SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - San Francisco could see a couple changes to parking regulations that would make condos slightly cheaper for the buyer and remove parking requirements for certain housing projects.

Parking has long been one of the most divisive political issues in The City, with the battle lines generally drawn between business advocacy groups and transit-first advocates.

While one group feels there is a need for additional parking, the other group views parking as a threat to transit-first policies and efforts to protect the environment.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has introduced legislation that would tweak parking requirements, but, in this case, he said there will likely be support on both sides of the aisle.

The legislation would eliminate required spaces for certain developments in The City’s denser neighborhoods and prohibit the cost of a parking space to be included in the cost of a condominium unit in large developments.

Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, a group that advocates transit-first and worked with Peskin on the legislation, said the changes “catch The City up with best practices.”

The ordinance would remove the minimum requirement of one parking space for every four units in certain housing projects.

Those developments are housing for seniors and physically handicapped people, below-market-rate housing, group housing projects, residential-care facilities and single-room occupancy units.

Radulovich said removal of the minimum requirement creates more “flexibility” and removes a financial hurdle of creating parking when it’s unnecessary.

He said an on-site parking space is priced at $50,000 to $80,000.

The legislation would also force the “unbundling” of parking spaces in housing developments of 10 or more units, prohibiting the cost of a parking space from being included in the cost of the condo unit.

Doing so would make housing less expensive for those who decide they don’t want a car and have no need for a parking space, Radulovich said.

The legislation also encourages developers to employ more “space-efficient parking” by lifting the requirement of independently accessible parking, where each parking space has its own stall accessible by the driver of the car, to allow for such things as mechanical car parking or valet parking.

The legislation will next go before a Board of Supervisors committee for a public hearing and requires a vote by the full board for approval.

jsabatini@examiner.com