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California Assembly Bill 2097 (2022)
California State Legislature
Full name	An act to amend Section 65585 of, and to add Section 65863.2 to, the Government Code, relating to land use.
Introduced	February 14, 2022
Assembly voted	September 29, 2022
Senate voted	September 30, 2022
Signed into law	September 22, 2022
Sponsor(s)	Scott Wiener, Matt Haney, Alex Lee, Nancy Skinner, Chris Ward
Governor	Gavin Newsom
Code	Government Code
Bill	California Assembly Bill 2097
Associated bills	California Density Bonus Law, California HOME Act, CEQA, HAA, the ADU law, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act, AB 2553 (2024), AB 2712 (2024)
Website	https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2097
Status: Current legislation

California Assembly Bill 2097 (AB 2097) is a 2022 California statute which prohibits California cities and other public agencies from mandating parking for most development projects within 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of a major transit stop. The law also establishes a "substantial hardship exception" which allows a public agency to impose a parking mandate within 0.5 miles of a major transit stop if the agency submits an application with evidence of a negative impact upon either the agency's ability to meet its RHNA obligations for low and very low income residents, disabled and elderly residents, or existing residential or commercial parking within 0.5 miles of a housing development project.

Legislative history

The law was drafted by Laura Friedman, and emanated from portions of California Senate Bill 50, an unsuccessful 2019 bill which would have both prohibited parking mandates within 0.5 miles of a major transit stop as well as mandated minimum four-plex residential zoning in the same locations.

Initially drafted as AB 1401 in 2021, the bill was passed by the Assembly but died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Refiled in 2022 as AB 2097, the bill was passed by both houses by August 30, 2022, and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 22, 2022. Taking effect on January 1, 2023, California became the second state after Oregon to eliminate parking minimums near public transit.

Related legislation

Amendments

On September 19, 2024, Newsom signed into law AB 2553, which expanded both the definition of "major transit stop" under the California Environmental Quality Act to service frequency of 20 minutes or less, as well as eligibility for reduced traffic impact fees under the Mitigation Fee Act from "transit station" to "major transit stop". Previously, CEQA defined “major transit stop” as the intersection of two or more major bus routes with service of 15 minutes or less during peak commute periods. By extension, AB 2553 expanded the number of locations prohibited from parking mandates under AB 2097. The law also impacts the definition of "major transit stop" for several other laws, including the California Density Bonus Law, California HOME Act, CEQA, California Housing Accountability Act, the ADU law, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act, and the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023 (SB 4, sometimes referred to as the “Yes in God’s Backyard,” or “YIGBY” legislation).

On September 22, 2024, Newsom signed AB 2712, also drafted by Friedman, into law, prohibiting the city of Los Angeles from issuing preferential parking permits to residents of new developments which are exempt from parking mandates under AB 2097 unless the city provides a written application for hardship.

Other parking reform legislation

• SB 35 (2017), SB 6 (2022): prohibits local governments from levying parking mandates upon SB 35 projects within a half-mile of either public transit, within an architecturally and historically significant historic district, within one block of a car share vehicle, or when on-street parking permits are required but not offered to the occupants of the development.
• AB 2011 (2022): prohibits most parking mandates, but does not preclude parking mandates for new multifamily residential or nonresidential development to provide bicycle parking, electric vehicle supply equipment installed parking spaces, or parking spaces that are accessible to persons with disabilities.
• California HOME Act (SB 9, 2021), SB 4 (2023): prohibit local governments from levying parking mandates upon SB 9 and SB 4 projects within a half-mile of either a high-quality transit corridor or a major transit stop, or within one block of a car share vehicle.
• AB 1308 (2023): prohibits local governments from increasing the minimum parking requirement that applies to a single-family residence as a condition of approval of a project to remodel, renovate, or add to a single-family residence, except in specified circumstances;
• AB 1317 (2023): requires the owner of qualifying residential property, as defined, that provides parking with the qualifying residential property to unbundle parking from the price of rent;
• AB 894 (2023): requires that public agencies allow underutilized parking spaces to be shared with other land uses and the public, and to count shared parking toward meeting parking requirements in specified circumstances.

Compliance by cities

Several California cities have passed legislation to repeal parking mandates beyond the scope of AB 2097 and its amendments, both before and after AB 2097's passage:

• San Francisco repealed parking mandates citywide (except for mortuaries) on December 18, 2018.
• Emeryville repealed parking mandates and instituted parking maximums in 2019.
• Sacramento repealed its remaining parking mandates citywide in January 2021.
• Berkeley, in January 2021, repealed parking mandates for all residential uses except for two hillside neighborhoods which have narrow streets.
• San Diego removed parking mandates for businesses in transit-priority areas and commercial neighborhoods in November 2021.
• Alameda repealed parking minimums in November 2021.
• Culver City passed an ordinance abolishing parking mandates citywide in October 2022.
• San Jose repealed parking mandates for all new housing developments in December 2022.
• Mountain View's City Council voted on November 12, 2024 to repeal parking mandates for housing developments in certain other areas slated for housing growth, as well as residential areas of mixed-use developments.

References

1. "Answers to 12 Questions About California Assembly Bill 1401". www.planetizen.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
2. Weinberg, Abigail (23 September 2022). "California just struck a major blow to car culture". Mother Jones. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
3. "Bill Text - AB-2097 Residential, commercial, or other development types: parking requirements". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
4. "Legislative Update: Ending Harmful Road Widening, and Redefining "Major Transit Stops" - Streetsblog California". cal.streetsblog.org. 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
5. Falcone, Shannon (2024-09-16). "2024 Housing Legislation Overview: Major Pending Bills on the Governor's Desk". Coblentz Law. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
6. "AB 2553: a Small Change with Big Consequences – How Five More Minutes Could Increase Transit-Oriented Development". www.coxcastle.com. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
7. "Bill Status - AB-2712 Preferential parking privileges: transit-oriented development". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
8. "AB 1308- CHAPTERED". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
9. "AB 1317- CHAPTERED". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
10. "AB 894- CHAPTERED". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
11. Grabar, Henry (2018-12-18). "San Francisco Legalizes Itself". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
12. "Analysis: The Decline and Fall of Mandatory Parking Minimums — Streetsblog USA". usa.streetsblog.org. 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
13. "Sacramento Effectively Ended Single-Family Exclusive Zoning. But That's Not All". Strong Towns. 2024-04-10. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
14. Raguso, Emilie (2021-01-28). "Berkeley overhauls off-street parking with an eye toward greener future". Berkeleyside. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
15. Jennewein, Chris (2021-11-18). "San Diego City Council Eliminates Minimum Parking Requirements for Businesses". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
16. "City of Alameda - File #: 2021-1480". alameda.legistar.com. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
17. "Culver City Abolishes Parking Requirements Citywide - Streetsblog Los Angeles". la.streetsblog.org. 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
18. Group, Eliyahu Kamisher | Bay Area News (2022-12-07). "Bye-bye parking requirements: San Jose becomes largest city in U.S. to abolish minimum parking". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2024-11-30. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
19. Staff, T. R. D. (2022-12-08). "San Jose becomes largest US city to ditch minimum parking". The Real Deal. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
20. Margaretten, Emily (2024-11-13). "Mountain View eliminates parking requirements in areas slated for housing growth". Mountain View Voice. Retrieved 2024-11-21.

• California statutes
• Housing and rent legislation in California
• Parking law
• Zoning in the United States