AB 1401
AB 1401 will eliminate parking mandates for homes and commercial buildings near transit, or in neighborhoods with low rates of car use in counties with more than 600,000 residents.
Parking mandates, which are common in cities throughout California, increase the cost of housing — a single parking space can add $80,000 or more to the cost of construction — and drive up the pollution that causes climate change.
Eliminating parking mandates will give Californians more choices about whether they want to pay for parking, or have lower-cost housing in walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods. California cities are currently over-producing parking — Los Angeles alone has 200 square miles of parking — largely because of rules that require the construction of parking with each new unit of housing or commercial business. AB 1401 increases housing choice and will make it easier to provide lower-cost, walkable- and transit-accessible housing across the state.
Updates:
- 8/27/2021: Although AB 1401 received strong support in the Assembly, it was held by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Resources:
- Talking points
- Bill text
- Official fact sheet
- Support letter
- Donald Shoup’s support letter
- One-page explainer
- Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
- Frequently Asked Questions (HTML)
Author: Friedman (D, AD 43)
Coauthors: Lee (D, AD 25), Skinner (D, SD 9), and Wiener (D, SD 11)
Co-Sponsors: California YIMBY, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), Abundant Housing LA, Council of Infill Builders