Sarnia considering shifting parking ratios in development decisions

Sarnia city staff have created a primer for council about parking ratios for development projects, after parking has proven a sticking point in recent discussions.

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“Recently city staff have received a number of applications … looking for a site-specific parking ratio that’s lower than what’s currently within the bylaw, and that’s led to a number of discussions at council,” said planning and development manager Eric Hyatt.

Minimum rates tend to be 1.5 spaces a unit, except for single detached, semi-detached, and additional dwelling units, which get one space each, and rooming or boarding houses that get one for every four beds, under the current city zoning bylaw, has been postponed from Hyatt says.

Developers trying to save money or with limited land may apply for reduced rates, especially when projects are near public and active transit, council has heard.

During the last few years, Sarnia has dropped the rate for site-specific applications at least 11 times, mostly for apartment projects, Hyatt’s report says.

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The primer “is just to tie back to those discussions on those applications and provide some context based on what we consider when we have those planning applications coming forward for council’s consideration,” Hyatt said.

One of those discussions, we have a proposal for two 23-storey residential towers in Sarnia’s Northgate plaza, is back on council’s Oct. 28 agenda, after concerns about a parking shortfall were among the reasons council deferred a decision in September.

A revised proposal boosts parking to 1,069 spaces, or 1.26 a unit.

The first pitch for the estimated $400-million infill investment near public transit and with bike storage built in, was 996 spaces, or 1.17 a unit.

While still below 1.5 spaces per unit, the revision is actually above a draft 1.2-spots-a-unit ratio in the city’s draft zoning bylaw, still in the works and expected to come to council for consideration before the end of the year, Hyatt said.

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Sarnia’s existing rates, in the bylaw that dates back to 2002, are outdated, he said.

Sarnia in February, meanwhile, adopted rules to boost affordable housing locallyincluding 0.75 parking spaces a unit for affordable residential units in certain areas.

Coun. Terry Burrell has been among the loudest voices on council calling for mandatory parking minimums to be met.

“To me, it creates a long-term problem,” he said, adding he’s concerned about too few spaces pushing motorists to park in nearby neighborhoods, leading to conflict.

“If they say people actually have less cars than before, maybe it’s justified,” he said. “But I don’t see that.”

Burrell said he’ll wait to hear the debate on the Northgate Plaza towers proposal before deciding his vote.

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But he’s firmly against another parking matter coming back to council for consideration when it meets later this month, he said.

That’s donating part of the downtown Victoria Street lot to the County of Lambton to build supportive and affordable housing, amid a local shortage, and retaining about 50 spaces in the lot’s south.

“That’s not something I will support,” Burrell said about the donation, given a history of concerns about inadequate parking downtown.

Giving away part of a lot “to me is a tragedy for downtown, because how do you recover from something like that?” he said.

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