City of Edmonton to close downtown parking lots

[Coldrsx]

City to close downtown parking lots
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 11:49 AM MT Comments15Recommend6
CBC News
Some of the inexpensive parking lots in downtown Edmonton are going to be shut down next year, as the first step in a parking strategy aimed at encouraging more people to live downtown and use more transit.

The plan initially is to close down gravel lots the city owns in the Quarters redevelopment area, a few blocks east of the Art Gallery of Alberta and the Winspear Centre.

City officials said some people won't be happy but that the closures will revitalize the city's downtown.

"We don't want to hurt anybody," said Kathleen Young, development manager with the city's special projects office. "But it is time that the downtown of Edmonton looked like an urban centre."

The goal is to ultimately close down all the surface lots in the area. Young says she will be working with private owners to encourage them to develop their lots over the next five years.

The decision is part of a larger strategy aimed at turning Edmonton into a less sprawling city.

Council is also looking at parking bylaws and regulations across the city after a survey of 11 parking lots showed they are often half empty.

"A lot of development that takes place today provides more parking than what the bylaw requires and more parking than we believe is necessary to serve the development," said Scott Mackie, branch manager of the city's current planning division.

Council is being asked to consider measures such as shorter-term parking limits, shared parking facilities in some business areas and specific parking rules for different neighbourhoods, all in a bid to increase urban density and transit use.


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/st...n-closure.html

[Jasper and one o nin]

That is much MUCH tougher said than done. Many of those parking lots are (or may be) legal, and considered legal non-conforming uses. Like it or not, it can be argued, and it has been argued (successfully) that they have a right to continue. Although, the lots do not comply either from its use, or by the regulations, they may be considered legal at some point in history and, subject to the non-conforming rules as set out in the MGA, might have a right to exist.
The City needs to be prepared to go to battle on these. And have solid arguements that these lots were never legal in the first place. There is a lot of grey area.
unfortunately

[240glt]

I think they're primarily talking about closing lots the city owns.

There's not a lot the city can do about privately owned lots, asside for ensuring they conform to bylaw standards & providing some sort of incentive to develop.

[Jasper and one o nin]

Originally Posted by 240glt

I think they're primarily talking about closing lots the city owns.

There's not a lot the city can do about privately owned lots, asside for ensuring they conform to bylaw standards & providing some sort of incentive to develop.

yeah, i should probably read the post before commenting on it

[noodlenoodle]

Exactly. If a property owner has two lots both under 50% utilization in the same vicinity there has to be some way to incentive him to merge the parking operation onto one lot and free up the other for redevelopment, perhaps in the waiving of the property taxes on the merged operations, contingent on the other parcel being redeveloped. The increased property taxes on the renewed property would offset the loss from the parking lot many times over.

[Wooster]

Edmonton must be one of the only large cities that I know of without a municipal parking authority.

[bigcitydude]

i hope they replace the parking lots they close with nice, big, tall, highrises!!

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by 240glt

I think they're primarily talking about closing lots the city owns.

There's not a lot the city can do about privately owned lots, asside for ensuring they conform to bylaw standards & providing some sort of incentive to develop.

In Calgary, instead of wimpy incentives to develop (it is hard to provide incentives big enough since parking is so profitable), the city has a per stall charge on all parking in the core. $20 per stall per month, whether on a surface lot or in a parkade.

But yeah, as for the rest of this, welcome to the 1970s Edmonton!

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by bigcitydude

i hope they replace the parking lots they close with nice, big, tall, highrises!!

somewhere in the range of 100 million an acre aught to do it...