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The Town of Hanover Sustainability Master Plan emphasizes optimizing existing parking, re-evaluating zoning requirements to reduce or eliminate mandated parking minimums, and integrating parking solutions that support multi-modal transport and sustainable development. (See below for details)
The Sustainability Master Plan emphasizes optimizing existing parking, to reduce or eliminate mandated parking minimums, and integrating parking solutions that support multi-modal transport and sustainable development.
A. Under Fostering Inclusive Economic Resilience
Goal 4-7: The Town’s economic resiliency policies and regulations will foster a stable and sustainable economy.
Strategy 4-7.1: Reconsider zoning requirements for parking to facilitate business and mixed-use development. This strategy is intended to be completed within 1 to 4 years and will require a change to the Town’s Zoning Ordinance. The sources highlight that existing parking requirements can "limit some business creation and expansion," underscoring the need for this evaluation. (Town Meeting voted to remove parking mandates from zoning in 2024.)
B. Under Advancing Multi-Modal Transportation
Goal 6-3: Sustainable living and safe zero-emission modes of travel will be reinforced with complementary land use patterns and transportation infrastructure.
Strategy 6-3.2: Reduce or eliminate parking minimums and more easily allow shared parking. This strategy, identified for implementation within 1 to 4 years, directly supports increasing residential density and enabling multi-use development in areas with non-automotive travel options. It is explicitly noted that this strategy will necessitate a change in zoning. (Town Meeting voted to remove parking mandates from zoning in 2024.)
Strategy 6-3.3: Incorporate bike shelters and micro-mobility charging stations into the downtown streetscape and in all new multi-family and commercial development. This aims to promote the use of e-bikes and other micro-mobility devices by providing necessary parking and charging facilities.
Goal 6-4: The transportation network will be updated to address emerging transportation and community needs.
Strategy 6-4.1: Incorporate appropriate EV charging stations into the downtown streetscape and in all new multi-family and commercial development and include other appropriate charging stations in all new multi-family development. This addresses the anticipated growth in Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption.
Strategy 6-4.3: After giving priority to active downtown commercial uses, designate spaces for rideshare and small truck delivery use. This strategy focuses on efficient curb management within the downtown.
Strategy 6-4.4: Establish peripheral parking and supporting shuttle service to locations in the downtown area. The objective is to reduce vehicle trips and associated emissions in the downtown core.
Strategy 6-4.5: Incentivize commercial landowners to install high-speed EV charging stations for public use. This addresses the anticipated growth in Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption.
C. Under Promoting Downtown Vibrancy
Goal 7-1: A diverse commercial base will be fostered.
Strategy 7-1.1: Review zoning restrictions that limit the growth, density, and type of commercial development in the downtown, including regulations around the mix and flexibility of allowable uses and parking minimums. This is a short-term strategy (1 to 4 years) that requires a zoning change. (Town Meeting voted to raise height restrictions and remove parking mandates from zoning in 2024.)
Goal 7-2: More dwellings will be built in and around the greater downtown.
Strategy 7-2.1: Free up potential residential development space by revising parking minimums and incentivizing shared parking. This 1 to 4 year strategy will require a zoning change and supports the creation of more housing units within walking distance of the downtown core. (Town Meeting voted to remove parking mandates from zoning in 2024.)
Goal 7-5: Universally-accessible, people-centered means of transportation will be fostered in, around, to, from and through the downtown.
Strategy 7-5.2: Promote enhanced transit with service every day to more locations for more hours of the day. Providing an alternative to parking.
Strategy 7-5.4: Establish shared mobility services accommodating charging and covered storage.
This supports the availability of shared e-bikes and e-scooters by providing designated areas for their use and storage, potentially competing for space currently used by parking, while enabling alternatives to parking.
Strategy 7-5.6: Establish an off-site shuttle lot along each of Hanover’s four gateway roads. This is intended to alleviate traffic and reduce dependency on downtown parking.
Strategy 7-5.7. Improve bicycling and walking conditions in the downtown by implementing a complete streets approach with multimodal accommodations. This provides alternatives to parking, reducing parking demand.
Strategy 7-5.10: Manage parking in the downtown according to the recommendations of the Town’s 2019 Downtown Parking Study. This study focused on optimizing the utilization, pricing, and enforcement of public parking supply.
Strategy 7-5.11: Update the 2019 Downtown Parking Study to consider parking for service vehicles, employees, and new residents who will occupy downtown housing, and pedestrian ways through parking lots. This update is a short-term priority (1 to 4 years).
Strategy 7-5.12: Provide signage and information to make the parking system easy to use and understand, including publicizing that parking is free after 5:00 PM. This strategy aims to address negative public perceptions regarding parking availability and enforcement.
