Squamishs current downtown parking bylaws hinder development and should be relaxed, according to a District of Squamish staff report presented at Municipal Hall Tuesday (Oct. 12).
What were seeing is that parking is prohibiting development and making otherwise viable projects non-viable, said municipal planner Chris Bishop.
Bishop requested that council lower the number of required spaces for new developments, leading Mayor Greg Gardner to take it a step further by suggesting no parking requirements for downtown commercial developments.
Coun. Paul Lalli said he remembers projects being axed in recent years due to parking standards.
I dont know what the magic number is but it definitely needs to be looked at, he said.
Coun. Rob Kirkham said the answer appeared obvious.
If thats the one key thing thats stopping development downtown, and were committed to generating vibrancy, why wouldnt we look at other options?
The subject came up with Bethel Lands Corporations request for a parking variance for a proposed four-storey commercial office building, which would have 3,500 square feet of ground floor commercial and three storeys of office space on Cleveland Avenue and Victoria Street.
Bethel hopes for 12 instead of 52 parking, and the issue was potentially a make or break deal, according to community services general manager Cameron Chalmers.
Normally, a developer can provide $4,000 cash in lieu of each parking stall, but the bylaw limits the compensation to four stalls.
Chalmers said this variance could set a precedent, but staff was comfortable because the proposal is purely commercial and there is sufficient parking in the area.
Councillors supported the variance in theory but wanted to look at options before taking the issue further.
Its simple to say we want more jobs than parking, but people with jobs often want places to park, said Coun. Patricia Heintzman. This development doesnt even have enough parking for employees so I support the idea but want options.
Coun. Doug Race agreed with zero parking for commercial projects but thought council should make sure to look ahead as well.
If we look ahead to when the Oceanfront develops, Cleveland will likely expand to four lanes and well lose the parking, so maybe we as a district will need to think about reserving a place for a parkade in the downtown plan.
Despite considering a zero stall policy for commercial projects, council members still made it clear they would expect some type of compensation for the Bethel variance and suggested cash in lieu could go towards a future parkade.
A motion to explore downtown parking standards in future downtown zoning bylaw updates was carried unanimously.
