Beginning next year, Greensboro will largely lose its authority to tell developers how many parking spaces they have to provide when building apartments, stores, restaurants and most other projects.
NC Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 162 – titled the Parking Lot Reform and Stormwater Control Act – on July 6.
These parking provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The new law doesn’t prohibit developers from building parking lots or parking decks. Instead, it prohibits most local governments from requiring that a development include a minimum number of off-street parking spaces based on its size, occupancy or use.
That means the developers will generally decide how much parking their projects need – rather than being required to meet ratios established by Greensboro’s Land Development Ordinance.
Greensboro currently has a detailed set of minimum parking requirements for residential, commercial and institutional uses. Depending on the type of development, the requirements may be calculated according to the number of dwelling units, bedrooms, employees, seats or square footage.
For example, the city currently requires one parking space for an apartment with zero or one bedroom, 1.25 spaces for a two-bedroom unit and 1.75 spaces for an apartment with three or more bedrooms.
Those minimum ratios will no longer be enforceable when the new state law takes effect, although developers will remain free to provide the same number of spaces or more.
The legislation also prevents local governments from requiring a standard parking space to be larger than 9 feet wide and 20 feet long. (Exceptions are allowed for handicapped, parallel and diagonal parking spaces.)
Stein said that the change would make it less expensive to build housing by allowing developers to use land and construction money for buildings rather than parking spaces that may not be needed.
“This bill gives North Carolina another tool in the toolbox to build more homes and make housing more affordable,” Stein stated. “It increases flexibility for homeowners and homebuilders by eliminating mandatory minimum parking spaces based on occupancy in most counties.”
He added, “This change will lower rents for people.”
Whether the savings actually result in lower rents will largely be determined by the market. The law doesn’t require developers or landlords to pass any savings along to tenants.
Parking can be particularly expensive in dense developments where spaces must be placed in a deck or underneath a building. The Commercial Real Estate Development Association has estimated that structured parking can cost $30,000 to $40,000 per space.
Surface parking is considerably less expensive, but it requires land that could otherwise be used for apartments, commercial buildings, landscaping or open space.
The law could have a significant effect on Greensboro as the city attempts to encourage construction of thousands of additional housing units.
The Greensboro City Council has made increasing the housing supply one of its major goals as the city prepares for population and employment growth generated by projects including Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina, Boom Supersonic and JetZero.
Removing parking minimums could make it easier to build housing on small or unusually shaped properties where providing the required number of spaces would otherwise make a project impractical.
It could also encourage redevelopment of older shopping centers and commercial properties surrounded by large parking lots.
Supporters argue that parking requirements are frequently based on generalized formulas that don’t accurately reflect the needs of individual projects. An apartment building occupied largely by students, older residents or people living near public transportation may not need the same amount of parking as an apartment complex in a less accessible location.
Developers also have a financial incentive to provide enough parking to make their properties attractive to tenants and customers. A developer may legally build fewer spaces under the new law but could have difficulty leasing apartments or commercial space if people routinely can’t find anywhere to park.
Opponents of eliminating parking minimums have raised concerns that developers could provide too little parking and shift the problem onto surrounding streets and neighborhoods.
The legislation doesn’t prevent cities from regulating on-street parking, establishing residential parking permit programs or enforcing restrictions against parking in yards, fire lanes and prohibited areas.
It also doesn’t eliminate requirements for parking spaces that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or other state and federal accessibility laws.
The parking restrictions don’t apply in the state’s 20 counties governed by the Coastal Area Management Act, which include Carteret, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow and Brunswick counties.
Local governments in those coastal counties may continue requiring minimum parking generally. However, even coastal governments won’t be allowed to impose minimum parking requirements on certain historic properties and properties located in historic districts.
Guilford County and all of its municipalities are covered by the prohibition.
The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support. The state House initially approved it 117-0 in March 2025. After the Senate amended the bill, the Senate passed it 44-1 on June 23, 2026, and the House agreed to the revised version 111-2 on June 30.
The law contains a separate set of provisions concerning stormwater regulations and redevelopment.
Under the new requirements, existing pavement, rooftops and other built-upon areas generally can’t be subjected retroactively to increased stormwater-control requirements when a property is redeveloped.
Additional stormwater controls may generally be required only for the amount of new impervious surface that exceeds what already existed on the property.
For example, if an aging shopping center and its parking lot are demolished and replaced by a development containing the same amount of built-upon area, the existing impervious area receives square-foot-for-square-foot credit when calculating additional stormwater requirements.
Local governments may offer voluntary incentives to persuade developers to install stormwater controls beyond what the law requires. Those incentives may include waiving building, zoning or utility connection requirements and fees, providing financial or tax benefits or offering other development incentives.
Stein said that those provisions could help protect property from flooding and improve community resilience.
Local governments that operate stormwater-management programs have 12 months to bring their ordinances into compliance. Any conflicting ordinance will become void and unenforceable after the deadline.
The law represents a substantial shift in authority from local governments to property owners and developers.
Greensboro can still regulate such matters as zoning, building setbacks, landscaping, access, traffic circulation and the design of parking that a developer chooses to provide.
What the city will no longer be able to do is tell most developers that they must pave a specific amount of their property solely to meet the requirements of a government-established parking formula.
that ‘zero bedroom’ apartment with one required parking space for ‘tenants’ who sleep in their vehicles ? this reduction of required parking will encourage people to ditch that MV & use public/uber transport. housing with parking will get >$ ?
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This Marklesparkl guy hates cars.
why does it take 5000# of polluting projectile to get 300# of redneck to & from walmart ? my bean (farmer) powered bike weighs 30# & easily attaches to GTA bus
the pollution they cause is poisoning the planet according to THOUSANDS of scientists with proof sans scripture – one of many reasons i ditched them >20ya
that ‘zero bedroom’ apartment with one required parking space for ‘tenants’ who sleep in their vehicles ? this reduction of required parking will encourage people to ditch that MV & use public/uber transport. housing with parking will get >$ ?
It’s about time. City planners will say otherwise but the ordinances make you build parking lots like everyday is black Friday. 95% of the time lots are less than half full. This has the potential to really spur development.
they are ‘home sweet home’ for RV’s & vagrants
Look at most apartment complexes and you might find that they have inadequate parking spaces for the tenants living there along with any visitors. Developers can reduce their parking spaces at the peril of their appeal. The same goes for medical and other offices that deal with the public sector.
As for commercial spaces, I seldom see the malls and shopping centers around here over 75% full even on Black Fridays, which are overrated.
Our daughters stayed in brand new apartments outside of Chapel Hill for a couple of years. The number of parking spaces required were so inadequate it was a joke. Also, take a look at how many GSO homes have some gravel in the front yards to park cars for the throngs living in single family residences. What is up with all this parking?
About time…I see too many dreary, empty parking spaces at some shopping store lots….environmentally and economically this is a good move!!
Government should do what it needs to do. Get out of the way and leave people alone.
This is a developer’s dream. I would like to learn about the lobbyists who were successful with this change. I agree that parking spaces for retail development should be limited. I have no problem with limiting apartment complex parking. But this limitation will cause some serious pushbacks with future small apartment complexes, which the management will be left to deal with.