Denver Could Soon Eliminate Minimum Parking Requirements in Zoning Code

There might be fewer empty parking lots in Denver's future.

Denver City Council will soon vote on removing minimum parking requirements from Denver's zoning code, effective by June 30. That would let developers choose whether to include new parking spaces in construction projects, and allow existing businesses and housing complexes to eliminate current parking.

"Less is more sometimes," Denver Planning Board member Rachel Marion said during the board's discussion of the proposal on Wednesday, March 19. She noted that multiple parking lots in her Cole neighborhood are almost entirely unused, though they are legally mandated under current zoning.

"The city saying, 'We're going to eliminate this requirement' would open up a lot of creativity, development and vibrancy downtown and in a number of spaces," Marion added.

Right now, many new developments in Denver have to include a certain number of parking spots: one spot per dwelling unit for market-rate apartments, for example, or two spots per 1,000 square feet for retail and office space, or four spots per 1,000 square feet for restaurants and bars. Those requirements don't apply to single-family homes or some downtown neighborhoods, however.

Supporters say that getting rid of parking requirements will promote housing development by making it cheaper to build and reducing the time needed to review development applications. A parking space in a structured garage can add up to $50,000 to the cost of a dwelling unit, according to city staff.

Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, who is sponsoring the proposal, says the issue was brought to her attention by businesses on South Broadway upset that they have to sacrifice patio space in order to provide parking due to arbitrary zoning requirements that differ depending on where the businesses are located on the street.

"We considered rezoning that part of Broadway, but...we realized maybe the path forward was to just rethink how we think about parking," Alvidrez said during Wednesday's meeting.

The plan is backed by Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, four councilmembers and several city agencies, including the Department of Community Planning and Development, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.

No objections were raised during the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday, but opponents have said they fear removing parking minimums would force residents of new buildings to park on street sides, leading to crowded streets and increasing costs of existing parking lots and garages, and making it more difficult for people to drive to Denver destinations.

Few of those concerns have come up so far, says Senior City Planner Justin Montgomery.

"We've received, I think, 155 comments through the webpage. Overwhelming support is what we've been seeing from the community," he said during the meeting.

Advocates argue that developers would still create new parking, but the market would decide how much is needed rather than the government. The city points to various examples of developers adding more parking than legally required, like an office building at 1901 Lawrence Street that had no parking requirements but provided 633 spaces, or an apartment complex at 600 Park Avenue that provided 217 spaces.

Reducing car dependency is the goal for some backers of the proposal, who hope to encourage Denver residents to use public transit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that come from driving.

Longmont has already gotten rid of minimum parking requirements, and so have dozens of other cities outside of Colorado, such as Austin, San Francisco and even Anchorage, Alaska.

Denver's proposal comes after Colorado passed one of the most far-reaching parking reform bills in the country last year. The new state law prohibits cities from enforcing parking minimums for multifamily residential developments near transit routes as of June 30, 2025. City staffers said they decided to propose eliminating all parking requirements while analyzing the impact of implementing Colorado's new law.

"I think we should approach a lot of regulations through the same lens," Planning Board member Gosia Kung said. "Is it working? If it's not working, let's just get rid of it. Simplify our code, streamline our regulatory process."

The public can comment on the city's proposal at denvergov.org. A formal draft is set to be released in April and will be presented to the Denver Planning Board in May. It will then face approval from the full council.