FEBRUARY 2019 - PARKING CHANGES
IDEA’s position on the issue
We support the Open Option parking proposal that City administration is encouraging Council to adopt.
What we like about the proposal
The Open Option will eliminate parking minimums in the zoning bylaw and allow builders, developers, businesses and homeowners the flexibility to build the parking that makes sense based on geography, other transportation options, cost, demographics, and market.
The Basis for IDEA’s Position on the Issue
Current Situation: Parking is over-supplied throughout Edmonton. Minimum parking requirements inhibit creative development, particularly for the various forms of infill including residential and missing middle housing, and mixed and commercial uses on small and medium-sized sites. Parking minimums increase the cost to build a project and thereby increase costs to home buyers, renters, and businesses.In addition, variances and rezoning to DC2 zones are often utilized to circumvent parking requirements, increasing the time and cost of the development for the City, Council, and developers. Rather than encouraging walkability and vibrancy, main streets and downtown remain fragmented by surface parking creating an undesirable pedestrian experience. There is currently no relationship between land-use, geography and the amount of parking supplied, meaning that parking requirements are not evidence-based or linked to overarching city-building objectives.
Future Opportunities: As transportation evolves and our City grows and changes it makes sense to enable businesses, homeowners, and developers to make responsive, market-driven decisions for parking supply. Continuing to require and possibly expand parking maximums in key areas will ensure that as a City we can shift our growth toward more people-centered communities. Shared parking and requirements for accessible parking will ensure that those who require it are still able to move freely around our City.
Benefits to IDEA Members, Residents, Businesses and the City of Edmonton: The Open Option for parking will help make infill easier to build and bring down some costs by removing the need for variances or rezoning applications simply to reduce the need for parking. Less parking in critical areas will help make housing more affordable for families, encourage more creative housing options and “drive change to more people-centered communities.”
Summary
We are excited about the Open Option parking proposal that City administration is encouraging Council to adopt. This option will:
Eliminate parking minimums in the zoning bylaw and allow builders, developers, businesses and home-owners the flexibility to build the parking that makes sense based on geography, other transportation options, cost, demographics, and market.
Maintain and encourage regulations that require parking maximums.
Enable new regulations to ensure that accessible parking and bicycle parking is provided.
Make infill easier to build and bring down some costs by removing the requirement for minimum parking and/or removing the requirement for variances or rezoning applications due to parking design.
Help to use land for it’s best use. With the existing regulations, it has created scenarios where we have had to build parking in area’s that should have been used for housing or commercial. Which has subsequently driven up the cost of housing and doing business, which otherwise could have gone into the design, reducing end price or financing another project.
Reduces the amount of time and significant costs we spend on creating spaces for car’s and shifting those resources to creating people-centered spaces.
IDEA would like to reiterate we are in full support of the purposed changes. It will drastically reduce barriers to residential, commercial and mixed-use infill developments.