Zoning & entitlements
Parking ratio
Required off-street parking per unit. Gov. Code § 65915(p) caps ratios for bonus projects, and AB 2097 bars minimums near major transit.
Definition
Local codes set parking as spaces per unit, keyed to bedroom count. For density-bonus projects, § 65915(p) caps what a city may require: one space per studio or one-bedroom and 1.5 per two- or three-bedroom unit, inclusive of guest and accessible stalls; rent-restricted senior projects with paratransit access are capped at 0.5, and many transit-proximate projects owe none at all.
Outside the bonus context, AB 2097 bars minimum parking requirements entirely within a half mile of a major transit stop, subject to narrow exceptions — a statewide overlay on the zoning law's local ratios.
Why it matters in an underwrite
Structured stalls run $40,000–$80,000+ apiece, so moving 40 units from 1.5 to 1.0 spaces deletes 20 stalls — up to $1.6 million of hard cost — before any design gain. Parking frequently decides feasibility before rents do: run the pro forma at the statutory caps, not the local schedule, and treat every stall above the cap as a negotiable ask.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.