On-Street Parking Permits: The Kingsway;
Anglesey Boulevard; Bexhill Court (Kingsway-Humber)
The Etobicoke Community Council recommends the adoption of Recommendations (1),
(2) and (3) contained in the following report (May 26, 1999) from the Director,
Transportation Services, District 2:
The Etobicoke Community Council reports, for the information of City Council, having
deferred consideration of Recommendation (4) to allow for consultation with affected
residents.
The Etobicoke Community Council submits the following report (May26,1999) from the
Director, Transportation Services, District 2:
Purpose:
To inform Etobicoke Community Council of the results of a public opinion survey regarding
on-street parking permits in The Kingsway/Anglesey Boulevard/Bexhill Court area, and to
recommend that the Toronto Parking Authority install additional metered parking stalls on the
east side of The Kingsway, north of Anglesey Boulevard.
Funding Sources:
The funds associated with the installation and maintenance of metered parking is contained in
the operating budget of the Toronto Parking Authority.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)on-street parking permits not be introduced on Anglesey Boulevard, The Kingsway, or
BexhillCourt;
(2)the Toronto Parking Authority repair and/or replace the existing non-functioning parking
meters on Anglesey Boulevard, The Kingsway, and Bexhill Court;
(3)the Toronto Parking Authority review the rate structure and permitted times for metered
parking in The Kingsway/Anglesey Boulevard/Bexhill Court area; and
(4)the Toronto Parking Authority install additional metered parking stalls on the east side of
TheKingsway, north of Anglesey Boulevard, and that Schedule C of Section 187(11) and
ScheduleVIII of Chapter 240 of the Etobicoke Municipal Code be amended accordingly, and
as described in the attached by-laws.
Council Reference:
In October 1998, Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby asked that staff investigate the possibility of
introducing additional metered parking stalls in The Kingsway/Anglesey Boulevard area
(Attachment No. 1). In January1999, Councillor Lindsay Luby wrote to us requesting that we
undertake ". . . the necessary studies to see if [on-street] permit parking could be a viable
option to this problem [the lack of on-street metered parking]" (Attachment No. 2).
Medium density rental apartment buildings dominate the area of TheKingsway,
AngleseyBoulevard, and BexhillCourt (Attachment No. 3). These apartment buildings were
constructed in the early1950s, predating current Etobicoke Zoning Code parking standards.
Our survey of apartment owners in the area found that for a total of 714 occupied apartment
units there was a total of 404 on-site parking spaces, or 0.57 parking spaces per dwelling unit.
Discussion:
A.Introduction of On-Street Parking Permits
In 1982, Council for the former City of Etobicoke proposed issuing overnight parking permits
to apartment residents in The Kingsway/Anglesey Boulevard/Bexhill Court area; however, it
was rejected when survey results failed to find popular consensus for such a proposal.
In 1996, staff again surveyed area residents to obtain their opinion toward on-street parking
permits. While many residents who responded to the survey said that they were concerned
with a lack of visitor parking, there was no popular support for on-street parking permits, and
staff did not pursue the proposal.
In response to Councillor Lindsay Luby's request, staff sent survey questionnaires, by first
class mail, to the 843 residential apartment units in the area (Attachment No. 4). The
questionnaires provided information on the on-street parking permit program described in the
Etobicoke Municipal Code, and asked if residents were in favour of it. Of the 136 responses
that we received, 68 percent opposed on-street parking permits.
To examine the adequacy of visitor parking that area residents had previously identified as an
issue, staff conducted a parking occupancy study of all metered parking stalls in the study
area. Visitor parking demand is typically at its peak on Saturday evening, and the study was
done Saturday, February 27, 1999, between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The study
showed that 209 of the 215 existing metered parking stalls were occupied. This is equivalent
to an occupancy rate of 97percent; however, license plate traces showed that nearly one-half of
all vehicles parked at the meters were registered to owners who did not reside in the study
area.
B.Introduction of Additional Metered Parking
Responding to concerns from area residents regarding a lack of on-site and on-street parking,
the CityofEtobicoke introduced metered parking stalls on Anglesey Boulevard, Bexhill Court,
and TheKingsway in 1989. The meters allow parking for a maximum of nine hours between
8:00 p.m. and 5:00a.m., seven days a week, and at a cost of $0.50 per night. At all other times,
the maximum three hour parking limit applies.
At present, most of the parking meters are broken. We relaxed parking enforcement in the area
to avoid penalizing residents who have no other option but to park in the metered stalls.
TheTorontoParkingAuthority advises that they will replace the parking meters following the
fall 1999 reconstruction of this section of Anglesey Boulevard.
In 1989, the City of Etobicoke maximized the on-street parking supply in the study area by
redesigning the parking stalls on the north side of Anglesey Boulevard from parallel to angle.
In connection with the reconstruction of Anglesey Boulevard that will be completed in the fall
of 1999, we will convert the parallel stalls on the south side of Anglesey Boulevard, between
RoyalYorkRoad and The Kingsway, to angle parking. This will increase the number of
metered parking stalls on the south side of Anglesey Boulevard from 29 to 50.
We would like to point out that from a traffic operations perspective, angled on-street parking
stalls can restrict sight lines for motorists when they back out of the stalls; however, in this
area, the median-divided traffic flow on Anglesey Boulevard, combined with low traffic
volumes and reduced parking stall turnover resulting from the residential character of the
surrounding neighbourhood, keeps this conflict to a minimum. A description of the number
and location of metered parking stalls in the area is described in the following table:
At the request of Councillor Lindsay Luby, we examined the possibility of installing
additional metered parking on the east side of The Kingsway, north of the existing limit of the
metered parking stalls, and adjacent the west side of Humber Valley Park. This will provide
approximately 18additional metered parking stalls, but requires that the existing daytime
parking prohibition (from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) extending across the frontage of Humber
Valley Park, on the east side of TheKingsway, from HartfieldRoad to a point 134 m south, be
removed (Attachment No. 5).
The introduction of on-street parking permits in The Kingsway/Anglesey Boulevard/Bexhill
Court would eliminate visitor use of most of the on-street parking stalls. In view of the
substantial amount of visitor parking that occurs during peak periods, Etobicoke's on-street
parking permit program does not appear to be a realistic parking strategy for this area.
Our parking surveys also show that visitor parking appears to generate a significant demand
for the existing supply of on-street metered parking stalls on The Kingsway, Anglesey
Boulevard, and Bexhill Court. This suggests that parking generated by residents may be
overestimated. These observations suggest that if we are to use the metered parking stalls to
their maximum potential, the study area requires a complete review of the parking meter rates
and permitted times.
Converting the parallel parking stalls on the south side of Anglesey Boulevard to an angle
pattern will add 21 additional metered stalls. Approximately 18 metered parking stalls can be
installed on the east side of The Kingsway, north of the existing limit of the on-street parking
meters, and across the frontage of HumberValley Park. In total, these revisions increase the
area's supply of on-street metered parking by 18percent; from 215 stalls to 254.
(A copy of Attachments Nos. 1-5, referred to in the foregoing report, was forwarded to all
Members of Council with the agenda for the Etobicoke Community Council meeting of May
26, 1999, and a copy of each is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)
