To keep #Berkeley safe from fires, focus on managing curb parking. Use permits, prices & stronger enforcement to keep evacuation routes clear. On parcels abutting slender hillside roadways, let people build all the off-street parking they want, voluntarily
https://cal.streetsblog.org/2020/12/01/berkeleys-outdated-parking-laws-are-a-recipe-for-high-rents-and-homelessness/

Minimum parking laws are not an effective way to keep streets clear.

Research shows that off-street parking, especially in single-family homes & other small garages, is usually converted to other uses. This is hard to stop. Who knows what’s behind a closed garage door?

"Middle-class family garages, at least in California, serve mainly as storage units and storage/recreation areas...Our data suggest that 75% of middle-class #LosAngeles residents use garages in ways that preclude parking cars there.”
http://www.celf.ucla.edu/2010_conference_articles/Arnold_Lang_2007.pdf

Managing curb parking, in ways that keep fire routes clear, is much easier than it used to be. Thanks to license plate recognition technologies – already used by #Berkeley – establishing & enforcing residential parking benefit districts has become easier and cheaper.

Residential parking benefit districts can simultaneously:

– keep curb parking on each block readily available,
– keep fire routes clear, and
– fund public improvements for your neighborhood.