HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-07-25 Special Council Workshop Agenda and Reports.pdf4.2
1.0 BACKGROUND: 1.1 Introduction to the Parking Bylaw The City of Maple Ridge Off-Street Parking and Loading Bylaw No. 4350-1990, also known as the "Parking Bylaw", was adopted in 1990 and various components have been amended several times over the years. Maple Ridge's current approach to parking regulations is to require a minimum number of parking spaces for every kind of development -large residential buildings, low density residential houses, commercial spaces, retail, office buildings, industrial buildings and everything in between. The approach taken for the parking requirements of this Bylaw largely follows best practices from the 1990's era and the more modern approach has evolved to include trends in facilitating sustainable and transit-oriented development, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and more opportunities for walking, rolling, or transit use over transport by single-occupancy vehicle. In addition to incorporating current best practices in transportation planning and ensuring alignment with the objectives, goals, and policies of the OCP (see Section 1.2 below), it is intended that the Parking Bylaw review will incorporate the broader goals of Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy, Translink's Strategic Transportation Plan, as well as recent studies completed on parking provision within the region. Currently, the Parking Bylaw generally contains the following regulations related to off-street parking: • Minimum parking requirements that dictate the number of spaces that must be provided off-street with a specific land use (including accessible spaces); • Payment In-lieu requirement, rate, and the applicable area; • Tandem parking requirements; • Shared use parking requirements (example-if two businesses want to share a space); • Electric Vehicle charging and station requirements; • Bike Storage and Parking (currently only for the Town Centre); • Parking space design (including accessible spaces); • Commercial Vehicles and Loading requirements; and • Signage. 1.2 Official Community Plan The Official Community Plan provides the policy framework for creating compact communities in high density areas, such as the Town Centre and Lougheed Transit Corridor, as well as livable neighbourhoods with varying density levels throughout the rest of Maple Ridge. Chapter 2 "Growth Management", Chapter 5 "Natural Features", and Chapter 7 "Transportation" of the Official Community Plan contains policies that support how the City should develop, including: 2 -3 Within the Urban Area Boundary, growth will be directed to the Town Centre (through Town Centre Area Plan policies), Community Commercial Nodes, areas with Area Plans, and to other locations where Official Community Plan policies are satisfied. 5-45 The City of Maple Ridge has a goal to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 from 2010 levels, with an interim target of 45% reduction by 2030, in alignment with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Chapter 5). 7-30 Maple Ridge will encourage the development of cycling infrastructure and support programs, such as 'end-of-trip' facilities for cyclists at key destinations and new developments. Doc# 3120429 Page 2 of 12
In Maple Ridge, the majority of the growth in population, jobs, and housing will be accommodated within the Urban Area Boundary where services are readily available, or the infrastructure is already in place for their provision. By concentrating growth and density in key areas, such as the Town Centre and the Lougheed Transit Corridor, it is more likely that transportation alternatives, such as, transit, rolling, and walking will become more viable and attractive. 1.3 Parking Regulations for High Density Neighbourhoods 1.3.1 Town Centre Area The Town Centre Area Plan (TCAP) outlines the long-term vision for growth and development in this high-density neighbourhood that is anticipated to accept a large portion of the municipal population growth over the long-term. Section 3.2 of the TCAP provides the framework for the general development of the Town Centre by identifying policies that encourage increasing transit modes and making the Town Centre a distinct, attractive, and vibrant urban environment. Policies, such as 3-15 and 5-1, that encourage below grade parking structures to create a more attractive Town Centre and encourage development to design with accessibility in mind, are included in Town Centre Area Plan and the supporting Development Permit Guidelines (in Section 8.11 of the OCP). 3-15 Concealed parking structures are encouraged in all commercial, mixed-use, multi-family uses, and institutional uses in the Town Centre. Below grade parking structures are particularly encouraged for Low-Rise, Medium, and High-Rise Apartment, Mixed-Use, Flexible Mixed-Use/Live-Work, Commercial, and Institutional buildings. Above grade concealed parking is a viable option where building height (six or more storeys) coupled with challenging site conditions make it cost prohibitive to provide all required parking spaces in an underground structure. Above grade parking structures should be designed in such a manner that the pedestrian realm, streetscape fagade, and protected views of the Town Centre are not impaired. 