The City of Nanaimo is removing all off-street parking requirements for all land uses in the downtown core.
The requirements were dropped following adoption of an off-street regulations amendment bylaw by Nanaimo city council at its meeting Monday, July 7, and supersedes the off-street parking requirement regulations set out in 2018.
Off-street parking requirements across the city vary according to numerous factors that include the type of dwelling, business or facility, the variations and nuances of which are extensive within the bylaw. The number of parking spaces required for multi-family residential developments within transit-oriented areas and for all uses in the downtown urban centre is now zero, according to the bylaw documentation.
The decision stems from philosophies and objectives in the Nanaimo transportation master plan and the city plan for Nanaimo to "transition to a well-connected community with complete, compact neighbourhoods that support diverse mobility options,” noted a staff report presented to council on May 26. The report went on to say the city is “actively working towards this goal through development, capital projects, and bylaw amendments to support existing city policy.”
As Nanaimo’s primary urban centre, the downtown is the first urban centre to have off-street parking requirements removed.
“It’s a mobility hub. It’s an area that’s well-served by transit and has improving cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, obviously much residential density and many uses and services and amenities…” said Jeremy Holm, city director of planning and development, at the meeting in the spring. “The downtown area is also an area of the city that’s got a well-developed on-street parking management program and off-street public parking, as well, to support businesses and visitors in the area.”
He said removing off-street parking requirements could further incentivize development in the downtown, but could also increase demand for on-street parking, which might have to be addressed through "careful and additional regulatory enforcement."
“So this is quite a significant step in the downtown and supports a broader discussion that’s happening right now [around the] city-wide parking strategy, which is under review,” Holm said.
A public hearing June 19 included discussion on the bylaw amendment. An update on the city-wide parking strategy is scheduled to come before council at a governance and priorities committee meeting Monday, July 14.
At this week's meeting, council voted to adopt the off-street parking requirements bylaw amendment, with Coun. Ian Thorpe opposed.
"Our city is undergoing, right now, a comprehensive parking conditions study…” Thorpe said at a governance and priorities meeting last fall, when council members discussed removing off-street parking requirements. “To me this plays in as part of what we’ll find out from that study, so I’m not in a big rush to do any major change to our downtown philosophy yet.”
Thorpe noted at the time that eliminating off-street parking requirements would increase demand for on-street parking and within downtown parking facilities as a consequence, and he thought it was premature to move ahead with the bylaw before seeing the results of the comprehensive parking study.
For more on the city’s off-street parking requirements regulations and the amendments to remove off-street parking requirements downtown, visit www.nanaimo.ca/bylaws/ViewBylaw/7266.pdf.
