HB382

I am the Policy Director at the Parking Reform Network, a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the reform of costly, arbitrary, and inefficient parking regulations. PRN strongly supports HB 382 for several reasons, among them: Off-street parking mandates are arbitrary quotas with no solid evidentiary basis. Property owners deserve the ability to determine for themselves how much parking they need. Parking reform is a rapidly growing movement applicable across geographic and political divides. More than 80 municipalities across the United States have entirely eliminated off-street parking mandates since 2017, including 31 towns of under 25,000 inhabitants. We have documented over 3,000 municipalities that have undertaken some reduction of parking mandates, in recognition of the harms these rules cause. Parking mandates raise the cost of badly needed housing, and reduce the supply of new homes. Although 35% of New Hampshire households have 0 or 1 vehicles, including 60% of renter households, many local parking mandates require the construction of excess parking spaces that residents essentially have no choice but to pay for, whether they need it or not. This reduces housing choice and opportunity. The high cost of building parking (from over $5000 per stall in a surface lot to $20k or much more in structured parking) increases the minimum cost for which new housing can be built, thus removing affordable starter home options from the marketplace. The space demands of parking also result in fewer homes on a lot than would otherwise be possible. Recent research has found that parking reform alone can effectively boost the number of homes feasible to build by 40 to 70 percent, which is two to three times more homes than are legalized by any other zoning reform. Parking mandates impose huge burdens on small, local businesses, and often effectively prohibit the revitalization of vacant storefronts and historic business districts. Modern parking minimums render functionally illegal the traditional, and beloved, main street and village development patterns typical of states like New Hampshire. This harms the economic vitality of small towns and their ability to maintain a sustainable tax base. Although small towns are harmed by parking mandates, many lack the staff capacity to undertake a significant zoning reform. Parking reform thus presents a compelling case for statewide action to remove these onerous rules—rules which were largely implemented in a "copy-paste" manner in the mid-20th century with little study or and little to no adjustment for local needs or conditions. To the extent that there are local concerns about spillover parking impacting public streets when off-street parking is not required, these can be effectively addressed by local governments managing the public right-of-way, including but not limited to parking permit districts and curb restrictions, demand-based pricing / metering, and the maintenance and facilitation of shared parking facilities. We strongly urge New Hampshire to join the rapidly growing number of US states and cities that have passed significant parking reform.

This bill will make housing more affordable in New Hampshire and support the free market. Let developers decide how much parking they need!

Cities and towns know best what their residents and workforces need in terms of parking! Please vote in favor of HB382

Hello. I am Nick Patrick, a Dublin, New Hampshire resident and a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire. I absolutely love this bill. It enables important discretion for the actual community members and builders to delegate the needed number of parking spots for a building. While town zoning laws can be put up for a reason, certain areas or downtowns don't need as many parking spots as the outskirts of a town. It is really best to allow the builders to decide what is needed. Most importantly, with the already scarce amount of land we can build on, it's best not to fill it up with sprawling parking lots.

We need more housing in this state or unrest will continue to ferment.

I believe increasing density in our urban areas is one of the best investments we can have as our country grows. Investing in quick public transportation and walkable neighborhoods will allow us to accommodate more people and preserve our environment. Scrapping parking minimums is a great place to start when reducing urban sprawl.

Affordable housing must be a top priority for New Hampshire.

This bill would open up the pathway to house more people and create additional options for those looking to build in many towns and cities. Parking is not something that is needed. It is an old, extra requirement for a time when access to resources was unavailable without a vehicle. These days, many resources are available via the internet; in larger cities public transportation is available, and folks may choose to not save costs by not owning a car. Freeing builders from the restrictions of parking would open more lots for housing and help reduce rental prices for those who need it.

In the modern urbanized landscape, affordable housing is much less easy to come by than a parking spot. In order to solve New Hampshire's affordable housing crisis, the decision regarding the number of parking spots per building should be left up to the contractor rather than the state. This will allow for more efficient urban design and land use. For these reasons, I support HB382.