Plan would ease parking rules

Frank Gray could see Salt Lake City emerging as a national leader in environmental sustainability long before he was hired as the city's director of community and economic development.

Now, not quite three weeks into the job, Gray is helping Utah's capital city take another step in that direction by suggesting an incentive program for pedestrian-friendly businesses located in neighborhood commercial zones.

Meeting with members of the Salt Lake City Council and small-business owners Thursday, Gray presented a plan that would reward businesses for providing and maintaining pedestrian-friendly amenities such as bicycle racks, baby-stroller parking areas and park benches.

By encouraging customers to leave their cars home, businesses in community shopping areas such as 9th and 9th or 15th and 15th wouldn't have to meet city requirements for parking stalls, he said.

"The goal is to provide a pedestrian environment," Gray said. "When (businesses) provide that pedestrian environment, they get a reduced parking requirement."

Under Gray's proposal, a portion or all of the square footage of a business would be exempt from city parking requirements. Currently, two parking stalls are required for every 1,000 square feet of floor space for retail services, three stalls per 1,000 square feet for retail sales and six stalls per 1,000 square feet for restaurants.

The first 2,500 square feet of a business with a pedestrian amenity within 100 feet of the building would be exempt from parking requirements. Businesses would get credit for another 1,000 square feet if its on-street parking has a time limit — such as two hours or less — to keep the spots open for shoppers, not employees.

Finally, Gray's plan calls for an additional exemption of 1,500 square feet — for a total of 5,000 square feet — for businesses with a pedestrian amenity, timed parking and angled parking stalls.

In addition to being more efficient, angled parking is a speed deterrent because it creates narrower lanes, Gray said.

A 5,000-square-foot exemption would eliminate the parking requirement from most businesses in the 9th and 9th commercial area, as well as those at 15th and 15th. Shops at 9th and 9th average a little less than 3,200 square feet of usable floor space, and it's even less at 15th and 15th, where stores average 2,600 square feet.

"I think, as a general approach, this is very proactive," said Councilman Soren Simonsen.