Modification of the Urban Planning Regulations of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Development Plan regarding Barcelona car parks, definitively approved on September 18, 2018, published in the DOGC of 10-16-2018.
The Urban Planning Subcommittee of the municipality of Barcelona, in session of September 18, 2018, definitively approved the Modification of the urban planning regulations of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Development Plan (PGM) regarding Barcelona car parks, a modification that was published in the DOGC, for the purpose of its immediate enforceability, on October 16, 2018.
The scope of the Modification is the entire municipal area of Barcelona and the determinations on the provision of car parks in buildings contained therein are of general application. As a result, the limitations or prohibitions contained in the already approved development plans for specific areas or general areas are suppressed, except for those contained in the Ordinance for the rehabilitation and improvement of the Barcelona Eixample District, which are maintained.
The purpose of the Modification is to regulate the supply of car parks depending on the destination of the building as well as to promote sustainable mobility. Specifically, the Modification proposes a new regulation for residential buildings, differentiating between general housing, housing with special or general protection regime and protected housing. The main purposes of this PGM modification are the following:
- Setting the minimum number of places foreseen in the previous regulations at most in all uses;
- Reducing the minimum number of places required in housing with special or general protection regime (1 car park every 4 dwellings);
- Suppressing the compulsory reservation of places for local community facilities and for protected housing addressed to the elderly;
- Defining local businesses (that is, businesses with a sales area of less than 1,300 m2), which does not require car parks;
- Adjusting the reservation of car parks to criteria of flexibility (exemption from car parks reservation obligation when the car park requirement is equal to or less than 6; possibility of reduction or elimination of reservations of car parks if the building obtains the A-level energy efficiency rating, etc.);
- Exceptionally admitting a larger number of car parks in areas of deficit for residents;
- Making the destination of part of the car parks more flexible for users of motorcycles and bicycles, without increasing the total area of the whole car park;
- Increasing the reserve of spots for bikes and foreseeing the electrical installation for recharging electric vehicles.
Finally, the document approved definitively incorporates a transitory provision, which indicates that the modifications of PGM approved prior to this Modification, as well as any previous agreements or commitments, which foresee a number of car parks superior to the one resulting from these regulations, may be adapted through the corresponding building permit.
In any case, it should be noted that the surface freed by the possible reduction in the number of mandatory car parks resulting from the application of this PGM modification in already built car parks cannot be used to increase the surface of the other uses admitted in the basement or of complementary activities to the main ones of the building (workshops, commercial, storage rooms, services, warehouses, offices, etc.). However, they may be used for the installation of general technical services facilities of the building and for expanding the offer for other means of transport, such as motorcycle or bicycle parks, or other measures in favor of sustainable mobility, such as additional recharging places for electric vehicles.