St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved a major shift in the city’s development strategy Thursday, eliminating minimum parking requirements for new projects along the SunRunner corridor and signaling a continued move toward denser, transit-oriented growth with less emphasis on personal vehicles.
The ordinance removes longstanding parking mandates for properties inside the city’s SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit overlay district, allowing developers to determine how much parking to provide for apartments, businesses and mixed-use projects built along the route.
Supporters called the change a necessary modernization for one of Florida’s fastest-growing cities. Critics warned it could intensify parking shortages in nearby neighborhoods already grappling with congestion and redevelopment pressures…