Denver City Council members are nearing the end of a seven-month moratorium that gave them time to find common ground with neighborhood advocates on new rules exempting developers of small lots from providing off-street parking.

If Tuesday’s debate in a council committee is any indication, they are far from reaching that goal.

Council president Albus Brooks, who took on the issue and formed a task force after the approval in August of the moratorium on the small-lot parking exemption, called the process “a very tricky balance.” In the end, several neighborhood advocates opposed what Brooks saw as a compromise because of persisting worries about large micro-housing developments flooding side streets with cars.

Now several council members are picking up the mantle of opposition, setting up a likely floor debate next week over significant amendments aimed at further restricting Brooks’ measure.

Outside the council, the debate has pitted urbanists and mobility advocates, who are in favor of encouraging alternative forms of transportation and reducing building costs, against neighborhood leaders who argue millennial apartment-dwellers aren’t as likely to give up their cars as some developers think. That may harm the quality of life for neighbors, they argue.

Councilman Jolon Clark cited an unnamed apartment development within walking distance of the Alameda light-rail station that he said was struggling to rent out its remaining units because it has run out of parking spots, despite the proximity to transit.

But as other U.S. cities reduce or even eliminate their overall parking minimums, Denver city leaders have struggled to find consensus over rules for small lots.

Brooks’ compromise

In Brooks’ proposal, lots of 6,250 square feet or less in mixed-use zoning districts still would keep a blanket exemption from providing off-street parking, unless they are redeveloped. In some cases, that exemption dates back a decade in Denver, and it now applies to 3,371 parcels citywide, or 1.7 percent of all lots.

New structures on those lots would receive on-site parking exemptions for their first two floors only — or three floors if the property is near high-frequency transit. (As drafted, that rule says a lot must be within a half-mile of a rail station or a quarter-mile of a high-frequency bus line, typically on a handful of major corridors such as Colfax Avenue and Colorado and Federal boulevards.)

Floors above those thresholds would be subject to the city’s normal off-street parking minimums, which still could be reduced by factors such as the landlord providing car-share access.

The council’s land-use committee advanced the measure 4-2 on Tuesday. But the committee will discuss the proposal and potential amendments again Tuesday, the same day it’s set to be introduced on the council floor.

A schedule calls for a public hearing and final vote March 20, ahead of the March 31 expiration of the moratorium.

At Tuesday morning’s meeting, several members made clear they still weren’t buying Brooks’ proposal.

“We’re using the wrong tool,” said Clark, who represents a south Denver district that includes South Pearl Street. He argued that the small-lot parking exemption was intended to preserve storefronts on small lots rather than influence transportation policy. “We’re trying to change a light bulb with a screwdriver.”

Projects spurred review

The prospect of a handful of new micro-housing developments on small lots spurred the moratorium to stop any more projects.

For some neighborhood advocates and council members, Exhibit A was a project planned by Pando Holdings and businessman Barry Hirschfeld that called for 108 studio apartments split between two five-story apartment buildings on adjacent small lots, each with 54 units. That project is planned on Humboldt Street north of East Colfax, in City Park West.

But Brooks portrayed that as an extreme outlier that has provoked unfounded fear.

The project wasn’t affected by the moratorium since it already was under city review. But Brooks pointed out that after the developers faced neighborhood pressure, they agreed to reserve 45 spots in an existing offsite parking lot for their future tenants. A similar agreement ended a stalemate over a development in Five Points, he said, adding: “The market has fixed the situation.”

“I want folks to keep in their head that this is a compromise,” Brooks said of his proposal. “It’s not perfect.”

The measure, a zoning text amendment, was recommended 8-1 by the Denver Planning Board after a contentious recent four-hour hearing.

Members’ concerns

Council members raised questions about factors that included whether Brooks’ proposal would change the functional restrictions enough for most lots; if further tightening of the exemption would make it unworkable for developers to construct new buildings, by requiring more parking spaces than the lots could fit; and how to hone the proposal’s particulars.

Clark, who voted to advance the measure, said he is among members who plan to propose amendments in the full council next week.

He wants to narrow the parking exemption available for new buildings on eligible small lots by applying it only to the first floor, or two stories for properties near transit (down from two floors and three floors, respectively, under Brooks’ proposal). His amendment also includes notifications to neighbors for all exemptions, he said, and would direct city planners to work out a more permanent fix in coming years.

Councilman Rafael Espinoza said his northwest District 1 is home to about one-third of the more than 3,000 small lots that qualify for the parking exemption.

He is formulating an amendment, he said, and may offer it next week, depending on whether the council extends the moratorium to buy more time. That is a move that some council members, including Brooks, say they oppose strongly.