The Land Use Bylaw Project: Parking

A surprisingly complicated aspect to development in High Level revolves around parking – how much, what type, and where. We want to simplify parking for both commercial and residential developments to make it easier to get those new developments up and running!

These proposed changes would make it easier to figure out how much barrier-free parking is required (currently there is a complicated matrix in place for figuring it out) as well as how much parking will be required for residential complexes, various commercial endeavours, and places of worship.

We’ve proposed one barrier-free stall for every 15 regular parking stalls. In other areas, new townhouse developments will require one on-site visitor parking stall per unit. So if it was a row of six townhouses being developed, for example, it would require six on-site visitor parking stalls in addition to two stalls per household for residents. We are hoping these kinds of changes – in addition to making development easier – will also ensure our roads do not become clogged up with off-site parking.

This same type of planning will also go into developments such as Bed and Breakfasts – in this case, we are proposing there be one parking stall available per dwelling unit on the property, plus two stalls for residents.

For other commercial developments, from amusement arcades to adult entertainment facilities to shopping centres, we are proposing new developments provide one parking stall for every 35 square metres of public net area. This is a further simplification for commercial developments as the previous matrix was dependent on the type of business and was a source of a lot of confusion for developers.

Parking for places of worship could be changed so that there would be a parking stall available for every four seats, rather than one for every five seats.

Schools are another area where the rules around parking do not match the reality of parking at those facilities. One of the biggest issues is for high schools, where parking is calculated based on the same matrix as elementary and junior high schools. Of course, the reality is that many students in high school drive themselves to school and require daily parking – unlike junior high or elementary students.

We’re proposing another significant change in terms of visitor parking for high-density residential developments. Currently, there is no requirement for visitor parking at these properties and that can result in a significant amount of street parking. This can cause congestion and will only grow with time as more properties are developed for this use. We believe these properties should have a stall for visitor parking on top of the two stalls required for every residence just to ensure our streets remain clear.

It is our hope that these proposed changes will result in parking planning that is easy for people to understand and navigate the process of development when it comes to parking – while also alleviating potential street parking issues in the future.

The Town of High Level is currently reviewing and developing their Land Use Bylaw. As part of that process, local residents are strongly encouraged to take part in the process and help direct future development in High Level.

For more information, please contact Hayley Gavin, Land Use and Planning Manager, by phone at 780-502-0778 or by email at development@highlevel.ca.

A complete list of all proposed changes to the Land Use Bylaw is available HERE.