Sparks Fly Over Downtown Parking
September 23, 2005

Ward 1 councillor Brian McHattie wants HSR staff to comment on city proposals related to downtown parking. He told the planning committee this week "that it is understood in the transit world that the more parking there is, the less public transit is taken, or the more difficult it is for public transit to compete."

That didn't sit well with committee chair Terry Whitehead who jumped into the discussion to warn McHattie that the BIA (Business Improvement Association) "which you sit on" might not appreciate the proposal. Whitehead suggested that transit users don't shop downtown. "I'm all for having people more access to buses," he said, "but who's doing the shopping downtown is what we need to hear from the merchants."

McHattie said he didn't want to debate with the committee chair and agreed that the BIA's opinions needed to be considered. "But if we're ever going to get in a situation where we're actually living in a more sustainable community," he noted, "we need to look at these relationships".

The debate erupted over a staff report on plans to try and include parking inside new developments on former downtown parking lots. Downtown development head Ron Marini said his objective is to maintain the current number of parking spaces. He expressed concern about plans to convert the parking lot at John and Rebecca into a park. "That's our biggest lot," he declared, "and trying to replace all those spaces is going to be one of our biggest challenges."