
Previous Image 1/2 Next Image A new law from a Fairfax County state delegate will set statewide limits on minimum parking requirements years after the county completed a major overhaul of its standards. Del. Irene Shin (D-8), who represents parts of Herndon, Oak Hill and Chantilly, introduced HB 888 to limit the minimum amount of
Parking minimums built the sprawl we are now spending billions trying to undo.
They require spaces per unit and that shapes everything: parcel size, building separation, impervious surface, walkability. Removing minimums doesn't remove parking. It removes the mandate that car dependency be built into every project by law.
Removing a parking minimum isn't anti-car. It's anti-mandate. The market decides what's needed.
A suburban grocery will still build parking after minimums are removed - customers need it. A transit-oriented apartment will build less because residents don't. That calibration to actual demand is what a functioning market does. The mandate prevented it for 70 years.
#ParkingReform #ParkingMinimums #ZoningReform #UrbanPlanning