Revelstoke City Council has approved a development permit for a three storey multi-use building at 519 and 521 2nd St. W, on the condition that the developer either pay $61,200 to cover a shortage of parking spaces in the plan or secure parking off site.
The building features four commercial units and five residential units, one of which is intended for affordable housing. Two of the housing units will be one bedroom and the others will be three bedroom.
The Zoning Bylaw requires 12 parking spaces for the development, eight for the residents and four for the businesses, however, the Official Community Plan allows for parking bonuses for developments that include affordable housing units and council approved a development variance permit decreasing the required stalls to 10.
The developer has included seven parking spaces in the design of the project and before a development permit can be issued, must make up for the shortfall of three parking spaces.
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Councillor Jackie Rhind voted against the development permit, on the basis that there was not enough parking included in the project.
“We can’t ignore the fact that most people own a vehicle,” she said. “Maybe not most, people who would be buying a brand new unit downtown there is a good chance they would have a vehicle.”
With each entrance to a housing unit has been extended to allow for bike storage as well as bike parking and storage units on site and the walkable access to all amenities, the applicant requested that council further reduce the required residential parking stalls to five.
“This would allow the development to be financially viable, accounting for the lost revenue in providing the affordable unit and to serve as an incentive for other developing downtown lots with affordable units,” said a letter from David Arnott, architect for the project.
The city received several submissions of the same letter from residents in the area opposing variances to parking requirements for both this project and Mark McKee’s veterinary clinic project on 4th St. W.
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The developer will also be required to to pay a security for the due and proper completion of landscaping in the amount of almost $87,000.
The parking-in-lieu money is collected to be used to make and implement a Parking Management Plan.
At the end of 2019 there was $240,000 set aside for the purposes of parking and alternative transportation, said Tania McCabe, director of finance for the city, in an email. The most recent payment to the fund was $60,000 for the Tantrum building on 1st St.
The landscaping security is returned to the developer when the project is complete.
The developer on the project is LeFevre Revelstoke Holdings Inc., the Revelstoke Review has reached out to them for comment.
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