Commission determined that clear off-street parking rules for car-share vehicles would help alleviate traffic congestion and increase available spaces. On August 11, 2010, the City Planning Commission modified the Department of City Planning’s proposed zoning text amendment that would establish off-street parking guidelines for car-share vehicles offered by companies such as ZipCar and Connect by Hertz.

The zoning resolution’s offstreet parking regulations address where private vehicles and traditional car rentals are permitted to park, but do not address car-share vehicles. Rental vehicles are considered a commercial use and are prohibited in most public parking facilities. Planning’s proposal would define car-share vehicles and permit car-share vehicles to park in a range of public and accessory parking facilities. The amendment would establish higher maximums in public facilities and in highand medium-density residential garages, while restrictions would be tighter in low-density districts. Planning would require that all garages containing car-share vehicles provide an information plaque identifying the total number of spaces and maximum allowable number of car-share spaces.

At the Commission’s public hearing, a representative of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer and representatives from car-sharing companies and planning groups spoke in support. Stringer’s representative suggested that the Commission include signage requirements clarifying that residents with private vehicles had priority over car-share companies when attempting to secure a monthly space in residential garages. 7 CityLand 106 (Aug. 15, 2010).

The Commission approved the proposal, but made several modifications. It noted that accessory residential parking facilities outside of the Manhattan Core (Community Districts 1 – 8 ) are permitted to rent spaces to non-occupants of the building, but a space must be made available to a resident within 30 days of a written request to the landlord. The Commission extended this provision to include the Manhattan Core and modified the amendment to require the parking availability information to be included on the plaque required for facilities with car-share vehicles.

Addressing safety concerns raised by some community boards during the public review, the Commission also modified the proposal to require the residential portion of a building to be secured if the building is accessible from an accessory garage that permits car-share vehicles.

CPC: Car Share Text Amendment (Aug. 11, 2010).