North Carolina Bill Looks To End Required Parking Spots, Ban Toxic Pavement Coatings
A new bill landed in the North Carolina legislature on March 11. House Bill 369 aims to get rid of mandatory parking minimums and ban the use of toxic pavement sealants across the state.
Representatives Donnie Loftis, Mark Brody, Howard Penny, Jr., and Allison Dahle brought forward the “Parking Lot Reform and Modernization Act.” Their bill challenges old-fashioned 1950s parking rules that wasteland and stick business owners with unnecessary expenses.
The numbers tell a clear story: Just one inch of rain dumps 27,000 gallons of water per acre onto parking lots and paved surfaces. This huge runoff makes flooding worse and sends pollutants directly into streams and rivers.
The bill focuses on two main problems. First, it takes aim at over-the-top parking requirements. Second, it wants to stop people from using coal tar sealants that are full of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that kill fish and may cause cancer.
Currently, state rules limit how much control local areas have over managing stormwater in redevelopment projects. The new changes would let towns and cities have more say in dealing with runoff and pushing for greener solutions.
Today’s rules make businesses build way more parking than they actually need. Since the 1990s, lots of cities have done away with or cut back these requirements, showing a better way to plan urban spaces.
Research shows some scary facts: runoff from coal tar-sealed surfaces kills water creatures and puts people’s health at risk. The risks are so obvious that many places across the U.S. have already banned these coatings.
“One primary concern is the construction of more impervious surfaces, like parking lots, which increase runoff. Runoff, rainfall that flows over impervious surfaces instead of being absorbed into the ground, is a leading source of water pollution and flooding in North Carolina,” Catawba Riverkeeper said to qcnews.com.
This bill comes as North Carolina deals with growing pressure on its waterways and green areas. A water protection group in Charlotte supports the bill’s effort to clean up water through better parking rules.
The bill will go to committee review soon. If it passes, it could help fix flooding problems and improve water quality while saving local businesses from spending money they don’t need to spend.
