(File Photo courtesy of KOMO News)
(OLYMPIA, Wash.) — Arguing the younger generation prefers using mass transit over individual vehicles, State Representative Julia Reed (D-Seattle) has introduced a bill that would allow developments to be built without the necessary parking.
House Bill 1351 would eliminate the parking space requirement for new construction that is within a half mile of transit service.
“At 350 square feet per car, this parking is also taking away from buildable land that can provide the homes that we desperately need,” Rep. Reed said during her bill’s first hearing in front of the House Local Government Committee. “For people like me, in their mid-30s, who are trying to find a permanent home in our communities, we are forgoing car ownership because we can’t afford it or we don’t desire to use something that continues to contribute to negative greenhouse gas emissions.”
But Reed points out that her bill does not prevent developers from building parking spaces on their own as the market dictates; it simply eliminated the state requirement to do so under certain circumstances.
So far, no one has testified against her bill.
