Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe has made a sensible alteration to recommendations by the city's Planning Commission regarding downtown parking regulations.
The commission completed its review and offered recommendations last November. It was tasked with examining opportunities to eliminate parking-related barriers to new development. Among its recommendations was eliminating a minimum parking requirement for new development, limitations on new or expanded on-site surface parking lots and a cap on the number of stalls allowed. Boe's amendment would eliminate the latter.
The proposed revisions could have long-lasting impacts on downtown development. Eliminating the requirement of a minimum number of parking stalls shifts the city policies to a market-based system. These changes would mean developers would no longer need to create an unnecessary amount of parking stalls, allowing them to tailor parking needs to the unique situations of the tenants who would occupy the building.
The cap on the number of stalls applies to what is called the International Financial Services Area, a section of the downtown core in the vicinity of Pacific Avenue and South 15th Street. This moniker was selected when the city and business leaders were working to keep Russell Investments in town, perhaps in a new office complex. German billionaire Erivan Haub holds a valuable parcel of open land at this location, which many view as ideal for a future large office building.
In contrast to what the Planning Commission recommended, Portland allows 36 percent more stalls. A cap on the number of stalls could turn developers away from downtown because they may be courting tenants who seek a larger number of stalls than what the city would allow under the plan.
Tacoma's major competition for professional firms seeking office space right now is not Seattle. It is nearby suburban areas such as Federal Way and Puyallup, less dense cities with office park complexes and ample, often free, parking. Putting unneeded restrictions on parking puts downtown Tacoma at a clear disadvantage and could cause such firms to locate in the suburbs.
Tacoma/Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and a number of business leaders oppose the maximum parking requirement. Those concerns have been examined by the council in its Environment and Public Works Committee, of which Boe is a member. His amendment is evidence that the council is tuned in to the concerns of business. Sometimes the Planning Commission is not. As Mayor Marilyn Strickland said this week, this is a matter best decided by market conditions.
We urge approval of Boe's amendment when the matter comes up for a vote of the full council during its Feb. 21 meeting.
