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New Zoning Bylaw

I saw some of today. One of the main concerns from Rice about this bylaw, and more specifically City Plan and having no parking minimums, is that greater infill in neighbourhoods will make parking very difficult and unsafe for kids in communities.

Despite city admin telling Rice parking minimums haven't been an issue, she said she has heard the exact opposite.

Salvador then stated a detailed city report is clear that data from across the city shows there is not a parking problem in Edmonton.

Interestingly, in previous council discussions related to parking, some longtime community residents in older neighbourhoods have said parking is more of an issue now than it was 30/40 years ago even though there are fewer residents living in their community now. But two things were identified to explain that - families no longer have just one car and it's not uncommon for households to have 3 or 4 or more. The other is that it is not uncommon for people not to use their garages for parking, but instead for storage of stuff, thereby putting a greater strain on street parking in neighbourhoods.
 
TAS said:
I saw some of today. One of the main concerns from Rice about this bylaw, and more specifically City Plan and having no parking minimums, is that greater infill in neighbourhoods will make parking very difficult and unsafe for kids in communities.

Despite city admin telling Rice parking minimums haven't been an issue, she said she has heard the exact opposite.

Salvador then stated a detailed city report is clear that data from across the city shows there is not a parking problem in Edmonton.

Interestingly, in previous council discussions related to parking, some longtime community residents in older neighbourhoods have said parking is more of an issue now than it was 30/40 years ago even though there are fewer residents living in their community now. But two things were identified to explain that - families no longer have just one car and it's not uncommon for households to have 3 or 4 or more. The other is that it is not uncommon for people not to use their garages for parking, but instead for storage of stuff, thereby putting a greater strain on street parking in neighbourhoods.
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We need a curb side management strategy. Which I think is coming?

The parking on the street while using garages for storage or another room kills me. Store your private property on your own property.

I think an incremental step could be 1 parking pass per household. Or moving towards no street parking between 2-5am (a common tactic in other cities). Forces you to find a place to park overnight consistently. But keeps stuff simple for visitors and businesses and what should be the main use of street parking: temporary visits.

Or people can purchase street parking passes if they need/want them.

Challenge is the change management at this point will be brutal and people will be mad cause they’re bought homes and adjusted to lifestyles based in the assumptions. And idk how they could cost effectively enforce…
 
thommyjo said:
We need a curb side management strategy. Which I think is coming?

The parking on the street while using garages for storage or another room kills me. Store your private property on your own property.

I think an incremental step could be 1 parking pass per household. Or moving towards no street parking between 2-5am (a common tactic in other cities). Forces you to find a place to park overnight consistently. But keeps stuff simple for visitors and businesses and what should be the main use of street parking: temporary visits.

Or people can purchase street parking passes if they need/want them.

Challenge is the change management at this point will be brutal and people will be mad cause they’re bought homes and adjusted to lifestyles based in the assumptions. And idk how they could cost effectively enforce…
Click to expand...
The number of cars on my street that I know are parked there by people that have garages and yet don't use them! The street parking is nearly empty all day, and nearly full overnight. I feel like the only person who actually uses my garage for my car.
Any sort of change in regulation is going to have to come on slow like you say, people have made all sorts of plans and decisions based on unlimited free parking in front of their homes.

I agree with one free permit per house or unit (4-plex or smaller?) might be a decent place to start, with a fee that ramps up for each additional vehicle. $5/mo for the first, $20 for the second, $50 for the third. We can adjust the prices later on as we dial in the situation and people get used to paying for their permit.
Banning overnight parking outright would probably cause an outroar though.
 
Zoning Bylaw has passed! All in favour except Rice and Principe who were opposed.

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EDIT: Added the picture as well of the council vote.
 
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Gronk! said:
I called it! 😁

I'd buy a lottery ticket right now if City Council wasn't so predictable.
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I was genuinely nervous that it might differ this time due to outside pressure, but I for one am glad that the "Gronk Guarantee" came through!

Now I'm excited for all the media coverage on this from around North America. Minneapolis can suck it.
 
Kosy123 said:
I was genuinely nervous that it might differ this time due to outside pressure, but I for one am glad that the "Gronk Guarantee" came through!

Now I'm excited for all the media coverage on this from around North America. Minneapolis can suck it.
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If anybody does see any media coverage or conversations, please post links here if you don't mind.
 
I would not be at all surprised to see cities across Canada and North America adopt new zoning bylaws based on this one. It's exciting to be at the forefront of these massive shifts that are starting to come for cities across the continent.
 
In the last few years, Edmonton has:

* passed the City Plan
* removed parking minimums
* passed 100m for active transportation
* passed Zoning Bylaw Renewal
* continues ambitious LRT expansion

Add in international and interprovincial migration, low COL, and a provincial economy doing relatively well, and I think we should be excited for the city's future.
 
Coun Cartmell put forward two motions.

The first one was to look at reducing the density allowable on a lot. He said many people are more comfortable with a "crawl, walk, run" approach to how many units could be allowed on lot so he tried to get an increase on the minimum site area allowed per dwelling meaning in effect fewer dwellings would be allowed on a lot. Surprisingly, Knack supported this, but it failed on a close 6-7 vote.

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Another motion of his - to reduce the allowable size of a commercial establishment on a lot - was successful by an 8-5 vote.

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