Strategy 7-5.13: Create a wayfinding plan for the downtown, with coordinated systems and design that highlight major destinations, public gathering spaces, historical and cultural features, dining, retail, parking, walking, biking, and transit systems. Parking is explicitly included as a key element in this comprehensive wayfinding strategy.
Strategy 7-5.14: Install a variety of appropriate EV charging stations in a number of downtown locations. This reinforces the commitment to expanding EV charging infrastructure.
Goal 7-7: Using the highest standards for sustainable urban design, improvements will be implemented in the greater downtown.
Strategy 7-7.8: Identify opportunities for shared resources among downtown property owners. For example, public and employee parking. This aims to optimize space utilization and potentially integrate green infrastructure.
D. Under Expanding Housing Opportunity
Goal 3-1: Based on the 2023 assessment of need, Hanover will facilitate the development of approximately 800 new housing units between 2020 and 2040.
Strategy 3-1.2: Remove/reduce parking requirements to provide for additional housing units on a lot. This is part of broader efforts to explore legislative and regulatory opportunities to enhance housing affordability and safety.
The Sustainability Master Plan outlines a clear philosophy and strategies related to parking costs and utilization. Here is an overview of the Desman Parking Study's (Hanover's 2019 Downtown Parking Plan), referenced in Strategy 7.5, and Town Sustainability Master Plan recommendations and related strategies concerning parking rates and management:
Focus on Optimizing Utilization, Pricing, and Enforcement The Hanover's 2019 Downtown Parking Plan "focused on optimizing the utilization, pricing, and enforcement of the public parking supply in Hanover’s downtown". This indicates that pricing is considered a key tool for managing parking demand and making the most efficient use of existing spaces. The plan also "proposed specific short-, mid- and long-term parking management strategies to address current and future parking demand" and to “reduce reliance on automobiles”.
Differential Pricing to Incentivize Peripheral Parking A direct recommendation related to pricing is for a "system of peripheral parking lots with regular and convenient shuttle service" where "Parking in peripheral lots should be free or much less expensive than parking downtown" and that “on-street parking is at a premium”. This strongly implies a strategy to make downtown parking (on-street, in lots, and the garage) comparatively more expensive than peripheral parking, on-street parking most expensive, and to encourage commuters and visitors to use outlying areas and public transit, thereby reducing downtown traffic and parking demand.
Public Perception and Existing Pricing Information The parking study acknowledges a public perception of "no parking spaces available" and concern about getting "ticketed". Addressing these perceptions involves "better wayfinding to parking lots, a real time parking locator application, and clear instructions about how to pay for parking". It’s also noted that "parking is free after 5:00 PM" in the downtown, which is a specific current pricing detail publicized to users.
Reducing Reliance on Automobiles and Parking Space The town's overall strategy is to "promote alternative modes to reduce reliance on automobiles" rather than expanding roadway capacity or adding parking. This stance is driven by the understanding that "Added parking is a disincentive to alternative modes of transportation and encourages more traffic. It can crowd out wider sidewalks, bike lanes, or streetscape amenities". Community feedback supports shifting away from "automobile-centric infrastructure" and reducing the use of public spaces for parking, as it "incentivizes driving" and "crowds out other uses within the right-of-way".
Revising Parking Minimums and Encouraging Shared Parking Several strategies explicitly recommend "reducing or eliminating parking minimums and more easily allowing shared parking". This approach aims to "free up potential residential development space" and is seen as a key barrier to housing creation. By reducing the supply requirement for parking, it indirectly supports a shift towards less car dependency, which could be complemented by parking pricing mechanisms. Zoning requirements for parking should be "reconsidered" to facilitate business and mixed-use development. In support of these efforts, voters removed parking mandates from zoning last year, and the Planning Board added parking maximums to site plan review.
On-Street Parking as a Premium Space On-street parking in downtown Hanover is considered "at a premium". While displacing on-street parking for bike lanes may be a "tough sell" to the business community, this suggests that the value of on-street parking is high, and future "curb management" may involve designating space for various uses like EV charging, dining areas, or bike/scooter movement, potentially leading to differentiated pricing models for these valuable on-street spots.
In summary, the Sustainability Master Plan and 2019 Desman Parking Study indicate that the Town of Hanover views parking pricing as a strategic tool to manage demand and promote sustainable transportation. While specific rate recommendations aren't detailed, the emphasis is on optimizing existing parking, potentially making downtown parking more expensive than peripheral options, and reducing overall reliance on extensive parking infrastructure to achieve broader community goals.
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