Cambridge city councilors have removed all parking minimums from the city’s zoning code.
Under modifications approved Monday night, barring other zoning laws, no development will have to provide off-street parking for its users in the hope this will help lower development costs, and therefore rents in new buildings, or help increase the amount of open space included in a project.
The vote is a win for climate, transit and bicycle advocates, but its impact on development costs is still uncertain. Any costs saved on not building parking garages above or below ground in a new development could be eaten up by recent increases in the city’s development fees and an effort to force new buildings to emit net-zero carbon dioxide as soon as 2035.
Any project with more than four units of housing will still have to provide a detailed report explaining how the number of off-street parking lots included in the development was chosen, including any surveys or parking demand research undertaken.
The city’s Community Development Department is also being charged with reporting back on the impact the policy has on housing construction and on-street parking by 2025.