5-1 Universal accessibility is encouraged in transportation planning and design within the Town Centre. Wherever possible, the accessibility needs of wheelchairs, the visually impaired, strollers, scooters, and other mobility devices used by pedestrians with disabilities, as we// as by families, teenagers, and seniors will be accommodated in the design of sidewalks, public plazas, and other public spaces throughout the Town Centre. The Town Centre's Central Business District (CBD) (Appendix A) has a separate section in the Parking Bylaw, which contains the lowest minimum parking space requirements for residential and non-residential uses (including, retail, office, hospital, and tourist accommodations). The separate Town Centre CBD section was incorporated into the Parking Bylaw at the same time the TCAP was adopted in 2008. These changes to the Parking Bylaw reflect the OCP policies and vision for the area and incorporated the findings from the 2008 Town Centre Area parking study that was undertaken to support implementation of the Town Centre Area Plan. Town Centre Parking Study Findings The 2008 Parking Study was undertaken during development of the Town Centre Area Plan and incorporated the vision and principles of the Town Centre Concept Plan, endorsed by Council in 2005. The study looked at parking demand for current and anticipated future uses/densities and found that the Town Centre was oversupplied with parking and that efficiencies could be created with the current parking supply if businesses were willing to share parking and create local economic synergies through allowing customers the ease of parking in one location and walking or cycling to multiple destinations. The study also found that the majority of the parking in the Town Centre was at-grade and the payment Doc# 3120429 Page 3 of 12
in-lieu parking alternative option was rarely used by developers at the time. However, the study also noted at the time that once underground parking becomes more prevalent, due to redevelopment in the form of higher density mixed-use development, developers may start choosing the payment in-lieu parking alternative option more frequently (which has been the case more recently as redevelopment of the area occurs). 1.3.2 Lougheed Transit Corridor Area The Lougheed Transit Corridor Concept Plan, endorsed November 10, 2020, includes "Mobility Choice is Enhanced" as one of the guiding principles. The concept plan identifies opportunities that can be explored to support mobility choice through: • Investigating strategies for public parking near rapid transit; • Building complete communities to make walking and cycling more viable; and • Reducing parking standards for commercial and residential development. The proposed Commercial Mixed-Use Land Use Designation in the Concept Plan promotes greater flexibility of uses within the commercial land use designation, along with allowing building height greater than six storeys. With this land use designation, any new development for this area is encouraged to be a high-density built form with parking spaces provided within an underground parking structure. 1.4 Metro Vancouver Parking Studies In 2012, Metro Vancouver published the findings from their Apartment Parking Study. The entire Metro Vancouver Area was part of the study, including a strata building in Maple Ridge, and found that parking supply exceeded parking demand in the range of 18% to 35% in the 80 study apartment sites. In 2018, Metro Vancouver conducted and published the findings from their Regional Parking Study, which broadened the scope from the 2012 study by including on-street parking. For this study, a different strata building in Maple Ridge was selected. Overall, this 2018 parking study largely corroborates the findings from the 2012 Apartment Parking Study. Some of the key findings from the 2018 Regional Parking Study are: • For both rental and strata buildings, apartment parking supply exceeds use across the region; • Apartment parking supply and use is lower for buildings closer to frequent transit areas; • Transit use is generally higher where apartment parking use is lower, especially for rental buildings; and • The ineffective design and capacity of current bicycle parking facilities in apartment sites appear to discourage use by many residents. Metro Vancouver is anticipating an update the Regional Parking Strategy by the end of 2023. 2.0 DISCUSSION: Off-street parking requirements are sometimes viewed as a small technical detail connected to a larger development scheme, but parking requirements impact the design, form, and function of cities and neighbourhoods. When designing a development scheme, parking is often laid out prior to the design of a building since the form and function of parking spaces is relatively constant and cannot be molded and shaped like the architecture of a building. Traditionally, off-street parking requirements took the approach of "one-size-fits-all" where the same off-street parking regulations for each use applied to the entire city, however, one of the best practices Doc# 3120429 Page 4 of 12
