Chatham Square Amendment Regarding Eligibility for On-Street Parking Permits

On Thursday, October 4, 2018, the Alexandria Planning Commission considered a unique request to amend a Development Special Use Permit for Chatham Square, 409 North Pitt Street, to allow residents to be eligible to receive on-street residential parking permits. The commission voted to recommend approval on a particularly close vote.

Background on City Residential Parking Policies

When development of Chatham Square was approved in 2002, residents were prohibited from receiving on-street parking permits consistent with city policy from 2000 to 2008 aimed at protecting existing residences from competition for on-street parking spaces. The development was required to include off-street two parking spaces for each market-rate unit, plus sufficient parking for visitors.

City policy subsequently changed in 2008 to permit residents of new developments to receive on-street parking permits, on grounds that denying permits was not equitable to residents of new developments. The policy changed again in 2015 when a new Residential Permit Parking for New Development Policy was adopted, permitting residents of new development to receive on-street parking permits unless the average on-street parking occupancy is 85% or higher at the time of approval, or more than 50% of the total occupied ground floor street frontage is a non-residential use. The policy does not require consideration of future demand for parking, only current demand relative to available on-street supply.

Chatham Square Request

From a practical perspective, the existing policy limits Chatham Square residents from parking on-street for longer than 3 hours at a time on weekdays. Most of the on-street parking spaces near the development allow a maximum of 3 hours of parking between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm weekdays without a residential parking permit. That requires someone without a parking permit to move their car twice during the business day–by 11:00 am and again after 2:00 pm–to comply with posted limits. From 5:00 pm through 8:00 am weekdays and all day on weekends there are no parking limits on most blocks in the area.

Chatham Square residents stated that their garages are too small to easily park two cars, necessitating the flexibility of on-street parking. Therefore, they sought to amend the DSUP for their development to remove a condition prohibiting them from being eligible to receive on-street parking permits. They hired a traffic consultant to study parking utilization in the blocks adjacent and tangential to Chatham Square, which found that on-street parking at key hours is always below the 85 percent threshold specified in city policy, as summarized in the graphic below. City staff recommended approval.

Summary of parking patterns near Chatham Square development (courtesy of City of Alexandria staff report, based on analysis prepared by Kimley-Horn)

Neighbor Concerns and Commission Debate

Neighbors of Chatham Square, particularly those without off-street parking residing south of Princess Street, objected to the request. They stated that the change would lead to increased on-street parking by Chatham Square residents, creating unfair competition for on-street spaces from residents who have access to off-street parking. They requested denial of the amendment request.

The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the request 3-2, with two members absent. Dissenting members stated that adoption of the new city policy did not reflect enough of a change to warrant changing the development condition to grant on-street parking permits. There was also discussion regarding whether amendment of this type of condition was appropriate. Supporting members cited equity, demonstrated availability of on-street parking, and consistency with the new city policy as grounds to recommend approval.

Commentary

As someone who lived in Old Town without off-street parking for more than 10 years, and as a present-day resident of Rosemont owning two cars with off-street parking for only one, I understand the concerns of residents who objected to this request. Living without off-street parking means having to hunt for parking at times.

However, I believe on-street parking is a shared community resource and should not be limited to residents. That said, I agree with reasonable limits to on-street parking for non-residents, but do not believe it’s equitable for one class of residents, regardless of access to off-street parking, to be denied on-street parking privileges shared by similarly-situated neighbors. Therefore, I opposed the 2015 Residential Permit Parking for New Development Policy on the basis of equity considerations.

The new policy was nonetheless adopted by City Council, and the Chatham Square applicants demonstrated, in compliance with the policy, that demand for on-street parking near their homes is well below the threshold for denial established by city policy. Given the consistency of the request with the city policy, as well as my philosophical opposition to denying on-street parking to similarly situated households, I supported the applicants request.

A related question involves whether it’s appropriate amend the conditions of an approved Development Special Use Permit, a consideration also at issue in the request to permit lights for the athletic field at TC Williams High School. As city staff outlined in the docket report for this item, DSUP amendments are routinely considered by City Council and the Planning Commission. Recent examples include changes to allow a multifamily development approved for the Beauregard Corridor to instead develop as townhouses; to permit a townhouse community on Duke Street to allow decks; for the Modera Tempo project to change its mix of retail and parking and add residential units; and for the Harris Teeter in Old Town North to operate 24 hours daily. Without the ability to amend existing conditions of approval, our community will lose the flexibility to adapt development to reflect changing circumstances. Fortunately, such changes are not considered lightly, and involve public outreach and a series of public hearings.

City Council will consider this issue at its Saturday, October 13, 2018 public hearing.

Postscript

Council voted on October 13 to allow each Chatham Square unit to be eligible for a single parking permit for its second automobile registered with the city. Council members were persuaded by Chatham Square residents’ pleas regarding the inadequacy of garages to park two cars, but did not want to incentivize or exacerbate on-street parking in the neighborhood by granting permits for all automobiles registered to Chatham Square addresses.