CASH PAYMENT-IN-LIEU OF PARKING RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS - York Eglinton and York Humber.

Purpose:

To respond to a request of York Community Council for a report on the policies of other area municipalities compared with the policy of the former City of York, regarding cash payment-in-lieu of parking.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Not applicable.

Recommendation:

That this report be received for information.

Background:

York Community Council, at its meeting of February 17, 1999, in discussing the matter of cash payment-in-lieu of parking, requested staff to report on the policies of other area municipalities in this regard compared with the policy of the former City of York and on what action can be taken on an interim basis to provide relief for new business owners in Wards 27 and 28, with the exception of licensed establishments.

Comments:

City Council, at its meeting of October 28, 29 and 30, 1999, amended and adopted Clause 4 in Report No. 12 of the Urban Environment and Development Committee, entitled "Cash Payment-in-lieu of Parking Related to Development Applications" and in so doing, requested the Commissioners of Works and Emergency Services and Urban Planning and Development Services to report jointly on recommended consolidated policies and practices for the new City with respect to cash payment-in-lieu of parking. City Council further recommended that, until such time as the joint report has been received, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services be requested to ensure that the current practices outlined in the joint report are being followed in the former area Municipalities.

It was indicated in the above-noted report (copy attached) that the cash payment-in-lieu policies for development applications in the former municipalities, including the former City of York, were generally consistent, although the manner used to calculate the actual cash payments differed considerably. Briefly, the current policies could be summarized as follows:

(a)payment-in-lieu of parking is not intended to be an automatic right of the proponent, rather it is applied at the discretion of the municipality only if planning and transportation objectives are not jeopardized;

(b)in the former City of York, the payment-in-lieu policies were applied only to alterations and additions to existing buildings, but not to new building construction, whereas the other former municipalities considered payment-in-lieu applications for all development;

(c)payment-in-lieu is generally considered for non-residential developments or the non-residential components of mixed-use developments, although the former City of York accepted cash payment-in-lieu of parking for residential developments in limited circumstances;

(d)payment-in-lieu is generally considered a last resort and in most cases, it is preferable for the applicant to provide on-site or, in some circumstances, off-site leased parking to satisfy the Zoning By-law requirements of a project;

(e)the applicant must demonstrate why the existing parking provisions of the Zoning By-law cannot be accommodated on site (site access constraints, size of development parcel, retention of an existing building, etc.);

(f)staff would assess the existing parking situation in the area of the application and the impact of the proposed exemption on the surrounding neighbourhood;

(g)all applicants must enter into an agreement with the municipality for the payment-in-lieu; and

(h)all payments received by the municipality are placed in a Parking Reserve Fund for the acquisition, development and improvement of municipal parking facilities.

The development of consolidated policies for the new City with respect to cash payment-in-lieu of parking related to development applications is ongoing by staff of Works and Emergency Services and Urban Planning and Development Services.

Although the policies with respect to cash payment-in-lieu of parking are generally consistent among the former municipalities, the required payment-in-lieu fees differ. The magnitude of these differences is a function of the size and type of the proposed development, and the land values and construction costs in the area. For example, for a 100 square metre addition to an existing retail development on land valued at $10.00 per square foot ($108.00 per square metre), the required cash payment-in-lieu of providing each parking space in each of the former municipalities would be as follows:

-York$3900.00

-Toronto$3900.00

-North York$2500.00

-Etobicoke$2000.00

-Scarborough$4110.00

-East York$2000.00

As illustrated in the above chart, the cash payment-in-lieu required for each parking space in the former City of York ($3,900.00) in this example is generally in line with the other former municipalities. Given the direction by City Council with respect to cash payment-in-lieu practices and the current efforts by staff to develop consolidated policies and practices for the new City, including the development of a uniform fee structure, it is not appropriate at this time to provide relief for new business owners in Wards 27 and 28, on an interim basis, with respect to these payments. The joint report recommending consolidated policies and practices will be submitted to the Planning and Transportation Committee shortly.

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

John Mende, Manager

Traffic Planning, District 1

392-7713