POLL: City’s parking woes dominate council meeting
Parking – or the growing demand for it – in Prince Albert was the hot button topic at Monday evening’s council meeting.
The topic came up no less than three times during the meeting, highlighting the importance of the growing scarcity of space for parking in some residential areas for residents. The demand for parking, and fears that parking could spill onto streets and eat up the available space with new developments in established areas, reared its head during an intense debate about a proposed bylaw amendment that would reduce the number of spaces required for multi-unit dwellings – residences that are larger than duplexes.
Prince Albert requires more parking spaces on average for townhouses and apartments than Saskatoon and Regina require, according to a report filed to council by planning technician Erik Trenouth.
“Determining the amount of parking required for the 'Multiple Unit Dwellings with more than two Units' by focusing on the number of bedrooms of each unit keeps Prince Albert in line with other similar cities in the province,” he wrote. His report recommended lowering the requirements by passing the bylaw amendment.