accepted in the transportation planning industry is shifting away from a "one size fits all" off-street parking strategy and considering different parking requirements for different neighbourhoods. With transit corridors, multi-use paths, and varying levels of car dependency, off-street parking approaches that may have a positive effect in one neighbouhood may not have the same effect in another. The City of Maple Ridge has been considering differences in neighbourhood needs since the adoption of the Town Centre Area Plan (TCAP) in 2008, which is when different minimum parking space requirements were incorporated into the Parking Bylaw at the same time the TCAP was adopted. With the Parking Bylaw review, this approach of considering different neighbourhood needs, such as how close people live to places of employment, commercial areas, educational institutions and public transit, will be reviewed and considered. Section 2.0 of this report discusses the eight topics within the existing Parking Bylaw that are likely to see the most changes and what those changes might look like based on a preliminary review of regional best practices. The Parking Bylaw review is looking to enhance the existing regulations, as outlined in this report, but also include shared mobility provisions, such as ride sharing, bike sharing (Section 3.0). 2.1. Parking Minimums Many cities across Canada are currently shifting from requiring a minimum number of parking spaces, that can result in an oversupply of parking, to parking minimums that are much more closely aligned to actual parking demand. Additionally, many cities are introducing maximums, or the outright removal of some off-street parking requirements all together and allowing the market to dictate the number of parking stalls. In the Lower Mainland, the majority of municipalities still use the parking minimums approach, however, many have taken the step to reduce parking minimums in specific areas. One of the most common ways municipalities are reducing parking minimums is to require fewer parking spaces when a development is within or adjacent to a transit corridor and/or when a development proposes rental or non-market housing (reflecting the research findings that parking demand is lower in these scenarios). Reducing parking minimums also incentivizes developers to build a greater range of housing types (based on need and demand rather than sticking with more traditional housing forms in order to rationalize the profit/parking construction cost ratios), which also helps to incentivize transit use. Additionally, many municipalities base the minimum number of required parking spaces on the number of bedrooms in a dwelling unit, specifically for more denser forms of housing, such as apartment buildings and stacked townhouses. Another approach is parking maximums, as used by the City of Vancouver for non-residential uses in the downtown. Parking maximums set the maximum number of parking spaces that the new development is permitted to construct. If a parking minimum is in place, it doesn't stop developers from providing more parking spaces than required, which can lead to an oversupply of parking spaces. With a parking maximum, a developer can, if they choose, provide fewer parking spaces than the maximum requirement. Ultimately, the number and use of parking spaces required in new developments influences vehicle ownership and travel choices, as well as affordability. Ultimately, parking maximums can help ensure that the City's vision and policies for the area are being met. From the information collected though the Strategic Transportation Plan that was presented at the September 27, 2021 Workshop, Maple Ridge residents predominately use single occupancy vehicles to move around the City and the number, distance, and share of driving trips has increased. As neighbourhoods within the Urban Area Boundary continue to become more pedestrian-oriented, compact, and high-density, particularly in the Town Centre and Lougheed Corridor, it is more likely that transportation alternatives, such as, transit, rolling, and walking will become more viable and attractive. Doc# 3120429 Page 5 of 12
The recent addition of the R-3 Rapid Bus to the City greatly increases the potential and practicality of more transit use by residents. The new Parking Bylaw regarding parking minimums may include: • Expanding the minimum parking requirements for the Central Business District to all multi-family developments in the Town Centre; • Maximum parking requirements for commercial uses (over a certain size) on the ground floor in the Town Centre; • No minimum parking requirement for secondary suites in the Town Centre; • Introducing different minimum parking requirements for the Lougheed Transit Corridor; • Adjusting parking minimums for denser housing forms within the Urban Area Boundary to reflect best practices; • Move away from requiring a number of parking spaces per bedroom, and simplifying minimum requirements to whether the unit is market, non-market and/or rental, and/or located close to urban amenities, such as shopping/services, and public transit. 2.2 Payment in-Lieu The current provisions within the Parking Bylaw permit a payment in-lieu option for the required number of parking stalls on a property zoned for multi-family, commercial, or institutional use located within a 930m radius of City Hall (see Appendix 8). The current area that is eligible for payment in-lieu includes areas within the Town Centre Area Plan and the Lougheed Transit Corridor, but does not directly align with either of the boundaries. On January 11, 2022, Council approved a payment in-lieu rate increase to $20,000 for all uses in the Town Centre except for single-detached, duplex, triplex, fourplex and courtyard uses. This increase is intended as an interim rate until the Parking Bylaw review is completed. The monies collected from the payment in-lieu option go into the City's "Parking Reserve Fund". The Parking Reserve fund was established in 1992, by Bylaw No. 4686-1992, when the payment in-lieu program began. At the time of adoption, Provincial legislation stipulated that payment received in-lieu of providing parking spaces could only be used for the provision of off-street parking facilities and this was written into the 1992 Bylaw. Today, Provincial legislation permits municipalities to collect monies for transportation infrastructure, such as