HB 24-1304

HB 24-1304, also known as the Minimum Parking Requirements bill, prohibits cities and counties within metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) from requiring new multi-family residential developments or adaptive reuse projects with at least 50% residential use to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. This rule takes effect on June 30, 2025, but there are exceptions for affordable housing projects and developments that include more than twenty units. The bill also requires the Department of Local Affairs to create guidelines and maps to help local governments comply with these new rules. Signed into law by the governor on May 10, 2024, this legislation aims to reduce parking requirements in areas well-served by public transit, potentially lowering housing costs and encouraging more sustainable urban development practices.

Official Summary

The act prohibits a municipality that is within a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) or a county that has unincorporated areas within an MPO (local government), on or after June 30, 2025, from enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements that apply to a land use approval for a multi-family residential development, adaptive re-use for residential purposes, or adaptive re-use mixed-use purposes which include at least 50% of use for residential purposes that is within, as applicable, the unincorporated area of the county or the municipality, within a metropolitan planning organization, and at least partially within an applicable transit service area. An applicable transit service area is an area identified by a map published by the department of local affairs as an area that is one-quarter mile of certain transit stops. The prohibition on enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements does not lower the protections provided for persons with disabilities or prohibit a local government from: Enacting or enforcing a maximum parking requirement; Enforcing any agreement made before the effective date of the act in connection with a land use approval to provide regulated affordable housing in exchange for reducing minimum parking requirements; Being awarded funding for affordable housing that requires a ratio of a certain number of parking spaces; Enacting or enforcing a minimum parking requirement for bicycles; or Imposing the following requirements on a parking space that is voluntarily provided in connection with a development project: That the owners of such a parking space charge for the use of the space; That the owner of such a parking space contribute to a parking enterprise, permitting system, or shared parking plan; and That such a parking space allow for electric vehicle charging stations in accordance with existing law. Furthermore, notwithstanding the prohibition on enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements, a local government may impose or enforce a minimum parking requirement in connection with a housing development project that is intended to contain twenty unity or more or contain regulated affordable housing. To impose or enforce such a minimum parking requirement, a county or municipality must publish certain written findings and annually report to the department of local affairs. Lastly, the act requires the department of local affairs: In consultation with the department of transportation, and the Colorado energy office, to develop and publish best practices and technical assistance materials concerning optimizing parking supply and managing parking; and In consultation with the department of transportation, the Colorado energy office, metropolitan planning organizations, and transit agencies that operate within metropolitan planning organizations, to publish a map that designates applicable transit service areas to be used by local governments in complying with the act. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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