Photo by Walker Evans

The City of Columbus is moving forward with at least one of the recommendations from its wide-ranging Short North Parking Study. The study, completed more than two years ago, called for a variety of strategies aimed at simplifying parking restrictions and ensuring that visitors, residents and employees in the district continue to have parking options, even as development activity ramps up significantly.

The new proposal calls for a standard set of parking requirements for any new development within the boundaries of what would be called the Short North Special Parking Area (which consists of all of Italian Village and most of Victorian Village). Any developer not meeting those requirements would pay a fee — for residential projects, the fee would be $20,000 per space not provided; for non-residential projects, it would be $10,000 per space.

Art galleries, small retail businesses (under 2,500 square feet), and single family homes would be exempted from the requirements.

Funds received from the fees would be earmarked for the neighborhood and “primarily used to address parking supply and mobility issues,” according to information provided by the city.

The city’s website further explains the thinking behind the proposal:

The purpose of the in-lieu fee is to establish a process to effectively manage parking when residential and non-residential developments do not satisfy the parking requirements within the special parking area. Creating a special parking area and in-lieu process was a key recommendation in developing alternative options to handle parking issues, encourage alternate modes of transportation and create a process to manage parking variances while promoting economic development.

A public hearing, convened by City Council members Shannon Hardin and Jaiza Page, has been scheduled to provide information and gather feedback on the new rules. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 10th at 5:30pm at the Goodale Park Shelter House.

For more information, see www.columbus.gov.