On May 14, City Council adopted an ordinance updating the city’s off-street parking requirements. The ordinance provides more flexibility for non-residential property owners and businesses to determine the appropriate amount of parking for their developments based on their specific needs.
Prior to this ordinance amendment, a minimum amount of parking was required for each land use in the city. Today, 43% of commercial land is allocated for parking. Round Rock’s comprehensive plan, Round Rock 2030, includes implementation strategies to reevaluate off-street parking requirements amid a time of changing consumer preferences. Before amending the parking requirements, Planning and Development Services (PDS) staff reviewed local development patterns, studied national data on parking demand, and looked at approaches used by other communities to eliminate minimum parking requirements. Based on this review, PDS recommended ordinance amendments to update off-street parking requirements.
The new ordinance reduces, eliminates, or modifies minimum off-street parking requirements for many non-residential uses, thereby allowing parking supply to be determined by market demand.
While some land uses no longer require on-site parking, certain parking requirements remain in place:
- Parking for certain assembly uses and for all uses in residential zoning districts
- Parking for certain zoning districts near single-family neighborhoods to prevent spillover parking on residential streets
- Design requirements for parking spaces, parking lots, landscaping, screening, and stormwater management
- Standards for downtown parking
- Requirements for drive-throughs and fleet parking
- Accessible parking for people with disabilities any time a business chooses to provide parking on their property.
The goal of this amendment is to allow parking supply to be determined by a project’s context, constraints and market demands. The updates also support more efficient use of land, provide flexibility for business owners and developers, encourage redevelopment and reinvestment of existing commercial centers, and reflect changing trends in commercial activity.
