"Basically, we’re making it cheaper and easier to build new housing near transit," Gov. Newsom said in a."This means more housing at lower prices close to walkable neighborhoods and public transit — again, reducing costs for everyday Californians and eliminating emissions from cars."
Some jurisdictions – San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Diego among them — have already moved away from parking minimums. In June, San JoseA prior state law already allows residential developers to request waivers from jurisdictions that have minimum parking requirements, so long as at least 20% of their units will be below market rate. Since 2019, the state has also exempted residential projects whose units are 100% affordable housing projects from parking minimums.
Still, some developers with suburban portfolios have said they have hesitated to ask for those exemptions, knowing the reaction they could generate from reluctant elected officials and their constituents. Among them:, CEO of City Ventures. The Irvine-based developer has been attempting to include higher density housing in its developments, which span much of the North and East Bay.
"You still need everybody going, ‘'we want this project and we will support it,'" Buckland told the Business Journal last fall. The new law allows local governments to enforce parking minimums within a half-mile of transit if they can make written findings"supported by a preponderance of evidence" that not doing so will harm the jurisdiction’s ability to meet its housing goals or will have a"substantially negative impact" on existing parking.