The Menil Collection’s “Special Parking Designation” Could Be A Big First Step In Parking Flexibility For The Neighborhood

The Menil Collection’s latest expansion plan may not need to include an equally ambitious parking expansion if City Council is amenable. The Chronicle reports that an alternative “special parking area” designation could drop the number of required paved parking spaces down by 40-percent and allow for those spaces to be up to 1,000 feet away, which is “about four times the typical required distance.”

Menil deputy director Sheryl Kolasinski told the Chronicle that the “ultimate goal is to keep as much of the campus green as possible, while at the same time not having any adverse impact on parking in the neighborhood.”

Part of the proposed alterations to parking regulations take factors into account like the 30-acre size of the campus and the fact that it is a single destination, “at which visitors walk between buildings.”

If approved, the special parking area would be analyzed every two years and tweaked if necessary, with special notice to issues like “spillover into nearby residential neighborhoods.”

The Montrose District is pursuing a similar designation allowing for flexibility in parking requirements. This designation would attempt to address parking issues through a variety of solutions, including enhanced shared parking and valet programs, improvements to sidewalks (as well as the overall walking and biking experience in Montrose) and long-term construction of parking structures.