diff --git a/src/main/resources/beam-template.conf b/src/main/resources/beam-template.conf
index b11bac577b4..93b44562a29 100755
--- a/src/main/resources/beam-template.conf
+++ b/src/main/resources/beam-template.conf
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ beam.agentsim.agents.parking.mulitnomialLogit.params.distanceMultiplier = "doubl
 beam.agentsim.agents.parking.mulitnomialLogit.params.parkingPriceMultiplier = "double | -0.005" // based on avg. parking prices up to $200!
 beam.agentsim.agents.parking.mulitnomialLogit.params.homeActivityPrefersResidentialParkingMultiplier = "double | 1.0" // positive boost of 1.0 if true
 beam.agentsim.agents.parking.rangeAnxietyBuffer = "double | 20000.0" // if our remaining range exceeds our remaining tour plus this many meters, then we feel no anxiety; default 20k
-beam.agentsim.agents.parking.maxSearchRadius = "double | 8046.72"
+beam.agentsim.agents.parking.minSearchRadius = "double | 250.00"  // something small enough that, on average, we see 2 orders of magnitude of samples at most
+beam.agentsim.agents.parking.maxSearchRadius = "double | 8046.72" // something large enough that we don't strand our drivers in an oasis
 
 #TAZ params
 beam.agentsim.taz.filePath = ${beam.inputDirectory}"/taz-centers.csv"
diff --git a/src/main/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManager.scala b/src/main/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManager.scala
index 7b3f4db4d8b..eeb965ccfb5 100755
--- a/src/main/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManager.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManager.scala
@@ -26,15 +26,16 @@ class ZonalParkingManager(
   parkingZones: Array[ParkingZone],
   zoneSearchTree: ParkingZoneSearch.ZoneSearchTree[TAZ],
   rand: Random,
+  minSearchRadius: Double,
   maxSearchRadius: Double,
   boundingBox: Envelope,
   mnlMultiplierParameters: ParkingMNL.ParkingMNLConfig
 ) extends Actor
     with ActorLogging {
 
-  if (maxSearchRadius < ZonalParkingManager.MinSearchRadius) {
+  if (maxSearchRadius < minSearchRadius) {
     log.warning(
-      s"maxSearchRadius of $maxSearchRadius meters provided from config is less than the fixed minimum search radius of ${ZonalParkingManager.MinSearchRadius}; no searches will occur with these settings."
+      s"maxSearchRadius of $maxSearchRadius meters provided from config is less than the fixed minimum search radius of ${minSearchRadius}; no searches will occur with these settings."
     )
   }
 
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ class ZonalParkingManager(
 
   val parkingZoneSearchConfiguration: ParkingZoneSearchConfiguration =
     ParkingZoneSearchConfiguration(
-      ZonalParkingManager.MinSearchRadius,
+      minSearchRadius,
       maxSearchRadius,
       boundingBox,
       geo.distUTMInMeters
@@ -274,7 +275,6 @@ object ZonalParkingManager extends LazyLogging {
 
   // this number should be less than the MaxSearchRadius config value, tuned to being
   // slightly less than the average distance between TAZ centroids.
-  val MinSearchRadius: Double = 1000.0
 
   val AveragePersonWalkingSpeed: Double = 1.4 // in m/s
   val HourInSeconds: Int = 3600
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManager extends LazyLogging {
     val parkingFilePath: String = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.taz.parkingFilePath
     val parkingStallCountScalingFactor = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.taz.parkingStallCountScalingFactor
     val parkingCostScalingFactor = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.taz.parkingCostScalingFactor
+    val minSearchRadius = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.agents.parking.minSearchRadius
     val maxSearchRadius = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.agents.parking.maxSearchRadius
     val mnlParamsFromConfig = beamConfig.beam.agentsim.agents.parking.mulitnomialLogit.params
     // distance to walk to the destination
@@ -339,6 +340,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManager extends LazyLogging {
       stalls,
       searchTree,
       random,
+      minSearchRadius,
       maxSearchRadius,
       boundingBox,
       mnlMultiplierParameters
@@ -358,6 +360,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManager extends LazyLogging {
     tazTreeMap: TAZTreeMap,
     geo: GeoUtils,
     random: Random,
+    minSearchRadius: Double,
     maxSearchRadius: Double,
     boundingBox: Envelope,
     includesHeader: Boolean = true
@@ -369,6 +372,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManager extends LazyLogging {
       parking.zones,
       parking.tree,
       random,
+      minSearchRadius,
       maxSearchRadius,
       boundingBox,
       ParkingMNL.DefaultMNLParameters
diff --git a/src/main/scala/beam/sim/config/BeamConfig.scala b/src/main/scala/beam/sim/config/BeamConfig.scala
index 9637baa5b4f..5afc96930af 100755
--- a/src/main/scala/beam/sim/config/BeamConfig.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/beam/sim/config/BeamConfig.scala
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// generated by tscfg 0.9.4 on Mon Aug 26 14:38:09 MDT 2019
+// generated by tscfg 0.9.4 on Mon Aug 26 21:00:03 MDT 2019
 // source: src/main/resources/beam-template.conf
 
 package beam.sim.config
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ object BeamConfig {
 
         case class Parking(
           maxSearchRadius: scala.Double,
+          minSearchRadius: scala.Double,
           mulitnomialLogit: BeamConfig.Beam.Agentsim.Agents.Parking.MulitnomialLogit,
           rangeAnxietyBuffer: scala.Double
         )
@@ -639,6 +640,7 @@ object BeamConfig {
           def apply(c: com.typesafe.config.Config): BeamConfig.Beam.Agentsim.Agents.Parking = {
             BeamConfig.Beam.Agentsim.Agents.Parking(
               maxSearchRadius = if (c.hasPathOrNull("maxSearchRadius")) c.getDouble("maxSearchRadius") else 8046.72,
+              minSearchRadius = if (c.hasPathOrNull("minSearchRadius")) c.getDouble("minSearchRadius") else 250.00,
               mulitnomialLogit = BeamConfig.Beam.Agentsim.Agents.Parking.MulitnomialLogit(
                 if (c.hasPathOrNull("mulitnomialLogit")) c.getConfig("mulitnomialLogit")
                 else com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory.parseString("mulitnomialLogit{}")
diff --git a/src/test/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManagerSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManagerSpec.scala
index 811442c1bc0..370536f2c01 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManagerSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/beam/agentsim/infrastructure/ZonalParkingManagerSpec.scala
@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManagerSpec {
     boundingBox: Envelope,
     random: Random = Random
   )(implicit system: ActorSystem): ActorRef = {
+    val minSearchRadius = 1000.0
     val maxSearchRadius = 16093.4 // meters, aka 10 miles
     val zonalParkingManagerProps = Props(
       ZonalParkingManager(
@@ -287,6 +288,7 @@ object ZonalParkingManagerSpec {
         tazTreeMap,
         geo,
         random,
+        minSearchRadius,
         maxSearchRadius,
         boundingBox
       )