Are there any parking reductions or credits in the City of Austin?

Yes, there are several different parking reduction incentives in Austin that can be triggered by geographic location and/or zoning classification.

The City of Austin does not require any off-street parking for sites within the Central Business District (CBD) and Downtown Mixed Use (DMU) zoning districts. The majority of downtown Austin is comprised of either of these zoning classifications.

All commercial developments located within the City of Austin Urban Core, as defined in “Subchapter E: Design Standards and Mixed Use,” are only required to provide 80% of the required parking listed in the Land Development Code (LDC) Appendix A. Additionally, these sites may utilize the following off-street parking reduction incentives. The overall requirement may be reduced by:

1. up to 10% if shower facilities are provided. See the Land Development Code (LDC) § 25-6-478 for further details defined by building square footage.
2. by 1 parking space for each on-street parking space provided adjacent to the site.
3. up to 10% by preserving significant stands of trees or protected trees,
4. and by 20 spaces for each car-sharing space provided on site.

These incentives may be combined provided the total reduction does not exceed 40% of the required parking defined in the LDC Appendix A.

As part of the “Imagine Austin” comprehensive plan, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zoned areas have been defined throughout the city. Although the specific regulations for each TOD vary, new development within a TOD are only required to provide 60% of that defined by the LDC Appendix A. In addition, the overall off-street parking requirement may be reduced by:

1. up to 10% by preserving significant stands of trees or protected trees,
2. by 20 parking spaces for each car-sharing space provided on site,
3. by 1 space for every shower with 3 or more lockers provided for employees in non-residential buildings,
4. by 1 space for every fully enclosed and lockable bicycle parking space, and/or
5. by up to 10% if parking spaces are leased or sold separately from occupied spaces.

The TOD parking incentive reductions may be applied cumulatively but may not exceed an overall reduction of more than 50% of the required parking defined in LDC Appendix A.

Do you have questions about parking reductions and incentives in the City of Austin? We’re here to help! Please feel free to fill out a quick form or call our Austin office at (512) 669-5560.