Parkade’s cost would outweigh the benefits

The city could begin moving ahead with an economic development strategy and 13 recommendations coming out of a parkade feasibility report as early as today.

The city could begin moving ahead with an economic development strategy and 13 recommendations coming out of a parkade feasibility report as early as today.

City administration is recommending it not go ahead with building a parkade, but that it proceed with the other ideas out of the report: update the downtown parking study and use the rest of the money that would have gone into a parkade for an overall economic development strategy.

The feasibility study was presented at last Tuesday"s standing committee meeting, with council scheduled to vote on the recommendations tonight.

The nearly-40 page document, done by Kobayashi and Zedda Architects, found that while a multi-level parkade is physically and technically possible and would be used, the cost would outweigh the benefits.

That means not proceeding with the second phase of the project which would have seen design specifications and other details for the parkade planned.

“In administration"s opinion, if any further study is required at all, the requirement would be for an economic study on the community as a whole to economically address whether the community would be better off or not with a Downtown Core Parkade in light of the economic pressures being exerted from the other existing and emerging economic developments in the rest of the city,“ reads the report.

Coast Mountain Sports co-owner Mary-Jane Warshawski, who was also speaking on behalf of the Main Street Yukon Society at last Tuesday"s meeting, told council the group agrees with most of the recommendations that came forward.

There was some concern though over the lack of input retailers had.

“What we"re hearing more and more is retailers can be unsuccessful by just being around the corner,“ Warshawski said.

“It"s this elusive thing that you can"t really name; that when you look at a plan, it all looks good, but when you"re standing on the street, you can see where people walk or how they move or whether they look left before they look right - you realize a business can be unsuccessful just by being around the corner.“

Having parking “just that much farther” and all those other small elements can add up to the success or failure of a business, she said.

The 13 recommendations administration is urging council to approve include:

- looking at establishing a transit transfer station near Main Street;

- the charette planning process be used to consider parkade options if the need for a structure is ever justified;

- a community standard for a reasonable walking distance to parking in the downtown core be declared;

- the possibility of negotiating partnerships with the private sector or other levels of government not be ruled out if a parkade is ever developed;

- an integrated and sustainable approach to parking space management be considered with respect to transit, parking and retail opportunities;

- studying parking on a case-by-case basis for large-scale future developments downtown be considered;

- residential development in the downtown core continue to be encouraged as a way of reducing the parking demand in the core area;

- the federal government be encouraged to locate its vehicles off-site to increase the number of parking spaces available around the Elijah Smith Building;

- transit use continue to be promoted among office employees who work downtown;

- consider alternative and technical solutions to providing vehicle plug-ins in free parking areas on the periphery of the downtown core;

- assessing new metering technology as a way of increasing the available long-term parking and consider an analysis of all metred parking to increase the number of of possible long-term parking locations;

- consider creating additional, strategically-located free lots close to the city core, near commercial areas; and

- consider back-in parking to increase safety.