Long Beach : Tougher Parking Standards

After a quick study by the Planning Commission, the City Council has approved increasing the amount of parking required for residential developments.

Planning Director Robert J. Paternoster said the changes may not be permanent. “It is quite possible that within the year, we’ll be coming back with refinements,” he said. At the public hearing, there was criticism that new projects may actually have adequate parking, he said.

The new requirements fall heaviest on developments of up to 20 units, where two parking spaces must now be provided for each two-bedroom unit. Before, only 1 1/2 spaces had to be provided. One-bedroom units in small developments must have 1 1/2 spaces now, instead of 1.

More guest parking is required under the new regulations, and less of it can be on the street. Before, one guest space was required for every six units, and on-street parking could be counted into the parking requirement. Now the requirement is one per four units, and in most cases, on-street parking cannot be counted toward the requirement.

Within the city’s downtown transit corridor, more lenient requirements will stay in place.

On April 22, the City Council asked the Planning Commission to study the residential parking requirements and make a recommendation within 30 days. Quick action was called for because city officials feared that they would be deluged by plans from developers anxious to get their projects approved before the new regulations were implemented.

On Tuesday, City Manager John Dever said that since the council started considering the tougher standards, the Planning Department has been flooded by applications that “will take three years to work off.”

The new regulations will not go into effect until 30 days after the ordinance’s second reading, which is expected Tuesday.