Off-Street and Bicycle Parking Code Update
This code update has been approved.
On December 5, 2023, Broomfield City Council unanimously adopted the Parking Ordinance 2217, the first major updated to Broomfield's parking code in many years. The new ordinance will go into effect on January 1, 2024. Major changes to the code included the refinement of minimum parking requirements to more closely meet parking needs, the development of overlay zones around transit rich areas of Broomfield that allow further reductions in parking requirements, and the addition of bicycle parking requirements for some land uses.
Beginning in January 2023 Broomfield staff embarked on a review of the existing off-street code requirements to identify areas where potential updates could be considered. This included:
- Reviewing the existing parking requirements by land use category
- Reviewing off-street parking requirements
- Considering whether existing parking requirements were consistent with current standards
- Reviewing technical requirements for parking space design
- Drafting new requirements for bicycle parking
Public Input Opportunities
Public input about the initial draft of the off-street parking code update was accepted from June 2 through early December, 2023.
In June Broomfield staff offered engagement opportunities directly to developers in the community at a meeting. In addition, a public information meeting was offered to interested residents to share the proposed ordinance, answer question from the public, and accept public feedback.
Staff utilized the input received during the engagement period from the public, developers, and City Council members to modify the Parking Ordinance in an attempt to best meet the needs of the community.
Why is Broomfield doing this now?
There are a number of reasons Broomfield is looking at these requirements now, beginning with the fact that off-street parking code requirements have not been reviewed comprehensively in over 20 years and periodic review of local codes is a prudent practice for municipalities.
Broomfield reviews every development that is proposed in the community. In recent years Broomfield has seen a dramatic increase in off-street parking variance requests from developers asking to reduce the amount of parking from Broomfield requirements. This suggests that off-street parking requirements may be outdated and higher than necessary for some land uses. Further, it became apparent that there is a need for more clarity for the guidance about technical requirements for parking spaces. This will help to avoid developer confusion and to reduce the amount of time dedicated to negotiating design aspects of parking lots. Further, a reduction in parking requires less space, allowing land to be used for other purposes like open space, parks, housing, or businesses.
Source: Victoria Transportation Policy Institute, Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis - Parking Costs, 2023
Broomfield identified an opportunity to adopt modern approaches to off-street parking for transit oriented neighborhoods in the community. Adopting a two-tiered set of parking requirements allows Broomfield to reduce parking requirements in targeted areas of the community to more closely match the actual parking demand. This strategy can potentially lower development costs, support the use of alternative modes of transportation, and help foster development that is centered around people, not cars. The adoption of two-tiered off-street parking requirements will also support state and local goals to address greenhouse gas emissions by lowering the barrier for using alternative modes of travel.
Source: U.S. National Archives (EPA Bike Room)
For a number of years Broomfield has requested that developers include bicycle parking spaces for a variety of land use types to support travel choice for residents and visitors, but has lacked the ability to require it. This draft parking code update includes the recommendation to adopt a new section of code that addresses bicycle parking, establishing minimum expectations for new development. These code updates include standards for appropriate locations for bicycle parking as well as information to establish a common understanding with developers for technical requirements such as bicycle storage spaces, bicycle rack types, security, and weather protection.
Updating the off-street and bicycle parking requirements supports policies, action steps, and goals in the Broomfield Comprehensive Plan and Broomfield Transportation Plan.
Policy TS-F.2: Create compact and mixed-use development in targeted locations to provide options that reduce dependency on automobiles.
Action Step TS-B.5.3: Consider reducing parking requirements for businesses instituting Transportation Demand Management (TDM) policies and actions.
Action Step TS-D.6.1: Work with developers and business owners to ensure bicycle and pedestrian amenities (such as bike racks, benches, and pedestrian scaled lighting) are incorporated into development plans and current business locations.
This proposed off-street and bicycle parking update supports elements of TDM, like the inclusion of bicycle parking requirements. Broomfield intends to further refine TDM code requirements in the coming years as regional guidance is released by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and Commuting Solutions.
Broomfield’s Approach to Updates
Drafting the potential updates to the parking code took a number of factors under consideration and required extensive research into national best practices.
- Review regional municipal off-street and bicycle parking requirements and compare with Broomfield’s existing standards. This included reviewing parking codes from: Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Thornton, Westminster, Arvada, City of Boulder, Fort Collins, and Castlerock.
- Review Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Parking Studies. ITE is an authority for transportation and traffic planning, relied on by municipalities across the nation for technical guidance. For parking requirements ITE conducts parking usage studies across the US and Canada for a wide variety of land use types, times of day, contexts (urban, suburban, etc.), along other factors to determine average parking requirements for municipalities by land use, as well as to determine actual parking usage rates based on land use type.
- Review research for best practices in off-street and bicycle parking code requirements. Broomfield reviewed a wide variety of studies, articles, expert groups, and regional and state recommendations for parking code requirements. This included the review of the Colorado GHG Reduction Roadmap: Mitigation Action Plan strategies for parking codes to support State GHG goals.
Using the information gathered through these three approaches, Broomfield staff developed draft off-street parking and bicycle parking recommendations. The proposed update to the code takes care to ensure Broomfield’s local land use context, travel patterns, and resident needs are taken into account, resulting in requirements that are appropriate for the community.
Key Changes to Parking Requirements
Combining or eliminating similar or unnecessary land use types
Over the years, development trends have changed and within the existing code for off-street parking there were a number of land use categories that were rarely, if ever used. Similarly, there were a number of land use categories that were very similar and also had similar parking requirements based on transportation industry studies of actual parking usage rates.
Highlights of proposed changes:
New Land Use Categories:
Changes in Off-Street Parking Requirements
Parking spaces are expensive to build and maintain, asphalt used for parking spaces acts as a thermal sink exacerbating urban heat island effects, and ultimately parking spaces take up valuable land that could be used for other purposes. For these reasons, ensuring that off-street parking requirements meet, but do not exceed the needs of the community is important and can benefit everyone.
At the City Council Study Session on June 20, the feedback from City Council members suggested a number of minor revisions needed to be made to the draft off-street parking requirements to clarify land use types, as well as modify some of the specific parking requirements. Click this link for a table that illustrates the notable changes in Broomfield proposed off-street parking requirements.
Bicycle Parking Requirements
Over the past few years, Broomfield staff have worked closely with developers to communicate local goals to support alternative modes of transportation such as bicycling. As part of this effort, staff have consistently requested both short and long-term bicycle parking to be included in new developments that provide employment or housing. As part of this off-street parking code update, Broomfield aims to formalize expectations for bicycle parking in new developments to help generate a common set of expectations and to be consistent with best planning practices in 2023. Follow this link for highlights of the proposed new bicycle parking requirements.
Feedback from City Council members at their June 20th Study Session illustrated some concerns with the types of land uses that would have new long term bicycle parking requirements. In response to the comments, some modifications have been made that reduced the total land uses subject to long term bicycle parking requirements. Further review of the land uses required to have long term bicycle parking requirements will be conducted in the coming year as part of a development of code requirements for transportation demand management.
Long and Short-Term Bicycle Parking Definitions:
