The City of Orlando has passed a measure to waive minimum parking requirements for new building developments in the city. The decision comes amid a wave of similar ordinances passed in cities across the country as advocates for affordable housing push municipalities to prioritize investment in residential properties over parking. 

In Orlando, where housing affordability ranks among the worst in the country, proponents of affordable housing heralded the rule change as an important step towards lowering the cost of housing. 

Existing data underscore their point. A 2012 study published in Housing Policy Debate found that in New York, a 10 percent increase in minimum parking requirements was associated with a reduction in housing density of about 6 percent: more space allotted for parking meant less housing. The number of vehicles per square mile also increased by 5 percent given a 10 percent increase in parking required. 

Austin Valle, the Orange County Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor and a member of Orlando YIMBY, said the change might make the city more green, with less vehicle congestion and a path toward better public transportation and biking infrastructure. 

“Part of the environment is housing and transportation,” said Valle. “We know that building more housing in the core of our city, connecting it with transit, creating walkable communities, bikeable communities, is one of the best ways to create a sustainable community.”

Despite the warm reception the rule has garnered from activists, its actual passage moved through the municipal government quietly and with little fanfare. In a statement to Spectrum News 13, Ashley Papagni, a public information officer with the Mayor’s office, said the measure was introduced in May 2022 as part of a longer-standing housing initiative. 

“This is really important in urban areas as it will allow for more existing buildings to be available to transition into residential uses,” Papagni wrote. “It also makes new development opportunities more affordable to develop as there are considerable costs when building parking garages.” 

Looking forward, Valle said he hopes the city will take this reform and broaden its application to larger and larger portions of the city. 

“At Orlando YIMBY, we talk a lot about how these sorts of mundane rules actually drive a lot of the cost of housing,” he said. “We’d love to see it grow, even beyond the Central Business District, maybe throughout the rest of the downtown area, really even throughout the rest of the city of Orlando.” 

The new rule applies to the area between Colonial Drive and the 408, to the north and south, and I-4 and Rosalind, to the west and east.