Off-street parking regulations for restaurants are a complex and evolving topic, with significant differences between big cities and smaller towns. These rules are generally found in a city’s zoning or parking bylaws and are designed to manage traffic, ensure accessibility, and shape the urban environment.
How Off-Street Parking Regulations are Determined
The amount of required off-street parking for a restaurant is typically not based on the height or value of a building, but rather on metrics that correlate to the number of patrons and employees. Common units of measurement include:
* Gross floor area (m^2 or ft^2): This is a very common method. For example, a regulation might require “1 space for every 20 square meters of gross floor area.”
* Seating capacity: Some regulations use the number of seats as the basis, for instance, “1 space for every 3 seats.” This can be more precise for sit-down restaurants.
* Number of employees: Less common, but sometimes factored in to account for staff vehicles.
These regulations often specify other requirements, such as the minimum size of a parking space, the width of aisles, and setbacks from the street.
The Impact on Big Cities
In large, dense urban areas, off-street parking requirements have been a major source of debate and have a significant impact:
* Increased Development Costs: Requiring a certain number of parking spaces, especially in a dense city, can be extremely expensive. Land is at a premium, and building multi-story or underground parking garages adds significantly to the cost of a new development. These costs are often passed on to the restaurant owner or, ultimately, the consumer.
* Discouraging Walkability and Public Transit: An oversupply of parking can encourage people to drive, even for short trips, which leads to more traffic congestion and pollution. It can also make a city less pedestrian-friendly, as large surface parking lots break up the streetscape.
* Inefficient Land Use: Large parking lots, particularly in downtown areas, are often empty for a significant portion of the day or week, representing a poor use of valuable urban land that could be used for housing, public parks, or other businesses. This can also contribute to urban heat island effects, as asphalt absorbs and radiates heat.
In response to these issues, many large cities have begun to reform their parking regulations by:
* Eliminating Minimums: Cities like Calgary and others have removed minimum parking requirements for new developments. This gives developers and businesses the flexibility to build the amount of parking they believe is necessary based on their specific context and customer base.
* Implementing Maximums: Some cities are now setting maximum parking requirements to prevent an oversupply of parking and encourage alternative modes of transportation.
* Parking Cash-Out Programs: Some cities encourage employers to “cash out” the value of a parking space for employees who choose to commute by bike, public transit, or carpool.
How to Fix the Problem in Little Cities
While big cities are often trying to reduce their parking supply, smaller cities and towns can face different challenges, such as a lack of downtown parking that hurts local businesses. Here are some strategies for smaller cities to address these issues:
* Shared Parking: Many businesses have different peak hours. For example, a bank is busy during the day, while a restaurant is busy in the evening. Creating shared parking facilities allows businesses to make more efficient use of a single parking lot, reducing the need for each business to build its own.
* Centralized Parking: Instead of requiring each restaurant to have its own parking, a small city can create centralized, well-marked public parking lots. This creates a “park once and walk” environment that encourages visitors to explore more of the downtown area.
* Improved Public Transit and Walkability: While a small city may not have a subway, it can still invest in more frequent bus service, safe bike lanes, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. This provides people with viable alternatives to driving and reduces parking demand.
* In-lieu Fees: Some cities allow developers to pay a fee instead of providing the required parking spaces. This money can then be used by the municipality to build public parking structures or invest in public transit.
* Mixed-Use Development: Encouraging buildings with a mix of residential and commercial uses can help address parking problems. Residents can walk to nearby restaurants, and the parking demand for both uses can be shared since residential parking is typically needed at night, while commercial parking is needed during the day.
The Influence of Environmental Concerns
Environmental concerns have significantly altered the conversation around parking regulations. The traditional model of minimum parking requirements has been widely criticized for its negative environmental impacts:
* Urban Sprawl and Habitat Loss: Large surface parking lots require vast amounts of land, contributing to urban sprawl and the loss of green spaces.
* Stormwater Runoff: Impermeable surfaces like asphalt prevent rainwater from being absorbed into the ground, leading to increased stormwater runoff, which can carry pollutants into local waterways.
* Heat Island Effect: Parking lots absorb solar radiation and contribute to the “urban heat island effect,” making cities and towns hotter than surrounding rural areas.
* Encouraging Driving: Perhaps most importantly, an oversupply of free or low-cost parking encourages people to drive, leading to more traffic congestion and increased greenhouse gas emissions.
In response, many cities are now re-evaluating their parking policies as a key component of their climate action plans. They are moving away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach of parking minimums and adopting more flexible and context-sensitive solutions that prioritize people and the environment over vehicles.

Drive trough

Mobile ordering and drive through are popular, however, they don’t address the number one issue for stopping when you’re driving and that’s usually washrooms.