Downtown parking was a big topic during last week’s Municipal Planning Commission meeting

 

The discussion heavily revolved around parking during the Thursday, August 30 Municipal Planning Commission regular meeting held at the town office. Two new downtown businesses were seeking variances for parking at their locations. The first business to have a seat at the table was Studio 83 which is a new gym located beside Timio’s Liquor Store on the corner of 52 Avenue and 50 Street.

Located in the Downtown Parking Overlay District, the business is required to offer parking for patrons and, based on the size of the facility, the Land Use Bylaw requires 26 stalls. Add in the two parking stalls required for Timio’s Liquor staff on the same property and it brings it to a total of 28 stalls. Although there are no formal parking layouts provided, administration estimated that approximately eight stalls were available on the site already with five located directly behind the building.

One of the complicating factors to the discussion was that the five parking stalls available at the back are located within the loading zone for Timio’s Liquor which was set back in 2016 to make sure the parking lot was accessible during deliveries which arrive by transport. The applicant said she would schedule her classes around Timio’s delivery time currently set for Tuesdays between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. which would remove any issues.

With only eight stalls available, the applicant was short 20 stalls. The Studio 83 owner was left with two options with the first being to pay a parking levy which amounts to $3,850 for each stall she is short but that would amount to a staggering $77,000. Her other option was to enter into a shared parking agreement with a nearby business that had parking available on its property.

Prior to attending the meeting, the owner spoke with the United Church which is located across the street from the gym about negotiating for shared usage of their parking lot. When Night Deposit opened in 1999 (which is in the same building that Studio 83 is now in) the owners entered into a shared parking agreement with the United Church between the hours of 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. As a new owner of the building, the applicant had to speak with them and enter into her own agreement. The church has approximately 32 stalls available and by entering into a shared agreement the applicant would have the parking she needs to move forward.

The board gave the applicant until September 30 to enter into such an agreement with the church. The board also provided her with a variance which lowered her required stalls from 28 to 23. After subtracting the eight spots she already has it left her with only needing to enter into an agreement for 15 stalls. Councillor Ray Hilts said he was happy to see a business going into the location and wished them much success. “I certainly couldn’t support indebting a business by $77,000 over parking which you clearly can’t afford. I think it’s critical that you’re successful in your business so I’m glad we could reach an agreement.”

The second business to approach the board over a parking variance was Starbuds located in the Evermore Yoga building on 50th Avenue. The applicant was asking for a variance to reduce the number of required parking stalls from 12 to eight. The yoga studio will remain on site and the owner is looking to add two new personal service establishments and one retail business to the location. The new additions include a hair salon, massage therapist, and retail cannabis. Also located within the Downtown Parking Overlay District, the business must have specific parking for patrons.

Her application explained that the yoga studio would primarily operate in the evenings and on weekends while the other businesses will operate during the day or by appointments. With limited hours and limited customers at any given time during the day, the applicant felt that reducing the number of stalls needed would not affect nearby stores. The board agreed and swiftly approved the application. Following the meeting, the board chose to speak in camera about parking issues within the downtown.