Mechanical Parking -- A Safe Way To Double Park

• June 7, 2005

After a nearly five-year ban, two-level mechanical parking lifts, devices that double parking garage capacity by optimizing unused overhead space, are one step closer to becoming fixtures in parking garages throughout Chicago. At the Committee on Buildings session, on May 31, 2005, a highly regulatory plan permitting mechanical vehicle lifts passed with widespread public support. If approved by full council, mechanical lifts would provide Chicagoans with a safe and cost-efficient solution to parking needs, while diminishing the traditional streetscape challenges traditionally imposed by large parking structures.

The ban on mechanical parking resulted primarily from a nonconformity with the 8’ x 19’ x 7’ parking space requirement set forth under the city’s zoning ordinance. In the meantime, the ban provided the city with sufficient time to responsibly reconsider the value of mechanical parking. By installing test lifts during the interim, city officials have been able to explore the devices’ impacts, maintenance demands, and address all safety-related concerns. If permitted, the city intends to ensure safety and preserve aesthetic integrity through regulations.

Some of the regulatory highlights include:

• prohibiting the use of lifts that can stack more than two vehicles;
• limiting installation to industry professionals;
• requiring an $85.00 permit per lift;
• barring devices that are not wholly concealed by indoor garages;
• calling for protective sensing devices that prevent a lift from activating if any foreign object is located beneath;
• prohibiting the use of lifts for vehicles exceeding 7000 pounds;
• making all devices subject to city inspections; and
• limiting the operation of lifts to qualified persons.

Other cities with high land costs have permitted the use of lifts with far fewer regulations. It is not uncommon to find mechanical parking lifts in parking strapped cities like New York, which allows three-stack lifts in open air lots. However, in Chicago, mechanical parking would be permitted with the intention to help developers meet accessory parking requirements in an efficient manner rather than providing the city with more parking.

Mechanical parking systems, which have an average price of $14,000, are not only relatively cost efficient when contrasted to the $40,000 that single spaces often command, but they are valuable to the built environment since they can reduce garage bulk by 25 percent or more. This means that by reducing lackluster parking garage stories, more green space could be created — a benefit all city dwellers could appreciate.

As expressed in testimony before the Committee on Zoning and the Committee on Buildings, the Metropolitan Planning Council supports the city’s plan for mechanical parking as it effectively addresses all safety and design concerns while enhancing Chicago’s streetscapes.

MPC on Twitter

Follow us on Twitter »