merc feb 19 2013
The city hopes to craft a Parking Master Plan study in time for spring and is seeking public input.
One of the motives behind the plan, said Allister McIlveen, Guelph’s manager of traffic and parking, is to ensure that parking capacity grows to meet future population growth, particularly in the city’s downtown.
Parking is crucial to the success of urban areas, and too little of it can keep people away and impact the viability of businesses, he said on Tuesday.
The study will “come up with recommendations that allow us to manage parking in a more appropriate manner to create necessary turnover for today and for the future,” McIlveen said in an interview.
The plan will attempt to forecast parking needs for the next 10 to 20 years. The development of a parkade on Wilson Street, a project that has already undergone extensive planning work and city approval, and the redevelopment of Baker Street with new parking capacity are among the possibilities.
The study will also identify alternative methods of providing and managing parking, will look at other options for new parking space, and determine in what order of priority the work will be done.
“To take into consideration the new residential pieces and any other commercial pieces that might be added to the downtown is a very key component, because there are many developments that need parking,” McIlveen said.
City council Ian Findlay said the downtown and its periphery will be the central focus of the study, and will examine both short-term and long-term parking needs on the street, in lots and parkades.
“I certainly have heard from merchants and shoppers in the downtown that there is a need for more short-term parking,” Findlay said. “I know certainly on Carden Street there has been concern with the lack of parking, and on Wyndham Street.”
Findlay said if the significant development envisioned for the core is to take place, “we are going to have to provide more long-term parking.”
The downtown currently has the capacity to handle the additional parking needs of a new office/commercial complex like the Gummer building, but not much else.
“If we want to attract commercial tenants and residential tenants we’re going to have to find some way to provide parking for them,” Findlay said, adding that the need for the Wilson Street parkade has already been determined. Council has approved it, but budgetary restraints prevented it from immediately going ahead.
“I haven’t seen anything to indicate that shouldn’t move forward,” he said. “The business case still, in my mind, exists.”
“It’s certainly important that we engage the public and get their feedback,” McIlveen said. “I hope and expect that there will be a good turn out from across the city, not just simply the downtown businesses and downtown residents.”
Residents, business owners/operators, landowners and stakeholders concerned about parking issues are invited to attend a series of two public information sessions. The first is on Tuesday, Feb. 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at city hall, meeting room C. A formal presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The second session will be held at the end of March. The date has yet to be determined.
“Parking is always a fascinating subject and generates much interest,” Findlay added. “I think you will see a lot of interest in the downtown community.”
It is anticipated the Parking Master Plan study will be completed by April.