Frequently Asked Questions

2.  What are the Parking Requirements for businesses?

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A.    What are the parking regulations for my business?

B.    What are the parking requirements if a business is proposed in an existing building space that was formerly a retail store, an office, or an industrial space?

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A.  What are the parking regulations for my business?

Parking regulations in Santa Monica are based on the property’s use rather than address or district.  Click to access the off-street parking requirements by category. These requirements include residential, commercial, educational, industrial, health services, entertainment and places of worship.

For the required dimensions of standard parking stall regulations, please click TMD parking handout to download a handout showing  parking measurements for different angles and aisle widths.  For more information please contact the Transportation Management Division at 310-458-8291.

B.  What are the parking requirements if a business is proposed in an existing building space that was formerly a retail store, an office, or an industrial space?

The parking requirements for opening a new business in an existing space vary depending on whether there is a change of use and the nature of the existing use.   

An existing use may continue to occupy any building or tenant space that does not have enough parking according to current requirements as long as the existing parking complies with the standards that were in effect at the time the use was legally established or with current standards, whichever is less.

A new use in an existing non-residential building (e.g. a commercial or industrial space) must provide additional parking spaces as required in SMMC 9.04.10.08.040 if the new use has a more intense parking ratio than the previous use.  However, if the existing non-residential building has not had a legal use for 12 months, no additional parking is required for any new use proposed after the 12-month period provided that the parking standard is not higher than 1 space/300 square feet in commercial districts and 1 space/400 square feet in industrial districts.

A new use that is a commercial, cultural, health, industrial, or recreational use of an existing residential building will require parking to be provided in accordance with current standards.

A new use that is a residential or educational use of an existing residential building must provide additional parking spaces as required in SMMC 9.04.10.08.040 if the new use has a more intense parking ratio than the previous use.  However, if the existing residential building has not had a legal use for over 6 months, no additional parking is required for any new use proposed after the 6-month period provided that the required parking for the new use does not exceed the required parking for the last legal use.

Note that the parking requirements explained above do not apply to any new development within the downtown area bounded by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Colorado Avenue to the south, Second Street to the west, and Sixth Court to the east.  In this area, parking is provided within centrally located parking structures owned by the City.

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