walking, bicycling, public transit, or other alternative forms of transportation. These alternative transportation options can be incorporated into the Parking Reserve Fund Bylaw by amending the bylaw. The Metro Vancouver 2012 Apartment Parking Study found that the average construction cost per parking stall within a structure was noted to be in the range of $20,000 to $45,000, depending on site conditions and whether the parkade was at grade or below grade (based on two-levels of underground parking). The construction cost per parking stall increases with the number of below grade parking levels that are provided. Most municipalities in Metro Vancouver have a flat rate per parking space, ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 per parking space, and include a maximum percentage of permitted parking reduction (such as parking requirements can only be reduced by 15%). However, the City of Coquitlam has taken a different approach. The City of Coquitlam's payment in-lieu rate is tied to the parking reduction percentage that is being requested. For example, if an applicant was seeking a 10% reduction to the required parking spaces, the rate per parking space would be $30,000. Table 1 provides the City of Coquitlam's payment in-lieu rate for the Evergreen Line Core Area for visualization purposes only. Doc# 3120429 Page 6 of 12
5.0 STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT Achieving long term sustainability through thoughtful planning and policy work, such as the subject review of the Off-Street Parking Bylaw, is established under the Growth pillar of Council's 2019-2022 City of Maple Ridge Strategic Plan. 6.0 INTERDEPARTMENTAL IMPLICATIONS: Staff will continue to work with various departments, including Engineering, Bylaw & Licensing Services, Building, and Fire on the new Parking Bylaw. 7.0 CONCLUSION: A full review of the Off-Street Parking and Loading Bylaw No. 4350-1990, also known as the "Parking Bylaw" regulates the location, number, and size of off-street vehicle parking spaces, loading spaces, bicycle spaces, and passenger spaces, to balance the needs of residents, commuters, and visitors. On-street parking is regulated through other bylaws and is not included within this review. A new Off-Street Parking Bylaw is the anticipated outcome of this review. This report identifies eight topics within the existing Parking Bylaw that are likely to see the most change and what those changes might look like based on a preliminary review of regional best practices (Section 2.0). Staff are seeking Council's high-level comments at this stage in the review process to guide next steps. Staff will also be seeking feedback from the community throughout the Fall and anticipate bringing forward the draft new Parking Bylaw to a future Committee of the Whole meeting in early 2023. "Original signed by Krista Gowan" Prepared by: Krista Gowan, HBA, MA Planner 1 "Original signed by Charles Goddard" Reviewed by: Charles R. Goddard, BA, MA Director of Planning "Original signed by Christine Carter" Approved by: Christine Carter, M.PL, MCIP, RPP GM Planning and Development "Original signed by Scott Hartman" Concurrence: Scott Hartman Chief Administrative Officer The following appendix is attached hereto: Appendix A -Central Business District Area Map Appendix B -Payment In-Lieu Area Map Doc# 3120429 Page 12 of 12
4.3
a) Background Context: The City of Maple Ridge continues to be one of the fastest growing communities in BC. As the community grows, staff must adapt their approach to communication and engagement strategies with citizens. The City's communications and engagement approach had not been reviewed in 10 years. b) Desired Outcome: The purpose of the review is to ensure the City has a strong Corporate Communications and Public Engagement framework along with resources to deliver on the expectations of citizens, elected officials and the Corporation. c) Strategic Alignment: Effective communication strategies and engagement tools and approaches are fundamental to support the implementation of Council's Strategic Plan. Ensuring that citizens are aware, engaged and active participants in delivering on the City's vision and advancing strategic priorities is a priority. The Plan is well-timed to help support the next strategic plan early in the term of a newly-elected Council and increases emphasis on strategic and corporate priorities. d) Citizen/Customer Implications: The primary focus is to ensure that City information and public participation opportunities are timely, responsive, and easy to access and understand. The City is committed to creating a positive customer experience that is consistent and coordinated across all City departments. The Plan outlines several Priority Actions intended to improve the customer experience. e) Interdepartmental Implications: All City divisions have provided input into the Corporate Communications and Public Engagement Plan and equally share responsibility for a consistent and coordinated communications approach and effective implementation. f) Business Plan/Financial Implications: The recommendations include a realignment of communications and engagement staff under the Chief Administrative Officer's Office, reporting to the new Director of Corporate Communications and Public Engagement position which is currently being recruited. Additional resourcing requests will be considered as part of the 2023 -2027 Business Plan discussions. g) Policy Implications: Relevant City policies will be updated to reflect the recommendations that Council endorse. Doc #3118924 Page 2 of 3
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