The building which was formerly the Painted Hand Casino and before that a Co-op grocery store on Third Avenue in the city is being revitalized.
And that will necessitate more parking than they have on-site, so they will be cutting a cheque to the City in lieu of the shortfall.
鈥淭he owners of 30 Third Avenue North are actively pursuing redevelopment of the property for commercial lease. Because the property has been vacant, any development would be required to provide for off-street parking at current rates established in the Zoning Bylaw. Based on the proposed use, 39 parking spaces are required but the current site can only provide for 34,鈥� Michael Eger, Director of Planning, Building & Development with the City told the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.
Eger explained the owners have a handful of options in dealing with the shortfall including; Subject to Council approval, the Developer pays $3,000 per exempted space to the City to be used for future off-site parking improvements and/or maintenance.
鈥淭he Developer has applied to Planning Services, seeking an exemption for five parking spaces in exchange for $3,000 payment-in-lieu (totalling $15,000),鈥� said Eger.
The situation is part of a bigger issue with the downtown core.
鈥淎dministration is aware of ongoing downtown parking deficiencies and will be developing a comprehensive downtown parking strategy. This will be a multi-faceted approach that will likely be dependent on coordination between the City and community-based entities,鈥� explained Eger.
And the payment in lieu option has not proven very effective in aiding the situation in the past.
鈥淲hile the payment-in-lieu would help maintain City parking facilities, the fee of $3,000 per space has proven to be cost prohibitive and is an undesirable option for downtown businesses. As part of its parking review, Administration will likely consider a reduced rate that would likely entice more developers to consider payment-in-lieu. This would help to augment downtown parking availability while at the same time reducing commercial vacancies,鈥� said Eger.
But at present it is an option, although Eger called for some flexibility in the agreement being proposed.
鈥淚n order to allow the development at 30 Third Avenue North to move forward in a timely manner, Administration is in favour at this time of collecting the full payment as proposed by the Developer. In the near future, however, it is possible that Administration will contemplate and recommend a drop in the rate as part of the Zoning Bylaw update and parking review. If that should occur within the next year, Administration would then request that Council consider a refund to this Developer such that the final payment-in-lieu would be equal to the new rate,鈥� he said.
鈥淎dministration plans to execute an agreement with the Developer to acknowledge that the Development permanently be exempted for the provision five parking spaces. The agreement would not bind the City to any future refund.鈥�
Council was unanimous in accepting the payment鈥攊n-lieu option.
