Castle Rock is moving forward with increasing parking requirements for multi-family developments.
Town council directed staff at the May 16 meeting to draft an ordinance that would require multifamily parking requirements to have at least two spaces per unit, as well as 1.1 spaces per unit for senior multifamily and 1.25 spaces per unit for downtown multifamily developments.
Currently, the town requires multifamily projects to include one parking space per studio, 1.5 parking spaces per one-bedroom units and two parking spaces per two or three-bedroom units, as well as one extra guest space for every four units.
Senior and downtown multifamily developments are required to have one space per unit.
In recent discussions, a majority of council members have expressed concerns with the town not having enough parking to meet demand, particularly in mixed-use areas like downtown and the Meadows Town Center.
“We hear loud and clear that there are some places that are hard to park,” Mayor Jason Gray said. “We want to be reactive, but we don’t want to be over-reactive.”
Town staff recommended a modest increase for multifamily development that would get rid of the bedroom-based requirements. Instead, the town will require two spaces per unit regardless of size. For a 200-unit multifamily project, staff said the changes would increase the total needed parking from 393 spaces to 400 spaces.
Feedback from developers indicates an average need of 1.25 to 1.5 parking spaces per unit.
However, many council members said they didn’t think the proposed two spaces per unit requirement would be enough. Council member Laura Cavey suggested going to 2.15 or 2.25 spaces per unit.
“To me (two spaces per unit) doesn’t seem like enough,” Cavey said. “I mean seven additional spaces; I don’t know if that’s going to garner much help.”
Cavey called the increases “future-proofing” for potential density issues.
Overall, the council was amenable to the staff-recommended increases, which will be voted on at a future meeting. The parking changes will also be reviewed and voted on by the planning commission.
