For years, the City of Portland has had an expansive, complex and restrictive regulatory system for parking in the Central City. However, in an effort to promote better utilization of Central City parking spaces, the City is currently considering substantial simplification of its Central City parking code, which hotels may benefit from.
Historically, hotels selling onsite parking spaces to non-guests were potentially vulnerable to zoning code enforcement actions prohibiting rental of those spaces to persons not patronizing the hotel. Because a hotel might not be able to prove that the rental of parking spaces to non-guests was a legal, nonconforming use, predating the City’s extensive parking regulation system, a hotel might be ordered to cease renting spaces to downtown drivers without “business” at the hotel site. Things may, however, become easier.
The proposed parking regulation changes are part of the City’s Central City 2035 planning process. The published draft being discussed by the City’s Planning and Sustainability Commission removes Residential/Hotel as a parking type and instead includes Residential/Hotel parking in the Growth Parking designation. Whereas the existing code requires that Residential/Hotel parking be accessory to the residential or hotel use, serving users of the residence or hotel, Growth Parking is proposed to be available for both accessory and commercial parking at all times so a hotel could, for example, rent its parking spaces to people attending an offsite show or employees of a neighboring business and not risk running afoul of the zoning code.
Continue Reading Proposed Parking Changes Will Increase Portland Hotels’ Flexibility to Utilize Parking Assets