Staff proposes piloting relaxed parking minimums in Coliseum Central to spur development

Allison Giacura, the city's zoning administrator, briefed the council on the role of minimum-parking regulations and options for targeted reform. She explained tradeoffs: excessive minimums can waste land, increase stormwater runoff and discourage walkability, while insufficient parking can create spillover into neighborhoods and impede access. Giacura said Richmond and Roanoke have eliminated citywide minimums and Norfolk has contextual exemptions; staff's recommendation is to pilot changes in Coliseum Central rather than adopt citywide, immediate elimination of minimums.

Council members raised questions about whether Peninsula Town Center's (PTC) parking garage is underutilized and whether shared-parking credits are tracked. Staff replied that PTC has been asked to pursue a parking study and that credits are monitored administratively when granted. The city manager and Giacura emphasized that any relaxation should be paired with strategic parking infrastructure investments (for example, targeted parking garages) and neighborhood-level spillover protections.