The municipality would like to expand a parking lot on Patricia Street to accommodate up to 14 more vehicles. The change would help alleviate parking congestion in the downtown core and could help the Jasper Downtown Hostel meet its parking requirements.
The proposal was brought forward during a committee-of-the-whole meeting on March 28.
While 14 parking stalls might not sound like a lot, according to the proposal, 14 cars parked on Patricia Street would stretch from Coco鈥檚 Caf茅 to Earls.
鈥淚t鈥檚 over half a block of on-street parking, when you park cars from nose to tail,鈥� said CAO Mark Fercho.
If approved, the project is expected to cost approximately $210,000, which will come from the parking authority鈥檚 restricted reserve fund. Currently there is about $251,000 in the fund.
鈥淲hen Parks Canada approves development and the onsite parking requirements can鈥檛 be met there are two ways to deal with it, either the development isn鈥檛 approved or the developer will pay into the parking authority, with the intent being that at some point enough money pools in the fund that the municipality can create parking,鈥� said Fercho.
According to the municipality鈥檚 parking bylaw, it currently costs a proponent $7,700 per parking stall. The last parking stalls that were created with the fund were in the RV parking lot next to Home Hardware.
One of the main reasons the proposal was brought forward was to help the Jasper Downtown Hostel meet its parking requirements. The hostel is currently adding 30 new beds to its facility and will have a total of 60 beds once construction is complete.
To accommodate its extra guests, the hostel is required to have 12 additional parking stalls, including three onsite spots, however the municipality did not approve the hostel鈥檚 plan to create three parking stalls in front of the building because it would have required cars to frequently cross the sidewalk.
鈥淭hey could have met the requirements onsite but we don鈥檛 think cars should be crossing sidewalks in high density walking areas,鈥� Fercho told council.
In order to try and resolve the problem, he recommended designating three parking stalls in the expanded lot exclusively for the hostel. The proposed price for the three stalls would be $30,000 for a designated period of time and require a signed agreement between the municipality and the hostel.
鈥淚f this doesn鈥檛 go through, they will then have to pay for three spots at the old rate back into the pooled fund,鈥� explained Fercho.
Several councillors balked at the idea of designating spots exclusively for a business describing it as a 鈥渟lippery slope.鈥�
鈥淢y concern is what it does to the rest of the business community that wants to designate a stall and buy it,鈥� said Coun. Gilbert Wall. 鈥淚f we open that door there are a lot of businesses that will walk through it.鈥�
Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey said she also had concerns about the proposal.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to do it I think it has to be open to other businesses and it has to be at a prime cost,鈥� said Kelleher-Empey.
Besides the financial implications, at least four mature trees located beside Source for Sports will have to be cut down to make room for the additional stalls.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be replacing the trees with the formula by Parks Canada for tree removal and replacement and parking lot itself follows the architecture motif that鈥檚 required,鈥� said Fercho.
The proposal will come back to council for notice on April 4, before returning for a final decision on April 18.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
