A Minneapolis City Council member is proposing new parking rules for the University area that could alleviate concerns about a lack of stalls for local businesses.
New apartment buildings in the area have gobbled up commercial parking spaces, according to local businesses. That's partly because of a city rule that requires extra resident parking for developments around the university.
The citywide requirement is at least one parking space per unit, but around the university it is half a space per bedroom -- and no less than one per unit. It was originally intended to address on-street parking pressures that came with new, densely packed student housing units.
"There's an interest in changing," said Council Member Cam Gordon, who is proposing a new look at the rules. "And I think there might be some common ground."
Gordon said the change could involve lowering the stall requirement to 0.25 per bedroom, exempting larger buildings, or exempting projects near transit stops.
