In an effort to alleviate the parking crunch downtown during special events, the city has reached agreements with three property owners in the area to allow parking in stalls that would otherwise be off limits.
The move opens up 154 parking stalls at the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI), école Father Jan and the provincial building on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue. The agreements allow city access to NABI and Father Jan on weekends and holidays, while the provincial building stalls are available on specific dates and times that coincide with special events.
The St. Albert Chamber of Commerce said the move could help "make parking a positive experience instead of a negative experience," said chair Charlene Zoltenko.
"The opening of these stalls is an opportunity to use parking that was otherwise sitting empty," Zoltenko said.
Any move to help the parking situation is a welcome one but many people want to park as close to the action as possible, said downtown deli owner J Wagner.
"There's only so many Band-Aid resolutions that they're going to be able to implement. The thing is getting people to do it," she said.
"Every little bit helps. It's short term until we can get other things on track."
The city just completed an implementation plan for a new downtown area redevelopment plan, which calls for the building of a downtown parkade sometime within the next five years but council hasn't committed to funding the plan.
The city has developed material to help event organizers notify patrons of all the parking options and is working with organizers to implement more park and rides, thanks to $43,200 that council approved for the 2011 budget.
Freeing up parking spaces is an important step in the overall plan, said Mayor Nolan Crouse, who said he's walked downtown on the busiest Saturdays of the year.
"There are lots of parking stalls available, it's just that they have 'do not park' written all over them," he said.
Council heard that administration had tried to negotiate a deal with Grandin Park Plaza owner Amacon, who wasn't able to accommodate the city's request.
No temporary lot
Crouse also had his hopes up for the vacant lot at 22 St. Thomas Street. The city had applied to put a temporary parking lot there but the project didn't comply with the city's own land use bylaw. The city's appeal to the subdivision appeal board failed a few weeks ago. This leaves the future of the lot up in the air.
"We could rezone it to direct control and put a parking lot there if we choose to but we just haven't gotten there yet," Crouse said.
