--- title: End Parking Mandates in Robbinsdale date: 2026-10-18 description: The city makes every new building pay for parking, whether it needs it or not. We pay for that in higher rents, emptier blocks and fewer local businesses. --- Before someone can open a café, build a duplex, or turn an empty storefront into something new in Robbinsdale, they first have to answer one question: where will the cars go? City code sets a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for nearly every kind of building ([Robbinsdale City Code §510.17][code-parking]). In commercial districts the requirement is tied to floor area: as much as one space for every 200 square feet for some uses ([§520.01][code-b1]). A parking space plus the aisle to reach it takes up about 300 square feet, so a shop can be required to pave more land for cars than it uses for customers. We think the city should get rid of these mandates. ## Parking isn't free. Someone pays for it. Parking costs real money to build: - about **$8,000** per space in a surface lot, counting the land ([VTPI][vtpi]), - about **$33,000** per space in a parking garage, before land and design costs ([WGI][wgi]), - about **$73,000** per space underground, before land ([UCLA][ucla]). The driver doesn't pay that. It gets passed on in higher rent, higher prices and smaller buildings, so everyone pays, including people who don't own a car. As the Happy Urbanist puts it, "if parking is free and housing is expensive, we have our priorities backwards" ([Happy Urbanist][housing]). ## What mandates do to a town Parking minimums decide what gets built, and often whether anything gets built at all ([Climate Town][ct-parking]; [Strong Towns][st-mn]): - **They kill small projects.** A small business or builder can afford a building but not the land for the required parking, so the project never happens. Old main-street buildings like the ones downtown are often impossible to build under today's rules. - **They spread everything apart.** Every building gets surrounded by its own lot. Places get farther apart, walking stops making sense, and everyone has to drive, which creates demand for more parking. - **They raise housing costs.** Required parking adds to the cost of every new home and apartment, whether the people living there own a car or not. - **They shrink the tax base.** A parking lot pays a fraction of the property taxes of a building on the same land, but the city still maintains the streets and pipes that serve it. - **They make streets more dangerous.** Lots and driveways mean more cars turning across sidewalks and fewer reasons to walk. ## Ending mandates doesn't ban parking Removing a minimum doesn't remove parking. It lets the people building and running a business decide how much they need. A grocery store will still build a lot. A café near the future Blue Line station might choose patio seating instead. A homeowner adding an accessory apartment won't be stopped by a parking rule ([Happy Urbanist][cafe]). ## It's working next door Minneapolis removed parking minimums citywide in May 2021, and St. Paul followed that August ([St. Paul][stpaul]). - New buildings in Minneapolis still include parking, just less of it. The average fell from about one space per apartment to under 0.75 ([Metro Abundance][metro-abundance]). - Developers started building apartments with little or no parking, including a 23-unit building with none ([Metro Abundance][metro-abundance]). - From 2017 to 2022, Minneapolis grew its housing stock by 12% while rents rose just 1%. The rest of Minnesota added 4% to its housing stock while rents went up 14%. That came from several reforms together, not parking alone ([Pew][pew]). At the state level, **SF 1268 and HF 1309** would end minimum parking mandates across Minnesota. The Senate bill cleared a committee in March 2025, but neither has become law ([SF 1268][sf1268]; [HF 1309][hf1309]). ## What we're asking for 1. **Eliminate parking minimums in Robbinsdale**, starting with downtown and the area around the future Blue Line station. 2. **Keep the rules that matter**, like accessible parking, bike parking and loading zones. 3. **Support SF 1268 / HF 1309** so every Minnesota city does the same. This also helps make [a downtown made for people](/posts/downtown/) possible. Zoning changes are adopted by the City Council. For the state bills, find your representative and senator with the Legislature's [district finder][districts]. {% emailCouncil "Please end parking minimums in Robbinsdale", "Dear Mayor Sutton, Council Members, and City Manager Sandvik,\n\nI live in Robbinsdale and I'm asking the city to eliminate minimum parking requirements, starting downtown and near the future Blue Line station. Minneapolis and St. Paul did this in 2021. Let property owners decide how much parking they need, while keeping accessible parking, bike parking and loading rules." %} ## Sources - Robbinsdale City Code, [§510.17 Off-street parking][code-parking] and [§520.01 B-1 Neighborhood commercial district][code-b1] - Climate Town with Not Just Bikes, [Parking Laws Are Strangling America][ct-parking] - The Happy Urbanist (@jonjon.jpeg), [café space vs. parking][cafe] and [free parking vs. expensive housing][housing] - Victoria Transport Policy Institute, [Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis II: Parking Costs][vtpi], Oct. 3, 2022 - WGI via IPMI, [WGI Releases 2026 Parking Structure Cost Outlook][wgi], Sept. 2, 2026 - Streetsblog California, [New UCLA Report Looks Into the High Cost to Build Parking][ucla], Mar. 2, 2026 - Strong Towns, [Minnesota Rethinks Parking Mandates—Will Your City Keep Up?][st-mn], Apr. 7, 2025 - Metro Abundance, [Parking reform is working in Minneapolis][metro-abundance] - City of St. Paul, [Parking study][stpaul] - Pew Charitable Trusts, [Minneapolis Land Use Reforms Offer a Blueprint for Housing Affordability][pew] - Minnesota Legislature, [SF 1268][sf1268] and [HF 1309][hf1309] (94th Legislature) - Donald Shoup, _The High Cost of Free Parking_ [code-parking]: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/robbinsdalemn/latest/robbinsdale_mn/0-0-0-2022 [code-b1]: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/robbinsdalemn/latest/robbinsdale_mn/0-0-0-2767 [ct-parking]: https://youtu.be/OUNXFHpUhu8 [cafe]: https://www.tiktok.com/@jonjon.jpeg/video/7370428125819227434 [housing]: https://www.tiktok.com/@jonjon.jpeg/video/7305050875960069418 [vtpi]: https://www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0504.pdf [wgi]: https://www.parking-mobility.org/news/wgi-releases-2026-parking-structure-cost-outlook/ [ucla]: https://cal.streetsblog.org/2026/03/02/new-ucla-report-looks-into-the-high-cost-to-build-parking [st-mn]: https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2025/4/7/minnesota-rethinks-parking-mandates-will-your-city-keep-up-ac [metro-abundance]: https://www.metroabundance.org/parking-reform-is-working-in-minneapolis/ [stpaul]: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-and-economic-development/planning/completed-projects/parking-study [pew]: https://pew.org/3S76oXJ [districts]: https://gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/ [sf1268]: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2025/0/SF/1268/versions/latest/ [hf1309]: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2025/0/HF/1309