NC Ends Parking Minimums: What Owners Should Do

North Carolina's parking mandates end on January 1, 2027. After that date, most cities and counties in the state can no longer tell an owner how many off-street spaces to build. The count becomes a business decision, so owners should size parking to real demand, keep the rules that still apply, and plan what to do with spaces they no longer need.

What the new law does

Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 162 on July 6, 2026, according to Axios Charlotte. It became Session Law 2026-39, as the Winston-Salem Chronicle reports.

The key points:

• Local governments may not require a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for new development.
• The parking provisions take effect January 1, 2027.
• The state's 20 coastal counties are exempt.
• Local governments may offer incentives, such as tax breaks or waived fees, for extra stormwater controls.

The vote was lopsided. The Senate passed it 44-1. The House concurred 111-2, per Governing. The bill grew out of House Bill 369, which passed the House and stalled in the Senate.

Some cities moved first. Raleigh ended its minimums in March 2022. Durham and Gastonia followed. The new law extends that change to most of the state.

What the law does not remove

A minimum is gone. Most other parking rules stay. Forsyth County shows how this works in practice. Its draft ordinance change, UDO-CC39, turns vehicle minimums into recommendations. The City-County Planning Board set a hearing on it for October 8, 2026. The City Council has the final vote.

Under that draft, these rules still apply:

• Accessible (ADA) parking
• Bicycle parking
• Loading areas
• Vehicle queuing
• Planting and screening around lots
• Lot placement on the site

Any parking you do build must still meet design and dimension standards. Expect most North Carolina towns to follow a similar pattern as they rewrite their codes.

ADA counts still apply to every lot you build

Federal accessibility rules do not depend on local minimums. The U.S. Access Board's guide to the 2010 ADA Standards sets the count by lot size:

Total spaces	Accessible spaces	Van-accessible within that total
1 to 25	1	1
26 to 50	2	1
51 to 75	3	1
76 to 100	4	1
101 to 150	5	1

At least 1 of every 6 accessible spaces must fit a van. If you cut a 120-space plan to 70 spaces, your accessible count drops from 5 to 3. It never drops to zero.

Why the parking count now matters to your returns

Every space costs money to build. Rep. Donnie Loftis, a lead sponsor, put surface parking at about $5,000 to $10,000 per space and decks at about $25,000 to $65,000 per space, per HousingWire.

Structured parking is rising fast. A UCLA Center for Parking Policy analysis of 2025 Rider Levett Bucknall data, published in Parking & Mobility magazine, puts the average at $52,000 per above-ground structured space and $73,000 per underground space. Those figures exclude land and soft costs.

Run the math on one decision. Dropping 50 deck spaces at $52,000 each frees $2.6 million in hard cost. That money can go to more units, more leasable space or a lower loan amount.

Stormwater is the other cost. One inch of rain on one acre of pavement makes about 27,000 gallons of runoff, according to Catawba Riverkeeper as cited by Axios. Less pavement means smaller detention systems and less to maintain.

How to size parking without a minimum

Too few spaces can hurt leasing and tenant operations. Too many waste capital and land. Use demand data, not the old code table.

1. Count what you have. Do occupancy counts at the true peak hour. Count on several days, including a weekend.
2. Split users by type. Residents, staff, visitors and fleet vehicles park at different times.
3. Check lender and tenant terms. Many loans and leases name a parking ratio. The law does not change a signed contract.
4. Test shared parking. An office lot that empties at 6 p.m. can serve a nearby restaurant or apartment building at night.
5. Price it. Paid or permit parking lowers peak demand and turns spaces into income.
6. Plan for EV charging and future fleets. Fewer spaces can each do more work.

Our free parking demand analyzer gives a first estimate. A site count should confirm it.

What to do with an existing lot that is too big

The law speaks to how many spaces a city can require. Existing owners may soon find they have more spaces than they need. Your local code still controls any site plan change, so confirm with your planning office first. Then compare these options:

• Sell or lease the extra spaces. Monthly permits to nearby users add income with little capital. See our guide to shared parking agreements.
• Add managed paid parking. License plate recognition (LPR) cameras and QR payments can run a lot with no gate.
• Install EV chargers. Chargers can turn idle spaces into a paid service.
• Build on part of the lot. A pad site, storage or housing may produce more value than surplus asphalt.
• Redesign for stormwater. Removing pavement can cut runoff and may qualify for local incentives under the new law.

Five questions to settle before you cut spaces

A lower count is not always the right call. Answer these first:

1. Who parks here at the peak? Base the number on your busiest hour, not your average day.
2. What do your loan and leases say? A required ratio in a contract still binds you.
3. Can a neighbor absorb overflow? A written shared parking agreement beats a handshake.
4. Will the site change use? Retail, office and housing each peak at different hours.
5. What does resale look like? Buyers and appraisers in your market may still expect a certain ratio.

Write the answers down. They become your parking memo for lenders, tenants and the planning office.

How Wins Parking handles this work

Wins Parking is a family-owned, Rocky Mountain–based firm that has been in the Vail Valley since 2016. We serve owners across the country with design, build and manage teams.

For a parking count decision, we:

• Study demand. We count occupancy, review leases and model shared use.
• Design and build. Wins Design & Build handles lots, garages, paving, striping, drainage, ADA layouts and snow planning.
• Manage and monetize. Our parking management services cover permits, pricing, enforcement and LPR cameras.
• Add charging. We plan and install EV charging for commercial, fleet and multifamily sites.

You can review past work on our case studies page.

Next step

If you own or plan property in North Carolina, now is the time to rethink your parking count before January 1, 2027. Call (970) 279-1744 or start at https://winsparking.com/contact.