AB 2097 – Elimination of Minimum Parking Requirements Near Transit
Assembly Bill (AB) 2097 is legislation enacted in 2022 that prohibits public agencies from imposing minimum automobile parking requirements on specified residential, commercial, and other developments located within one-half mile of public transit.
The purpose of AB 2097 is three-fold –
It facilitates development of residential, commercial, and other developments by reducing the need to provide parking, which creates challenges for land use planning.
It promotes development near transit, which typically means infill development.
It promotes the use of transit to reduce automobile use, congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions.
The city or county may impose minimum parking requirements only if it makes written findings within 30 days stating that not imposing minimum parking would have a substantially negative impact on affordable housing or housing for special needs or elderly populations.
In addition, certain types of development projects are not subject to any parking minimums, and the city or county cannot impose them by making the findings above. The city or county cannot impose any minimum parking requirements on projects with at least 20 percent of units designated for very-low, low-, or moderate-income households, students, the elderly, or persons with disabilities, the project contains fewer than 20 housing units, or the project qualifies for parking reductions under state law.
AB 2097 excludes projects where any portion is designated for use as a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging, except where a portion of a housing development project is designated for use as a residential hotel. Such projects are still subject to city and county minimum parking requirements.
Note that to the extent that parking is proposed for a development, it may still be subject to local design standards for parking, such as landscaping and dimensions.
“Public transit” is defined in AB 2097 to mean “major transit stop,” as defined in Section 21155 of the Public Resources Code (PRC). PRC Section 21155 is a section of PRC Division 13 – Environmental Quality (California Environmental Quality Act/CEQA), Chapter 4.2 – Implementation of the Sustainable Communities Strategy. PRC Section 21155 indicates that a “major transit stop” is as defined in Section 21064.3 AND major transit stops that are included in a regional transportation plan.
Pursuant to Section 21064.3, “major transit stop” means a site containing any of the following:
(a) An existing rail or bus rapid transit station.
(b) A ferry terminal served by either a bus or rail transit service.
(c) The intersection of two or more major bus routes with a frequency of service interval of 20 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods.
Because it can be challenging to determine whether a development is near a major transit stop, the intersection of major bus routes with the applicable service frequency interval, or a transit stop included in a regional transportation plan, applicants should check with the city or county.
AB 2097 is codified in section 65585 of Government Code (in Title 7 – Planning and Land Use, Division 1 – Planning and Zoning, Chapter 3 – Local Planning, Article 10.6 – Housing Elements, or “Housing Accountability Act”).