Richmond, VA Eliminated Parking Minimums: What Still Applies to Restaurants, Retail and Redevelopment

Yes – Richmond, VA parking minimums were eliminated citywide in 2023. City Council adopted ORD. 2023-101 on April 24, 2023, repealing the zoning sections that required a minimum number of off-street parking and loading spaces, so owners and businesses now decide how much parking to provide. What still applies: design standards for any parking or loading you choose to build, ADA accessible spaces, and whatever your tenants, lenders and customers expect.

For restaurants, shops and developers, that removes one of the most common reasons an old building could not take a new use. It does not make parking irrelevant. This post covers what the ordinance did, what rules remain, and how parking still shows up in leases and loans. For how this plays out in one of the city’s busiest restaurant neighborhoods, see my Scott’s Addition commercial space guide.

What exactly did Richmond change in 2023?

ORD. 2023-101, patroned by then-Mayor Stoney, was introduced March 27, 2023, recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on April 17, and adopted by City Council on April 24. VPM reported the vote as 7-0, with two members absent. The ordinance states it took effect on adoption.

It repealed the parking table in City Code § 30-710.1 – which had required, for example, one space per single-family home and spaces for retail based on floor area – along with the related special-district provisions and the off-street loading requirements in §§ 30-720.1, 30-720.2 and 30-720.5. It also repealed the parking overlay and parking-exempt overlay divisions in Article IX, since there was no longer a minimum to reduce or exempt. Cross-references to “required” parking throughout the code were cleaned up.

According to the city’s staff report, Richmond’s first zoning ordinance in 1927 had no off-street parking requirements; a dedicated parking section arrived with the 1960 amendments. Staff argued that minimums had contributed to sprawl, a lack of affordable housing and automobile dependency, and noted that the repeal “will not prohibit property owners from building parking spaces.”

What parking rules still apply in Richmond?

The repeal removed the minimum count. It did not remove the standards for parking that gets built. Staff said the ordinance would retain the parking size and screening requirements, and Planning Director Kevin Vonck told VPM that landscaping and setback rules for previously created parking remain in place.

Two more things to check on any specific parcel. First, a special use permit, conditional use permit or proffered rezoning is its own ordinance and may carry parking conditions; ask Planning and Development Review (PDR) whether any apply. Second, accessibility requirements come from federal law and the building code, not zoning, so they apply regardless of the repeal – have your architect confirm the count and layout.

What does it mean for a restaurant or retail change of use?

Before 2023, converting a shop into a restaurant typically raised the parking requirement, and a building with no room for more spaces could need a variance or special approval. Under the current ordinance, zoning no longer asks how many spaces a new use needs.

The ordinance also changed how nonconforming uses are handled. Under amended § 30-800.3, a nonconforming use can switch to another qualifying use only if, among other tests, the new use does not generate more vehicle trips than the old one, measured by Institute of Transportation Engineers rates or a similar system. That replaced the old test of whether the new use required more parking. So traffic still matters in some cases, just measured differently.

What has not changed is the building side. A shop-to-restaurant conversion is still a change of occupancy under the Virginia building code, with the permit, certificate of occupancy, restroom, sprinkler, grease and accessibility work that comes with it. In older buildings, that work – not parking – is now usually the deciding cost.

What does it mean for redevelopment?

For infill and redevelopment, the repeal frees land that used to go to required spaces and removes a common reason for variance requests. A developer can size parking to the market, share it with a neighbor or skip it. But once you build a lot of five or more spaces, the design rules above apply, and site plan review will look at access and screening. Code Refresh, the pending zoning rewrite, would keep that approach: as I read Public Review Draft #3, it regulates parking location and design and proposes bicycle parking minimums (for example, one space per 2,500 square feet for retail and restaurants), but does not restore vehicle minimums. It is still a draft; see my Code Refresh explainer.

What do tenants and lenders still expect about parking?

Zoning set a floor; the market sets its own. The questions I expect to come up on a Richmond retail or restaurant deal:

• Tenants: many retailers and restaurant operators have parking expectations in their site criteria and may ask for a minimum count, a no-build area in front of the store, or co-tenancy protections tied to parking.
• Lenders and appraisers: they look at whether a property can re-lease if the current tenant leaves. Thin parking can narrow the tenant pool, which can show up in value and loan terms even when zoning is satisfied.
• Zoning reports: a lot with less parking than the old code required is no longer out of compliance on that point, which can simplify zoning due diligence. Get a zoning verification from PDR rather than assuming.
• Neighbors and operations: high-turnover uses on tight sites can create spillover onto residential streets; plan for deliveries and pickup, especially now that loading spaces are not required.

In walkable neighborhoods, on-street, shared and structured parking can carry a concept. On suburban-style corridors, customers still arrive by car. The zoning change lets you choose; it does not choose for you. For a neighborhood example, see my Scott’s Addition guide, and browse current listings with parking in mind.

Talk through parking on your Richmond site

If you are sizing up a Richmond space or redevelopment site and want a second opinion on whether the parking works for your use, your customers and your lender, reach out. PDR and your attorney remain the final word on zoning; I can help you frame the business side.