DCP Bringing Parking Reform to Downtown Brooklyn

Downtown Brooklyn could finally get a reprieve from the onerous and outdated parking requirements that have forced developers to build costly, anti-urban garages which sit unused.

A new DCP proposal filed earlier this week is described online as a “text amendment to modify the off-street parking regulations of the special Downtown Brooklyn district.” There’s not much more information available yet, and the Department of City Planning has not responded to Streetsblog inquiries. It’s not yet clear whether the proposal eliminates or reduces the parking minimums, for example, though it appears any rewrite will be limited to the core Downtown Brooklyn area rezoned in 2004.

Downtown Brooklyn would be the first neighborhood to have its parking minimums reduced under the Bloomberg administration. Parking reform was fast-tracked for the neighborhood thanks to sustained pressure from local developers and the business community, as well as support from the local City Council Member, Steve Levin. As Crain’s has reported, the area is pockmarked by half-empty garages that developers never wanted to build.

Parking reform for other “inner ring” neighborhoods near the Manhattan core may still be in the cards at a later date, depending on local politics.

The City Planning Commission will review the parking reforms in its meeting Monday afternoon, after which the proposal would need a vote in the City Council to become law.