Is more rental housing worth less parking?

Victoria councillors want to see if an already parking-challenged James Bay neighbourhood will accept even more cars fighting for spots on the street if it means additional rental housing.

"It's going to be a bit of a trial balloon," said Tim Van Alstine, chairman of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association. Van Alstine said he understands council's desire to add more rental units, but his association has already heard from many neighbours who don't won't anything adding to the area's parking problem.

"Is it going to be contentious? Yes. ... Is it going to be easy? No. Do people still have cars? Yes they do and that's the reality of it," he said.

The proposal is to knock down an old two-storey above-ground parking structure that is part of the 93-unit Sir Francis Drake Apartment complex on St. James Street. The plan is to build a four-storey, 15-unit rental building.

The number of living units would rise to 108 but off-street parking stalls would drop to 56 from 81 -- less than half the normally required 140 stalls, all in a neighbourhood where many of the houses were built with no driveways and no capacity to put them in.

Roger Tinney of Tinney and Associates, who is making the application on behalf of the owner, Victoria Park Place, said the existing parking facility is underutilized and always has a surplus of spots, since many tenants either don't have cars or park on the street rather than pay for off-street parking.

The owner is offering a number of initiatives, including subsidizing 25 car-share memberships for three years, providing parking for 47 bikes and buying a co-op car to be located on the site.

The co-op car would not only serve the complex but anyone in the neighbourhood with a co-op membership.

Tinney said the 140-stall requirement dates back four decades and the numbers are somewhat misleading.

"There's only 81 parking stalls on the site now and there only ever was. Of that 81, a very large percentage sit vacant all day every day. So all we're basically saying is if we've got a vacant parking lot there that someone is not using for whatever reason, then would it not be better served for everyone if it was a building rather than an empty parking lot?"

City staff recommended that the application be denied, saying the neighbourhood can't accommodate the number of cars that will be looking for parking if the development goes ahead as planned. They say at least 102 stalls are required.

But city councillors decided to send the proposal to public hearing, while asking staff to work with Tinney to ease parking concerns -- perhaps by carving out more small parking spaces for the likes of scooters and Smart cars or providing more car-share memberships.

Mayor Dean Fortin says the issue marks a bit of a watershed for Victoria.

"It's a precedent. How do we balance those interests of a local community -- liveable, walkable, affordable living -- [with] the need for cars?" said Fortin, who admits council is pushing the envelope by sending the proposal to public hearing, but says the development offers advantages worth considering.

Coun. Chris Coleman said while parking requirements are a sore point, society is changing. "I think we need to take a look at some ways we can do this."

bcleverley@tc.canwest.com