PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Advocates are calling on Providence leaders to remove minimum parking requirements in the city, saying more space not designated for cars could help the housing crisis. The Providence Streets Coalition published an open letter last week calling on members of the Providence City Council Ordinances Committee to amend Mayor Brett Smiley's proposed draft comprehensive plan, which was approved by the City Plan Commission on June 18. "We appreciate that the current draft calls for the broad reduction of parking requirements, however with this document, we have the opportunity to meet the moment and follow the lead of dozens of peer cities by eliminating the requirement entirely," the group wrote in the letter. The coalition argued that be removing minimum requirements -- which are typically assigned to a building project or existing structure based on size and units -- could be one way to address the housing crisis. "The housing crisis is an urgent issue that needs to be tackled from every possible angle, and there is one solution that is free, instant, and extremely effective: eliminating parking minimums for all uses citywide," the group wrote. Mayor Smiley said Providence has already reduced parking minimums along transit corridors, adding that he's looking to expand on that effort as part of his proposed plan. For example, he points to one part of the plan that proposes eliminating parking minimums for new development and for people vetting future developments to consider imposing maximum parking limits. Smiley stopped short of proposing a maximum parking limit himself, and said he'd have to study the effects and potential consequences of an "all out elimination" of parking minimums. "We already know that many of our neighborhood streets are clogged with cars parking overnight," he said. "It does make it difficult to remove snow or to deal with with flooding, and it can be a burden on those neighborhoods. I'm always willing to hear proposals." The committee held a public hearing for about two hours on Monday night. The coalition's operations manager, Dylan Giles, said data from the Parking Reform Network found 88 cities and towns, including Central Falls, have removed parking minimums from their zoning codes from residential development. "It is important to point out that taking this step will not eliminate all new off-street parking entirely," Giles said. "Rather, it enables the market to determine how much parking is needed and to adapt to varying degrees of transportation access in different neighborhoods, while increasing access to housing in the process." No vote was taken at Monday night's meeting, which was continued to Oct. 2. Providence City Council President Rachel Miller told Target 12 she did not have a comment to the letter at this point in the review process of the comprehensive plan. Alexandra Leslie ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook.