LTA to allow fewer carpark spaces in private developments from Feb 2019; announces 5 car-lite precincts

FIVE new areas in Singapore have been gazetted for development as car-lite precincts, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday.

These precincts - namely Marina South, Kampong Bugis, Woodlands North, Bayshore and the Jurong Lake District - will have greater connectivity to public transport as well as alternative travel options such as walking, cycling and personal mobility devices.

The provision for private vehicle parking for developments in these areas will be determined by the LTA on a case-by-case basis, the authority said.

This was announced as part of a slew of revisions to parking requirements for private developments that will come into effect from Feb 1 next year as part of Singapore's car-lite ambitions.

A new Range-based Parking Provision Standards will replace the existing 53-year-old Car Parking Standards - which stipulates minimum car parking requirements for developments based on factors such as land use and location - as well as the Range-based Car Parking Standard, which came into effect in 2005 and allowed some developments to reduce these provisions by up to 20 per cent.

The new standards, which are part of the Parking Places (Amendment) Act passed in March this year (2018), will allow developers to offer fewer parking spaces in the Central Business District (CBD) and Marina Bay areas.

The reduction in parking spaces range from 20 to 50 per cent from existing standards.

This will apply to commercial and private residential developments as well as non-residential white sites, plots where a range of uses are allowed.

This would mean, for example, that an office building in the CBD with a gross floor area of 100,000 sqm - which would previously be required to offer 222 car parking lots - would now be allowed to offer between 105 and 169 such lots.

Developments meant for other uses in these areas will be allowed to offer up to 20 per cent fewer lots.

In areas outside the CBD and Marina Bay, but within 400m of an MRT or LRT station, commercial developments will be allowed to offer up to 50 per cent fewer car parking lots.

The number of car parking spaces for office developments in these areas will see a reduction of between 20 and 50 per cent.

For all other areas, except the car-lite precincts, developments will be allowed to offer up to 20 per cent fewer parking lots.

Non-residential developments will also be required to have motorcycle parking, which should take up at least 5 per cent of the lower bound of their total car and motorcycle parking allocation.

There is currently no existing standard that requires buildings to allocate motorcycle parking lots.

These requirements will apply to all new developments, as well as redevelopments and selected alterations or change of use for existing properties.

Those who do not meet these standards may incur charges of $16,000 per car parking lot, or $5,500 per motorcycle lot above or below the allowable range.

Applications to deviate from the allowed number of lots will be decided by the LTA on a case-by-case basis.

"The revised parking standards will accord developers greater flexibility in managing parking provisions according to the needs of the developments, particularly in areas well-connected to the public transport system, and free up more land for community spaces and greenery," said the LTA.

THE STRAITS TIMES