In a town where parking is at a premium one Jasper business is looking at an alternative solution that could alleviate the problem.
Diana Laarz and Ray Robinson, owners of Robinsons Foods, are hoping to construct a new building in the vacant lot beside the Servus Credit Union on Connaught Drive. They bought the property several years ago and want to build a two-storey structure with the bottom-half serving as a retail space while the top-half would be staff accommodation.
They presented their proposal to the Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) on Jan. 19.
The couple was planning two separate apartments with three bedrooms in each, creating dorm-style living accommodations for their employees, but after consulting with staff they believe six individual bachelor apartments would be a better option.
鈥淚 deal with dorm staff. They can be terrible neighbours because they aren鈥檛 staying for a long time and they don鈥檛 really care what鈥檚 going on because they feel like no one cares about them,鈥� Laarz said. 鈥淲e want respectable people that want a bit of pride in their home. We鈥檙e just looking to change the type of people living in this space.鈥�
However, under Parks Canada regulations the lot is a commercial district stall and requires a minimum of one residential stall per dwelling, meaning Laarz and Robinson would need six parking stalls for each bachelor apartment. They currently only have two spots.
Instead of asking for additional parking, the two proposed creating a no-vehicle agreement in their tenants鈥� leases, similar to a no pets policy.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not uncommon. If you sign a contract saying you won鈥檛 have a car while living in this place and then you go out and get one then I could evict you,鈥� Laarz said. 鈥淧eople say I couldn鈥檛 do that, but it鈥檚 the same thing as getting evicted for having a dog if you agreed to not have a pet.鈥�
Fearful that PDAC would reject the simple no-vehicle agreement, Laarz and Robinson took their plan one step further, proposing a tenant car-share program.聽 If they could build six bachelor apartments with a no-vehicle agreement then they would purchase a car and work out some sort of sharing agreement between the tenants.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking at city car-share programs and working with what I know, but from my research this is something that has never been done before,鈥� Laarz said.
Her early projections estimate the program would cost a monthly fee of around $375 per person, on top of rent. However, Laarz said the program would be optional and believes the project would still be worth pursuing even if only two tenants were interested.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really need a car in town and if they did need one once a month or something like that then they鈥檇 probably just go out and rent one, but I had to come up with something different, something that could work,鈥� Laarz said.
While the majority of PDAC officials said they liked the idea of giving employees/tenants a more private living space, some also suggested other alternatives like installing underground parking in the new structure.
In response, Laarz said building a basement would push the construction price beyond what they were hoping to spend. She also fears the additional spaces wouldn鈥檛 be used, adding that she already rents out an eight-bedroom duplex with five parking stalls that have been mostly vacant for the past year.
鈥淭he cost is going to go way up for something that probably won鈥檛 be used,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no return on a basement.鈥�
PDAC now has a month to make a decision.
If the proposal is rejected, Laarz said they will go back to their original plan鈥攖wo apartments with three bedrooms each. This would allow all tenants the right to own a car, but legally requires Laarz and Robinson to provide only two residential parking stalls, which they already possess.
鈥淚f we do that then we don鈥檛 have to worry about parking and then people can start parking wherever they want on the roads, taking up more spaces鈥攖hen we鈥檒l really have a parking problem,鈥� Laarz said. 鈥淭o me (the car-share) is a solution to a problem we already have in Jasper.鈥�
Kayla Byrne
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