From: Tim.Moerman@ottawa.ca
Sent: 04/05/2015 12:57:13 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Minimum Parking Requirements Review – Révision des exigences minimales en matière de stationnement

(Le français suit)

Good afternoon,

We are writing today to let you know that the City of Ottawa is undertaking a review of the minimum parking requirements under the Zoning By-law. These are the rules that specify how much on-site parking must be provided as part of any new development.

Ottawa’s parking minimums have not been comprehensively reviewed in decades; in key areas, the parking requirements are the same under today’s zoning as they were in 1964. A lot has changed since then, and these old parking rules are increasingly out of step with today’s realities and planning goals.

Recognizing this, the new Official Plan adopted in 2013 calls for these zoning requirements to be reduced in certain parts of the city, notably near rapid-transit stations and in the inner urban area.

As of May 4th, you can access the project website at http://ottawa.ca/minimumparking. We plan to hold a public open house in the fall of 2015 and expect to bring a zoning amendment to Council in 2016.

In the meantime, the project website includes a short discussion paper that talks about the pros, cons and consequences of the City’s parking requirements, as well as some of the possible changes under consideration. It’s a good introduction to the issue of parking requirements, what changes we’re considering making and why.

We hope you will participate in this important discussion. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at:

Email: tim.moerman@ottawa.ca or minimumparking@ottawa.ca
Regular mail: Minimum Parking Review
City Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West, 4th Floor
Mail Code 01-14
K1P 1J1
Fax: (613) 580-2459
Website: http://ottawa.ca/minimumparking.

Bonjour,

Ce message a pour but de vous informer que la Ville d’Ottawa entreprend la révision des exigences minimales de stationnement fixées par le Règlement de zonage. Il s’agit des règles qui précisent le nombre de places de stationnement qui doivent être prévues pour tout aménagement.

Cependant, cela fait des dizaines d’années que ces exigences minimales en matière de stationnement n’ont pas fait l’objet d’une révision exhaustive; dans certains secteurs clés, elles sont restées les mêmes, aux termes du zonage actuel, qu’en 1964. Les règlements de stationnement élaborés au milieu du siècle dernier vont à l’encontre des politiques, des priorités et des objectifs présents sur le plan de l’urbanisme.

Or, les choses ont beaucoup changé en cinquante ans et les anciennes règles sur le stationnement correspondent de moins en moins à la réalité et aux objectifs d’urbanisme d’aujourd’hui.

C’est ainsi que le nouveau Plan officiel qui a été adopté en 2013 prévoit l’abaissement de ces exigences de zonage pour certaines parties de la ville, notamment près des stations de transport en commun rapide et dans la zone intra-urbaine.

À compter du 4e mai, vous aurez accès au site Web du projet, à l’adresse http://ottawa.ca/stationnementminimum. Nous comptons tenir une réunion publique à l’automne 2015 et soumettre une modification de zonage au Conseil en 2016.

Par ailleurs, le site Web du projet renferme un bref document de travail qui expose les avantages, les inconvénients et les conséquences des exigences de la Ville en matière de stationnement ainsi que certaines des modifications envisagées. Il s’agit d’une bonne présentation du dossier, des changements auxquels nous songeons et de leur raison d’être.

Nous espérons que vous participerez à cette importante discussion. N’hésitez pas à communiquer avec nous aux coordonnées suivantes :

Par courriel : tim.moerman@ottawa.ca ou bien stationnementminimum@ottawa.ca
Par la poste : Révision des exigences minimales de stationnement
Hôtel de ville
110, avenue Laurier Ouest, 4e étage
Code de courrier interne : 01-14
K1P 1J1
Par télécopieur : 613-580-2459
Site Web : http://ottawa.ca/stationnementminimum

http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/road-and-sidewalk-maintenance/street-sweeping

The city’s annual spring sweeping of streets and sidewalks is now underway and may result in noise and dust in your neighbourhood.

Residents in neighbourhoods in the downtown core of the city, such as Vanier, New Edinburgh, Sandy Hill and the Glebe are reminded that day and night on-street parking restrictions will be in effect between Tuesday, April 14 and Friday, April 17. Please note that dates are weather dependant and are subject to change without notice.

