All there is to know about car parking demand assessments in Victoria
The basics
The planning scheme for each Victorian local government area categorises the statutory car parking requirement by land use, i.e. medical centre, private dwelling, shop, restaurant, etc.
Based on the floor area, the number of legal dwellings and bedrooms, patron numbers, etc., the development or land will generate a statutory car parking requirement for use.
You can choose to facilitate the statutory car parking requirement on your site or provide less than this requirement (all the way down to zero car spaces).
In some circumstances and for less common land uses, there may not be a suitable statutory car parking rate. Therefore, the car parking requirement is left to the satisfaction of the responsible authority.
If you do not meet the statutory car parking requirement, or parking is not to the satisfaction of the responsible authority, you will need to apply for a car parking reduction as part of your planning permit application.
To justify the car parking reduction, you will then need to submit a Car Parking Demand Assessment to the council, as part of a Traffic Impact Assessment Report (TIA/TIAR) and larger planning application.
The council then determines if there is sufficient justification to support your development or land use request and whether it is able to provide less car parking on the site than the statutory requirement.
This option will save you money and potentially allow additional floor area, which will add value to your project.
What are the key steps to undertake a car parking demand assessment?
There are various steps based on the myriad of variables; however, the following should be used as a guide.
Identify the statutory car parking for the proposed development or land use. This will require you to know:
the zoning of the land.
whether or not the site is located within the Principal Public Transport Network (PPTN).
whether or not any Parking Overlays (PO) apply to the site/land use
whether or not the proposed land use is a defined land use in the statutory car parking table.
the key measurement metrics of your proposal (i.e. leasable floor area, patron numbers, number of medical practitioners, bedrooms, etc.)
Determine if the statutory car parking requirement is provided on-site, or if less than the statutory car parking requirement is provided and you will therefore be seeking a car parking reduction.
Identify any key attribute related to the proposal that may be exempt from a permit requirement (i.e. certain zoning does not require an increase in the floor area, and if the reduction requested is less than ten spaces there is no permit trigger).
Determine the likely car parking demands that the development or land use will generate. This is different to the statutory requirement, as the standard rates are very broad and do not consider specifics, like proximity to railway stations, historical car ownership, and progressive movement towards sustainability rather than private vehicle usage.
Review decision guidelines that support a car parking reduction or overflow, including the availability of car parking, availability of alternative transport modes, existing deficiencies associated with previous land use etc.
Submit car parking demand assessment, as part of the traffic impact assessment report to council.
FAQs
At what stage do I prepare a car parking demand assessment?
There are two main options:
pre-prepare before council requests this information, to avoid time delays.
prepare after council requests it, through a Request For Information (RFI) process.
Who can prepare a cat parking demand assessment?
Typically, car parking demand assessments are prepared by traffic engineers.
What is the price for a car parking demand assessment?
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It is best to contact Quantum Traffic directly to get an accurate cost, as it is dependent on the size of development and car parking reduction, level of data collection required, and specifically requested information from council, etc.
How long does the assessment take to prepare?
Our standard timeline is 3-4 weeks. However, if it is relatively straightforward, this timeline can be reduced. If it is quite complex and involves other critical components, the timeline might be a little longer. Quantum Traffic will be able to give you a good indexation of this following your inquiry.
Caveats
There are some situations where a car parking demand assessment should be very brief. In certain zonings, where floor area is not increased and car parking reduction is low, there is no permit trigger for car parking, in alignment with 52.06.
Contact us to enquire about an application.
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