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Project Overview

The Access Management and Parking Strategy (AMPS) project covers three topics related to parking:

  • Off-street parking standards,
  • Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and
  • On-street parking management strategies.

This project will reimagine the approach to parking regulation in Boulder. The project implements several built environment, economic, housing and transportation policies from the adopted Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan and is intended to meet the measurable objectives laid out in the Transportation Master Plan.

What is Being Considered?

Off-Street Parking Requirements

  • Explore eliminating the minimum off-street parking requirements in city code for all land uses in the city.
  • Recent state legislation (HB24-1304) states that as of June 30, 2025, jurisdictions may not require off-street parking for multifamily residential uses in transit service areas.
  • Developers and property owners would instead provide the number of parking spaces they determine is necessary for the building users.

Transportation Demand Management (TDM)

  • Design an ordinance based on best practices research and input.
  • Focus on mitigating impacts and improving mobility and access.
  • Use a tiered approach with increasing requirements based on size and impact, with some exemptions.

On-Street Parking Management Strategies

  • Minor updates to the Neighborhood Permit Parking program.
  • New tools in the Residential Access Management Program to facilitate new development.
  • Explore proactive review of on-street parking needs when newer higher intensity development is proposed.

State Legislation

This year, the state legislature passed HB24-1304 which states that cities, like Boulder, may not require a minimum number of parking spaces for multifamily residential development or adaptive reuse of buildings for residential uses in areas near transit service. The bill cites several studies that have shown that local minimum off-street parking requirements like Boulder’s increase greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging more people to drive, and increases housing costs, as one structured parking space can cost $25,000 to build and one space in a surface parking lot can cost $10,000 to build.

Parking Supply and Utilization

Over the last 10 years, the city has studied the off-street parking supply and utilization at over 50 sites and over 16,000 spaces around the city. It is clear from the data that for all land uses, more parking is available than is used at peak times. This suggests that the city’s minimum requirements could be significantly reduced or eliminated.

2024 Average Parking Occupancy

raph of Average Parking Occupancy for several land use types in 2024. Industrial - 55%, Lodging - 49%, Medical Office- 76%, Mixed Use Commercial- 39%, Mixed Use Residential - 38%, Office- 48%, Residential- 70%, Retail- 52%

View a larger version of this graph

Project Timeline

2014 – Phase One

  • Simplified and reduced off-street parking standards for some uses.
  • More specific bicycle parking requirements added.

2016 – 2017 – Phase Two

  • Council chose not to adopt additional changes to off-street parking standards or TDM requirements.
  • Council requested additional parking utilization data collection.

2019-2025 – Phase Three

  • Project was reinitiated and additional data collection took place.
  • In 2020 – 2023, the project was paused indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Project restarted in late 2023. Target project completion is summer 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updates to the city’s parking regulations and transportation demand management requirements were originally identified as main implementation steps in the Access Management and Parking Strategy adopted by City Council in 2017. The project had to be paused in 2020 due to the pandemic but has been restarted in 2024.

The City of Boulder has required a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for all different types of businesses and housing since the 1950s. Minimum parking requirements are often based on a mathematical formula, like one space per 400 square feet of space or one parking space per unit. These spaces have to be on private property, located off the public street.

Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is the use of strategies to inform and encourage travelers to maximize the efficiency of transportation systems. The purpose of requiring TDM plans for new developments is to mitigate the transportation impacts for the new development by providing programs, amenities and services to the employees or community members who live in the city.

In 1986, the Boulder City Council adopted the Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program to relieve spillover parking in residential areas. The RPP program was designed to give preference in the use of on-street parking spaces to community members who resided in or businesses located within a designated area. It was first implemented in the Mapleton and University Hill neighborhoods in 1993. The RPP program became the Neighborhood Permit Parking (NPP) program in 1997. Today, twelve NPP zones and one seasonal zone exist.

In recent years, at least 78 other cities in the United States have entirely eliminated the minimum parking requirements in their zoning regulations, including nearby Longmont. Learn more from Parking Reform Network.