St. Laurent bylaw to reduce parking spaces

By Joel Goldenberg The Suburban St. Laurent council recently amended its parking spaces bylaw, to enact what it calls an environmentally and development-friendly measure that will see parking spaces of new industrial and residential complex properties reduced. ?The implementation of the bylaw should help bring about, in the long term, a 20 percent reduction in the number of parking spaces across the borough,? says a St. Laurent announcement. The amended bylaw will place a limit on parking spaces depending on the category of property, and thus ?reduces the ratio of parking spaces as well as their minimal surface area? and also lessen the incidence of sewer backups and heat islands, areas of St. Laurent that are hotter in temperature than others. The goal is a ?canopy cover? of 40 percent, in terms of a shaded area provided by a mature tree, a policy comparable to Portland, Oregon. ?This is an ambitious, yet realistic target,? said St. Laurent mayor Alan DeSousa, in a phone interview from Chicago. But DeSousa also said the limit will not apply to already existing industrial and residential properties. On the other 6 ? THE SUBURBAN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009

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hand, an existing company may actually want to reduce its parking spaces to expand its building and/or increase its amount of greenspace. ?Our objective is to relook at a parking bylaw that has been in place for well over two decades, and to modernize it with a view to giving us greater economic competitivity? by giving companies the opportunity to expand, DeSousa told The Suburban, speaking from Chicago. He added that if a company wishes to expand, its parking needs should not be unrealistic. He also said the advantage of a company expanding on its current site is that it would not be prompted to move to another community. ?At the same time, from a sustainable development perspective, we?ll try to get the message out that we favour public transit and as a result of that, they don?t need to construct that many parking spots. With public transit, it will be better for the overall quality of air and it allows companies to green their sites. Ultimately, it will give us ? on a net-net basis, about 20,000 less parking spots overall in terms of future development... It?s a triple win. It?s a better way to use land. ?The time in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s of ?open sky parking? is no longer necessarily a competitive advantage if the company wants to stay in St. Laurent.? DeSousa further explained that the amount of parking spots allowed for new companies would depend on the nature of their business. ?Under the bylaw, we?re tailoring it to respond to needs,? he said. ?Before, if you had so much square footage, you needed so many parking spaces, and that was not necessarily tailor-made to the needs of the company. Now, we?re looking... at what are the activities of the company. A manufacturing company may well have a greater number of employees, but a distribution company with warehousing stock will not have a whole lot of employees. By being able to tailor our bylaw to the type of industrial activity, we can have a more tailor-made parking [policy that doesn?t require a ?blue sky? policy of so many parking spots. ?We want to serve the needs of the business community, but we want to do it in a smart fashion. In today?s world, we want to do it in a way that?s not only economically competitive, but also reduces greenhouse gases, and marrying land use and our transportation policies with economic development.? DeSousa said the bylaw will also have requirements for multi-unit residential properties. Gérald Tremblay Mayor of Montréal Aref Salem City Councillor for Norman-McLaren District Al an De Sousa, FCA Mayor of Saint-Laurent and Vice-Chair of the Ville de Montréal Executive Committee Maurice Cohen Borough Councillor for Côte-de-Liesse District ?For example, as part of our transitoriented development proposal, around transit hubs like Côte Vertu and Du College Métro stations, we have lowered the requirements for parking spots. Why? It?s a no-brainer. If someone is living in a building within a stone?s throw of the Métro, they may well choose to take the Métro to go to work.? St. Laurent is also advising individuals or companies wanting to construct, demolish, renovate, retrofit or expand their property to ?consult the appropriate authorities before starting. To help residents, shop owners and developers apply [environmental] practices to their projects, the Borough of Saint-Laurent offers a number of resources to those who would like, among other things, to take advantage of the options offered by the new bylaw.? They include St. Laurent?s planning, and permit and inspection divisions regarding permits, bylaws, standards and project analysis; St. Laurent Economic Development?s Commuter Management Centre, in terms of carpooling and public transit incentives; and the CLD Centre West, in terms of financing and consulting for business start-ups and expansion, with priority given to innovative and environmentally-friendly projects. n

The Saint-Laurent Council would like to extend its best wishes to the Jewish community for a

Happy Hanukkah!

Laval Demers, CA City Councillor for Côte-de-Liesse District Michèle D. Biron Borough Councillor for Norman-McLaren District

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