These restrictions apply to all vehicles, including those with on-street parking permits, to allow for effective sweeping of the roads. Temporary no-parking signs will be posted prominently in these areas. Vehicles parked where temporary no-parking signs are posted could be ticketed and towed to nearby streets.

Your patience and cooperation in keeping vehicles off the streets during the spring cleanup is appreciated.

Street and sidewalk sweeping improves public safety and helps prevent catch basins from becoming blocked with debris. Annually, the City sweeps over 6,000 kilometers of roadway and over 2,000 kilometres of sidewalks to keep Ottawa clean and green.

The City of Ottawa’s winter overnight parking restrictions are now completed for the 2014-2015 season. The City would like to thank you for your cooperation in making our streets safer throughout the winter season.

Subject: Blog Post about Kitchissippi Parking Strategy
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2015 20:01:52 +0000
From: Leiper, Jeff <Jeff.Leiper@ottawa.ca>

Hi all

For your information, the following blog post is going to be going up on our website shortly. We intend to talk about this at the Forum next week, and also to invite people to come to the public consultation. Of course, my door is always open and I welcome your thoughts on these matters.

Jeff

Parking in the Westboro Village retail area has been a persistent issue for years – and more recently, it seems to be growing along Wellington West as well. Businesses are concerned that they’re losing customers to suburban malls that offer easy car access, and even some residents find that parking is scarce when they need or want to drive to a local merchant.

When there’s parking pressure, cars begin circling the block for in order to find a spot. This creates traffic congestion and wasted time, increased air pollution and decreased pedestrian and cyclist safety.

Particularly in Westboro, the studies in 2011 and preliminary numbers I’ve seen from a 2014 study seem to bear this out. Parking demand already seems to be outpacing supply. One of the options we have at our disposal is paid parking, which could help create greater parking availability. As a growing urban area, we need to look at this carefully and seriously. But let me be clear about three things:

• First, I will work to ensure that paid parking is not the only option: we must look at ALL options, including creative solutions not currently on the table.
• Second: previous discussions of this issue have been hampered by a lack of public discussion and information sharing.
• Third: in discussing whether paid parking or other tools are warranted in our neighbourhood, I will ensure we don’t look at one area alone. Westboro and Wellington West are different areas with different needs, but they are also tightly connected and serve many of the same customers.

So, when I found out that this summer, a new parking study was to be conducted for Wellington Street West, I asked the Parking Services department to ensure that both the existing Westboro studies and the newer data from Wellington West be considered together as one master strategy.

Kitchissippi Parking Strategy.

This innovative new approach meets my three criteria, which I’ll repeat: 1) full consideration of options, 2) broad consultation, and 3) a strategic, Ward-wide approach.

Westboro Parking will be the theme of Part one. I hope you’ll join us for a public consultation on Saturday, May 2 at the Churchill Seniors Centre from 1 to 3 pm to explore approaches to parking challenges including paid parking in Westboro. We’ll have the most recent parking numbers for Westboro on hand. In addition to your thoughts on how, when, and whether paid parking should be implemented, we also want to know what you think of the parking “levers” that can be pushed and pulled. For example:

• What would be the appropriate time limits, and where? 90 minutes? 2 hours?
• What time of day and on which days should paid parking be in effect?
• How much should it cost?
• With paid parking, Parking Services could provide more revenue to community projects relating to alternate forms of transportation. If this becomes available, what kind of improvements could we do with these new resources?

These are a just a few of the questions I’m sure we’ll all have.

We’ll look to integrate the same consultation with Wellington West after the numbers come out, probably in September or October of 2015. And if the numbers from the study support the introduction of paid parking, it could begin in November 2015, with the ward-wide introduction of paid parking from Golden Avenue in the west to the O-Train line in the east. From the outset, I’ll be thinking about the whole main street rather than in terms of separate sections.

Of course, I’m committed to continually reviewing paid parking if it’s implemented, and I’m keen to get the feedback on this topic from all of you who live, work and play in Kitchissippi.