SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
VTC AGENDA
JUNE 12, 1996
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: May 27, 1996
TO: Vancouver Traffic Commission
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Request for Resident Permit Parking (RPP) Zone:
Unit and 100 Blocks Alexander Street
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT a Gastown area parking plan be done in conjunction with
the development of the Gastown Land Use Plan.
CONSIDERATION
B. THAT the Unit (00) and 100 blocks of Alexander Street be
added to the existing Strathcona RPP system, as illustrated
in Appendix A, with fourteen fulltime RPP spaces replacing
parking meters, and evening and Sunday RPP restrictions be
designated at nine other meters on the 100 block.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Engineering Services RECOMMENDS A., and
submits B. for CONSIDERATION due to the following concerns:
- This area is part of the Gastown historic district that is
primarily a commercial area that greatly relies on short term
metered street parking.
- The new residents of this area moved in well aware of parking
deficiencies and the need to secure alternate off-street
parking if they have a vehicle.
- Developers were given relaxations (and financial benefits) on
the basis of low parking demand and available off street
facilities.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council policy supports neighbourhoods by reducing the amount of
overspill on-street parking caused by employment generators,
educational institutions, ALRT stations, commercial districts and
recreational attractions.
In the Downtown, Council policy provides access for shopping,
businesses and entertainment. To support this the City installs
parking meters for short-term parking.
Council policy delegates authority to the City Engineer to expand
Residential Permit Parking (RPP) Zones when certain guidelines are met.
PURPOSE
This report reviews the parking situation in Gastown and in particular
the unit and 100 blocks of Alexander Street, and submits for
consideration the extension of the Strathcona RPP system to improve the
parking situation for the residents in these blocks.
BACKGROUND
Gastown is a mixed use area with several distinct land use patterns.
The area to the west of Carrall is the main retail and tourist area.
The parking needs of business people, shoppers and club patrons are
reasonably well met, primarily through the "Woodwards" parkade, now
City owned, which is centrally located to these activities. This
parkade has 1350 spaces and is currently operating under capacity.
Once the new commercial and residential development takes place in the
former Woodwards department store, there will still be adequate
parking. The western area of Gastown is not, therefore, considered to
have a parking shortfall.
The area to the east of Carrall is emerging with more of a residential
focus. Almost 300 residential units are in the development
application, or construction stage. Residential units in new buildings
meet the parking bylaw, however, there are many units in existing
buildings where the parking has been waived because of heritage or
social housing objectives. Residents, visitors and the general public
use the street parking or surface lots in the area.
The City parkade at the NE corner of Columbia and Powell was
constructed in 1979 with 373 spaces, to provide parking for this area
and the Provincial Remand Centre. Two hundred of these spaces are also
allocated for police use, leaving few spaces available for the general
public. This parkade is not attractive to the area residents because
of safety concerns and the distance to their residences. There is
concern in this portion of Gastown about parking availability for both
residents and the general public.
Although the above-mentioned patterns are emerging, they have not been
confirmed through an approved Land Use Plan. In July 1995, Council
approved Terms of Reference for a Gastown Land Use Plan, and this work
is underway, with a projected completion date this year. This work
will help our understanding of future parking requirements that are not
likely to be met on privately-owned sites.
There is a need for a Parking Plan. As a commercial area and as a
neighbourhood, Gastown is distinguished by its heritage buildings.
These buildings typically don't have parking. Parking relaxations, for
commercial and more recently residential uses, are provided as an
incentive for restoration. The commercial viability and residential
livability, however, require parking. There is a delicate balance
struck between these two objectives. This can best be accomplished by
a comprehensive look at the entire area, through the production of a
parking plan. This plan can proceed in tandem with the Land Use Plan.
This plan would be developed in conjunction with the Gastown Business
Improvement Society and the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee
and the Planning Department.
POSSIBLE RESIDENT PARKING REGULATIONS
- Unit and 100 blocks Alexander
The unit and 100 blocks of Alexander Street are part of the Gastown
Historic District, and are zoned HA-2. This area has been changing
over the last few years from a mix of primarily commercial use, with
some residential, to a mix of primarily residential use, with some
commercial.
This area has a high demand for business related parking during the
daytime. Because of these pressures, parking meters have been
installed to ensure optimum use of the limited street parking supply
and to serve the short-term needs of the businesses in the area. There
is also considerable parking demand in the evening from the area's
restaurants and night clubs.
The residents feel the current parking regulations in the area reduce
the residential livability of the area. Some residents have complained
about the lack of parking within close proximity of their homes even
though units were purchased without parking. Residents have also
complained of the noise in the evening from patrons of local
restaurants and night clubs as they return to their vehicles.
An RPP proposal has been developed in meetings with the local residents
and the Gastown BIA. This proposal is illustrated in Appendix A, and
it involves the removal of 14 meter spaces to be replaced by full time
resident permit parking on the south side of the 100 block. In
addition, 9 meter spaces on the north side of the 100 block would be
signed for evening and Sunday resident permit parking. These evening
and Sunday regulations would be installed on a trial basis as it may be
difficult to adequately sign and enforce them, although these
regulations are common in some other cities, such as Toronto.
If this was a straight forward extension of an existing RPP area, staff
would work with the local block residents and install the appropriate
regulations. This area is not typical. It is a mixed use area and
will experience increasing and competing parking demands from the local
residents and businesses. There is an ongoing loss of existing parking
in this area due to the loss of surface parking lots to development.
There is also the growing redevelopment of existing buildings which
will continue to increase the parking pressures.
Because of the uniqueness of this area, with competing demands,
existing commercial pressures, and a realization that the streets will
not meet the long term parking requirements of the residents, the
General Manager of Engineering Services submits this proposal for
consideration.
NEIGHBOURHOOD COMMENTS
The proposed resident parking zone has been discussed with both local
residents and businesses. The local residents are very supportive of
this proposal, although some would like to see resident parking in the
unit block as well.
The Gastown BIA representing local businesses, while not as enthused as
the local residents, also supports the proposal. They recognize the
changing nature of this street and the benefits the residents bring to
this area. They would be concerned about any expansions of the
resident parking zone and would not support any changes beyond those
proposed in this report.
The Gastown Heritage Committee reviewed a draft report on May 15, 1996
and passed the following motion: THAT the Committee; support
recommendation (a) as presented in the draft report, and with respect
to recommendation (b) that it be simplified to provide that the One
Hundred Block of Alexander Street have all full time resident parking
on the south side and all mixed parking on the north side with no
resident parking on the unit block.
Because of these comments the proposal has been modified to meet GHAPC
concerns. This has been done by consolidating all the resident parking
on the 100 block, although the unit block and Columbia House on
Columbia Street are included in the permit area. This is shown on
Appendix A.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
To implement the proposed plan, the signing costs are estimated to be
$1,000.00. Funds are available for this in the Parking Branch budget
(account #60/30/3120/928). Program administration costs would be
recovered by a $16.00 annual decal fee.
There will also be a loss of meter revenue of $14,000 per year by the
removal of fourteen meter spaces.
CONCLUSIONS
Because of the increasingly residential make-up of the unit and 100
blocks of Alexander it is submitted for Council's consideration that
portions of the 100 block be restricted for these residents, and that
the remaining meter spaces continue to serve the short-term daytime
parking needs with parking restricted in the evenings and on Sunday to
residents. Because of the changing nature of this area it is further
recommended that a parking plan be prepared in conjunction with the
Gastown Land Use Plan.
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