The Wedge gets creative
by Wayne Moore
Developers of a unique, six-storey downtown office building have come up with a creative way to solve their parking issue.
They are proposing bike stalls instead of vehicle parking stalls.
The development is proposed for a small, wedge shaped property at Water Street and Leon Avenue. The size and shape of the property make providing the required 10 vehicle stalls impractical.
And, the developer indicated margins were such that a $330,000 required cash-in-lieu of parking payment would not make the project financially feasible.
City council deferred a decision on the original application to give the applicant and staff time to work out a solution.
They will come back before council Tuesday with a solution supported by staff.
That includes a cash contribution of $99,000 in lieu of three parking stalls, and a varied approach to the other seven.
"Despite the small building footprint and the small total building area, the applicant has included a bike storage room for 13 long term bike stalls on the ground floor with the associated end-of-trip facilities (washrooms, change rooms, lockers, and showers) to encourage active transportation options to and from work," staff indicated in a report for council.
"The unique circumstances on this site is not readily applicable to other urban centre development sites and should not be seen as a precedent to vary parking regulations instead of providing cash-in-lieu."