Business
Rules for providing minimum parking space in La Crosse face possible repeal
Is too much space in La Crosse being taken up by off-street parking lots?
City council members are looking this month at possibly repealing existing requirements for parking off the street. The suggested changes are included in city committee agendas, leading up to the December council meeting next week.
Supporters of a change suggest that requiring a minimum amount of parking space in neighborhoods takes away land that could be used for housing or other purposes, and that can affect the affordability of housing. A recent housing study in La Crosse indicates that parking off the street is the most expensive use of land that does not produce much income.
Similar votes in recent years affected parking in commercial and non-residential parts of the city. A study from 2020 found that even busy areas of La Crosse rarely see full parking lots during peak hours.
A few rules might remain in place, such as making sure the parking areas are paved with materials like concrete or asphalt.
Jennifer
December 3, 2024 at 12:22 am
It’s interesting that we’re figuring out we would’ve been better off without such stiff overzealous blowhard city administration rules in the first place.
Of course, forcing a whole building to exist JUST FOR parking is a silly use of the land! especially when it isn’t anywhere near full use. Whoever created the rules, and whatever the purpose, it’s time for them to go.
On another note, has anyone put together that all the issues with the homeless taking over downtown, lack of safety & security, increased theft, etc has all combined to crush our downtown and our small businesses? Its hard enough for them to compete against big box retailers and online places like amazon, but why on earth would we then create a culture where people feel even LESS inclined to go visit brick and morter local small businesses?
Mayor Mitch and this city council really really screwed up in their righteous path to cure homelessness. Not only did they fail miserably at that, its clear their single minded pursuit of that one issue led to huge blind spots in other areas. We need some real leadership who can see the big picture. PLEASE!
Wash
December 3, 2024 at 3:19 pm
As someone that’s lived all over, I absolutely adore the amount of parking available here and hope they don’t change a thing. Don’t even start in with the affordable housing argument because we all know it’s not parking availability that’s driving housing prices up. This is the cheapest place I’ve ever lived, which completely disproves that argument. Much less the literal mountains of information that says it’s private real estate companies trying to create a monopoly that’s driving housing prices up.