A developer said Nanaimo council is “misinformed” and doesn’t listen to professional advice, after the majority of politicians blocked a call to reduce parking at two hospital-area projects.
Council decided this month against allowing the Molnar Group to further scale back parking at its Summerhill Place apartments, near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, a move that would have put stalls 43 per cent below city requirements.
The Molnar Group won approval last year to curb parking from the required 294 stalls to 188. The latest request would cut 20 more spaces, which would reduce the size of an underground parking structure, a city report shows.
Andre Molnar with the Molnar Group said the company is building badly needed rental housing and Nanaimo is the only city where it works where it doesn’t get help. He asked council to be respectful to the fact Molnar is a thin-margin business and is forced to do underground parking, which tenants and citizens cannot afford.
Since the company got its development permit, Dale Lindsay, city director of community development, said staff has been working on a proposed parking bylaw and if that draft was applied, it would require 158 parking stalls, fewer than what was being requested. The draft, which will look at parking requirements differently for multi-family units, has not yet gone to council.
Coun. Ian Thorpe said city council needs to deal with the rules as they stand and considering the parking problems in the area, he couldn’t support any reduction. Coun. Gord Fuller also couldn’t support fewer stalls.
“I drive that area frequently and it is nuts. It’s a mess,” Fuller said.
Mayor Bill McKay, who was in support, said the cookie-cutter approach the city has to parking is archaic and cities all across Canada are working based on what type of project is being put in and where it’s located. He also pointed out if council went with the desired number stalls it would mean savings that the developer wants to pass on to tenants.
The motion was defeated, with councillors Thorpe, Fuller, Jerry Hong, Bill Bestwick and Bill Yoachim opposed.
“Their own consultants are telling them that what we ask for is not aggressive,” said Molnar. “It’s a sad thing, it’s just a bad council. They make bad decisions.”
He said the company’s own reports show there are 20 more parking spaces than there should be – a cost of approximately $800,000 – and the proposed city bylaw would require less parking than he wanted to provide.
Molnar said Nanaimo citizens will have to now pay more for rent because of unused parking.
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