There is loud alarm among business/property owners and tenants - those having to be considered/consulted within the physical parameters of the proposed Co-op project. I believe the radius is 100 meters.
1.
Timing of City Hall's position on parking - curiously! prepared/released BEFORE due consideration of the Co-op development with its unquestionable major ramifications on downtown-parking.
Although Dave Wahn, the City's Manager of Development Services & Sustainability, Approving Officer - has all along proactively known of this development in the pipeline. Thus ought to be aware of probable problems that's your job Mr. Wahn! So what's going on here?
2.
Said business/property-owners and tenants - again curiously! - having to provide their input on this project BEFORE they have seen this parking-paper. The plot thickens!
3.
Additional far-reaching parking-problem tentacles the project - if approved as proposed - will grow and keep in place for the above-mentioned group ad infinitum.
1a.
All (but particularly Mr. Wahn must) clearly see that actualizing the Co-op project-as-presented will have spiraling out of control impact on parking in Nelson's downtown. What with the Extra parking-lot having contributed greatly to availability of parking for decades - look at it now! - and the Co-op's plan to now cut this parking-space by 60%.
Possibly even more: to accommodate a shopping-cart isle and monster-trucks delivering to the Co-op Supermarket via the back-alley from Hendryx. Having to disaster-inviting maneuver the close south/east corner of the building-as-planned - where now there isn't one. Even with extra Extra-space this was always difficult. Hendryx will certainly be blocked for much longer than previous long periods of time during such maneuvers - with truck-drivers - while turning - having to avoid damage to cars parked on Hendryx, the building and cars parked in the lot - thus needing more space.
2a.
Downsizing the parking-lot will mean parking spilling over into whatever little available off-property space there is. With those who will find paying a daily parking-fine a better deal than any other option - once they have a spot relatively close by. Lucky!
3a.
With spillage guaranteed: where - for instance - will patients of the Nelson Medical Clinic park? Those who have mobility-issues - thus depend on parking close to entrances: Vernon/Hendryx. Making parking-spaces smaller there to gain more will not work - many patients need extra space to get out of/into cars.
Alarm!!
All together: Where - at any given time - will Co-op customers; customers of other stores in the building; visitors of condo-owners; patients across the street; area-customers/owners/tenants/employees; general downtown-public park?
Well - for a bit more breathing-space - the Co-op will probably sooner or later give-up the south/west-Baker area of the now-parking-lot. Originally intended to become a green space - as part of the Nelson Commons. But what with the Commons-vision unceremoniously and quietly dumped and no plan for a green space submitted to the City with the overall development-plans...... connect the dots. Yet even if parking is expanded into there - it will not accommodate parking-needs sufficiently.
Alarm!!!
Mr. Wahn's desultory explanation to a concerned businessman within the radius that Co-op-employees will receive bus-vouchers and the public will just have to start driving smaller cars what problem I don't see a problem is disingenuous at best - glaringly calling in question his role in this. And he sounds as if approval of the project is a done deal! Another question - this to the Co-op: Will costs of bus-vouchers up the store's prices?
Regardless - not everybody lives with easy access to buses; bus-schedules won't be adjusted to employees' shifts. And it is doubtful that the size-does-matter crowd thus car-manufacturers will switch to small cars just to accommodate Smallishtown's smallish thinking.
Last year, our Mr. Wahn - already in blatant no-matter-what support of the project - told Co-op members that the City could build a bridge for Extra-customers from City Hall to the box-store. Doable before the closing of Extra. Within a couple of months.
By now he has prompted many to wonder whether he has a personal agenda here - being obtuse deliberately. Or what! Anyway - we'd better fasten our seat-belts: we're in for a bumpy ride towards what's next with him as the City's designated driver!
Alarm!!!!
The thought that he - involved in devising the Official Community Plan (OPC) - may now officially approve this Co-op project: without the Nelson-Commons aspect; contrary to the OPC; this condo/store presence-as-planned clearly bound to make a negative far-reaching/lasting impact - is disconcerting.
Mayor Dooley says This (OPC) is true community-building figuratively and literally. Well, the plan may be, Mr. Mayor - disregard for its downtown-vision - and due process - is not!
Sardine image: H. Armstrong Roberts
The City of Nelson has been totally ignoring traffic issues for years. If you even mention it to them, it is like you've just dropped a box of dirty diapers on the table in front of them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, someone MUST roll up their sleeves and seriously look into this issue with real commitment. Disregard will, over time, ruin Nelson. It already is.
Integrity is foreign to Co-Op.
ReplyDeleteWill the same courtesy of issuing bus passes be extended to the member/owner (who already has paid over and over for this condo development).
I suggest taxi vouchers .
Groceries are heavy,organics fragile and highly perishable,public transit is insufficient.
Deirdrie or Russell could drive customers home!
Have you ever lived in a city before? I lived in a very high density neighbourhood in Vancouver. I mean mega-dense. Almost every 2-3 story heritage home had at least 2 apartments, and sometimes 3-4. We were also right next to a major shopping district. The kind that blows Baker away hands down for traffic.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what? I always managed to find a place to park. Sometimes it was a bit of a bitch but the world didn't end.
The benefit... I got to live in a high traffic, super funky neighbourhood with lots of active shops. I could have moved to Burnaby to live in a place with ample parking, but that would have sucked.
Same goes here. If you want lots of parking, move to Castlegar, a town designed for cars. Nelson is a bit tighter, and that means not so welcoming to the car, but that's why it's a great place for pedestrians.
You should read up on the latest conventional wisdom regarding designing people oriented communities. You will see that the Coop is very much in line with that, whereas your views are a bit Jurassic era.
Please note... bigger cities are allowing condos with fewer parking spots than suites by a considerable margin. The coop is currently proposing to build with significantly more parking spots than suites by about 50. That should be enough for the store when added to street parking.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/real-estate/parking-an-endangered-species-for-downtown-dwellers/article4410227/
This is life in a city. That means parking is a bit of a pain, BUT it's better for pedestrians. As I mentioned previously, if you want parking, you might be happier in Castlegar.
I do appreciate comments - but don't do Anonymous
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