarded funding for affordable housing that requires a ratio of a certain number of parking spaces;
• Enacting or enforcing a minimum parking requirement for bicycles; or
• Imposing the following requirements on a parking space that is voluntarily provided in connection with a development project:
• That the owners of such a parking space charge for the use of the space;
• That the owner of such a parking space contribute to a parking enterprise, permitting system, or shared parking plan; and
• That such a parking space allow for electric vehicle charging stations in accordance with existing law.

Furthermore, notwithstanding the prohibition on enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements, a local government may impose or enforce a minimum parking requirement in connection with a housing development project that is intended to contain twenty unity or more or contain regulated affordable housing. To impose or enforce such a minimum parking requirement, a county or municipality must publish certain written findings and annually report to the department of local affairs.

Lastly, the act requires the department of local affairs:

• In consultation with the department of transportation, and the Colorado energy office, to develop and publish best practices and technical assistance materials concerning optimizing parking supply and managing parking; and
• In consultation with the department of transportation, the Colorado energy office, metropolitan planning organizations, and transit agencies that operate within metropolitan planning organizations, to publish a map that designates applicable transit service areas to be used by local governments in complying with the act.

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)