Parking Minimums: MassLandlords Testifies in Favor of Reduced Parking Minimums in Worcester

On June 25, MassLandlords Executive Director Doug Quattrochi and member Rich Trifone testified before the City of Worcester’s Economic Development Committee in favor of a proposal to reduce parking minimums citywide.

MassLandlords Executive Director Doug Quattrochi spoke in favor of reducing parking minimums in the City of Worcester on June 25, 2026. Paraphrased, “We can let the market decide how much parking to add.”

Reducing parking minimums does not mean that property owners would be required to eliminate spaces. Reducing the minimum would mean only that property owners would be allowed to add units or change use without having as much parking on-site. Currently the zoning code specifies more parking than is needed. If reduced parking minimums ever resulted in a shortage of parking (rare), residents and customers could park off-site at a meter, on side streets or in a public garage.

Member Rich Trifone shared how he was unable to create new housing because he was one space short of the two-per unit minimum on a single unit (there were half a dozen spaces already on that lot); under reduced parking minimums, he would have been able to create that housing.

There is no specific proposal yet. The purpose of the hearing was to find out what concerns councilors may have. Any change would only take place after the Economic Development Committee and City Council endorse a specific proposed amendment to the zoning ordinances changing the parking requirements for a host of specific residential and commercial zones.

The proposal will be drafted by staff at the Department of Transportation and Mobility.

Below is Quattrochi’s testimony as prepared. Actual delivery varied from the script in immaterial ways. The video of both speakers is available online.

Sample of Prepared Testimony

I’m Doug Quattrochi, a resident of Worcester and also Executive Director of MassLandlords. I’m speaking in support of item 3c, to reduce parking minimums. The recommendation to reduce parking minimums comes from Worcester Now | Next, which is the long-range plan adopted by the Worcester Planning Board in March 20, 2024. Rental housing providers had substantial input to the plan’s drafting. We support its recommendations.

Now | Next promises to free small business owners to reinvest in Worcester by building new facilities, especially housing, with more flexibility than is currently allowed. There are many neighborhoods where reducing parking minimums would have little to no impact because they were built before cars and there are good alternatives to travel by car, many of which the city is supporting including walkability, bikeability and bus service. Plus we have rideshare.

There’s a study of Buffalo of four years of no parking minimums citywide (Hess and Rehler, 2021): 47% of major developments had less parking than previously was permissible, and half of mixed-use developments had less parking. This strongly supports the idea that previous parking minimums were excessive. Developers had to present a plan justifying -- based on the use cases -- how many residents or customers of each unit would be walking, biking or busing to or from the building. Some chose to provide parking at or above the minimum, but half did not.

We desperately need more housing and labor to work on housing, and this means doing whatever we can to reduce parking minimums and create more space for people.