Downtown Parking Going Market Based

As previously discussed here, the City of Tacoma is considering updates to its downtown parking regulations.  After hearing public testimony on January 24th and in recent Environment and Public Works Committee meetings [EPW], EPW recommended amendments to the package that would remove the cap from structured parking proposed as part of a downtown building.

As one councilmember put it, by moving away from the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" nature of the parking standards the City is choosing to honor transparency and encourage development.  A number of downtown property owners, the Tacoma Chamber, and other interested parties joined the BIA in encouraging the City to move to a truly market based solution.

If the amendment proposed by EPW is incorporated into the regulations, the City will allow developers to build only the parking they need, not too much, not too little.  The City will be discussing this proposal on February 14th at 5PM in council chambers and again on February 21st at the same time.

Learn More about Transportation in Downtown Tacoma

UPDATE: New date & time for the Public Health & Transportation Forum: 2/16/12 @ 1PM

Downtown On the Go is presenting two transportation-related forums this February:

On Feb. 2, 2012, in partnership with Futurewise, we’ll discuss transit-oriented communities as they relate to Tacoma and the South Sound. Presenters from around the region will talk about the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Growing Transit Communities program, which has partially funded Tacoma’s South Downtown Subarea Plan and the MLK Subarea Plan.  Participants in the workshop will have the opportunity to discuss and visualize how transit-communities communities can developed and how they can be beneficial to a community, its residents and its businesses.  (Note: This workshop is oriented towards public officials, planners, designers, developers and community leaders, and is open to the public. A social will follow the presentation.)

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, 2-4 p.m.
UW Tacoma, Carwein Auditorium
REGISTER today with Futurewise

On Feb. 16, 2012, DOTG will partner with Transportation Choices Coalition and the Coalition for Active Transportation to host a forum that will address the connection between public health and transportation and all of the momentum around this locally, in the legislature and nationally. A recent bill in the state legislature (HB 2370) proposes including health in the state transportation system policy goals and has brought new interested on this collaboration. The panel will be moderated by Victor Colman, Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition, and will include Representative Andy Billig, D-Spokane, Julia Walton, inova planning, and Kirsten Frandsen, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department. More information about the panelists is available on the DOTG website.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, 1-2:30p.m.
UW Tacoma, Carwein Auditorium
Register today at Transportation Choices Coalition


(Post provided by DOTG's Kristina Walker.  For more information on these or other DOTG activities, please contact Kristina at 253-627-2175)