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Interpreting sustainability in a parking structure

Use of parking-in-lieu funds for underground lot beneath library at heart of debate More than 20 per cent of the cost of building Whistler’s new library will be attributable to the underground parking lot.

Use of parking-in-lieu funds for underground lot beneath library at heart of debate

More than 20 per cent of the cost of building Whistler’s new library will be attributable to the underground parking lot.

The one-story lot is estimated to cost more than $1.6 million out of a total library budget of $7.5 million.

It’s one of several reasons why Councillor Marianne Wade would not support moving ahead with the current plans to develop the library site at the last council meeting.

"To me (it’s) against our sustainability policy," she said this week.

"We have agreed that we’re not going to encourage more cars coming into the village.

"I don’t support encouraging 45 more cars on that lot."

But Councillor Nick Davies doesn’t agree with that argument and said it doesn’t look to the future of a growing resort.

"You can cloak any issue as either sustainable or not sustainable and in my view this is not a sustainability issue," he said.

"It’s a very practical issue."

"Irrespective of what (sustainability) values we have, the fact of the matter is that vehicles are going to keep coming to this community.

"In my view to say that sustainability demands that we discourage the use of motor vehicles and one way to discourage the use of motor vehicles is to refuse to build parking in our town centre when we have the opportunity to do so, doesn’t look to the future."

Wade however said it would be helpful to know if the municipality in fact needs these stall for its future parking demands before approving a $1.6 million lot.

"No one’s given me a study to say that we actually do need these stalls," she said.

In addition she said the nearby underground parking at the Bear Lodge and the Delta Village Suites is never full.

"All that underground parking there isn’t even used to the max at all," she added.

Under the municipality’s zoning bylaws, there is a requirement to provide parking for buildings in the village.

Specifically the bylaw requires that for every 100 square metres of development, three parking stalls must be added.

The proposed plans for the library show more than 14,000 square feet, which will require roughly 40 parking stalls under the current bylaws.

Wade said it might be wise to re-examine those bylaw requirements.

"If we’re going to be sustainable, why don’t we look at putting the minimum number of cars to encourage transit?" she said.

Under the joint $10 million library/museum project, which was originally considered for the site, the design plans made room for roughly 50 above ground parking stalls.

By going underground with the parking for the library building alone, the design will have leeway for future additions or new buildings on site.

It’s called a flexible design platform.

"It’s a basic principle that’s used everywhere in the village where if you put the parking underground then you’re not encumbering your site area by parking, which allows you to develop more of the building," said Martin Pardoe, parks planner at the municipality.

Davies said future plans could include putting a new municipal hall on the site or additional municipal offices.

"And so my view, and the view I think of most councillors, is that it would make sense to put the parking in now," he said.

"There will be knock out walls so if we want to add a municipal hall and put more parking in we’ll be able to do that."

Underground parking wasn’t a part of the designs for the joint facility, in part because of the high costs.

"Certainly cost was an issue at that time because... the nature of the museum and the library building together on a site, necessitated deeper excavation to accommodate the parking and that drove the cost up," said Pardoe.

Also, with a joint facility there was less need to ensure there was a flexible building platform and so an underground parking lot wasn’t seriously considered in the plans.

Those $10 million plans were dropped last year after fundraising efforts to raise half the capital fell far short of their goals.

Since then municipal staff has been coming up with a new plan.

This was presented at the last council meeting, on Monday, March 1.

The museum has been dropped from the site and instead a much smaller stand alone $7.5 million library building is now proposed.

Wade and Councillor Kristi Wells were the only two members of council to vote against those library plans.

Among a host of issues both councillors are also concerned about the proposed plans to fund the underground parking lot with money from the parking in lieu payment from Intrawest.

Last year when Intrawest could not fulfil its parking requirements at the new Pan Pacific Hotel, council debated either accepting the penalty payment or letting Intrawest build another floor at the parking lot in the Creekside parkade.

They decided to accept the money.

The minutes from the council meeting where the parking in lieu payment was discussed show council had an idea to put the money towards transit at a later date.

The minutes read: "Fulfillment of the off-street parking requirements... shall entail provision of a contribution of $1,525,000 to the municipality for transportation related improvements including transit."

Intrawest ultimately paid the municipality just over $1.3 million at the end of last year.

Wade said she understood the money had been earmarked for transit demand and initiatives and not for more underground parking.

"Staff proposed (taking the parking in lieu money) in their report, which is why I was not happy about it and made it very clear I wouldn’t support that because it’s a total change to what council voted on with the Pan Pacific," she said.

"And it’s unfortunate that some people aren’t making the ties back (to that decision)."

Last month, Wells who is also the chair of Whistler’s Transit Management Committee, was hoping to ask council for $350,000 from the parking in lieu fund to start up a public bus service between Squamish and Whistler.

She was also proposing that a portion of the money could go towards expanding the current bus service between Mount Currie, Pemberton and Whistler, providing more morning and late night runs.

With the underground parking lot there will be no more money left from the Intrawest payment for that kind of initiative.

Davies said he does not recall the details of last year’s discussion about parking in lieu payment.

"My view is that we’ve got a significant payroll in well-paid and extremely bright senior management people," he said.

"So when they come to council and they bring forward a proposal like this and a proposal for funding, I think my job is to make sure it passes the smell test.

"It’s not my job to go back and look at the terms of reference of that fund and investigate why those monies were given to us in the first place. That’s all staff’s job. And if staff tells us that that’s a reasonable approach to take and I don’t see any reason why it’s not reasonable, then I’m prepared to go with staff’s recommendation."

The library plans will be back before council in April.

Council will also be reviewing plans for the museum that month.