U of S : Communications : OCN : Apr 9, 1998

At its March 27 meeting, the Board of Governors approved a recommendation from Vice-president Tony Whitworth - that the [April 9, 1986, B of G] resolution prohibiting the construction of additional surface parking stalls on green space be rescinded and that Y lot (hitherto designated green space) be expanded by about 350 stalls.

But the Board denied approval of a 500-stall lot that would have covered the sculpture-filled field north of the Diefenbaker Canada Centre.

The estimated cost of the Y Lot expansion: $750,000, to be drawn from the Reserve Parking Excess Funds Account.

Whitworth says he was not confident the Board would approve the riverbank-lot proposal, "but I felt I had to put it forward, since we have a serious parking problem."

He says his recommendation stemmed from a number of realities.

"The current waiting list for faculty and staff parking has been at about 560 for more than a decade. The wait time before even a remote stall is assigned is three years. And the lack of parking space affects recruitment and retention of staff."

But an even more pressing development, Whitworth says, is the probable implementation this summer of a Residential Parking Permit (RPP) zone south of the campus, between Cumberland and Clarence Avenues.

Under the RPP initiative, first floated a year and a half ago [see Sept. 20, 1996, OCN], residents living in the 30-block area south of College (to 14th Street) would buy an annual $25 City permit (to cover administrative and signage fees), with which they could park in front of their homes.

A major consequence of the RPP zone would be to further restrict "transient" parking there, thus creating more demand for on campus parking.

Jeff Balon, parking coordinator in the City's Transportation Department, says the RPP must be resident-driven.

The City, he says, is presenting the RPP as a mechanism for residential parking if a neighborhood wants it.

"The City is not saying 'Thou shalt adopt this mechanism.' It's totally up to the residents [to decide if they want it]."

But if at least 70% of the residents opt for it through a petition, Balon says, "the City will implement the least restrictive parking restriction that's effective."

In other words, the City would determine how much it would have to limit transient parking time in order to create sufficient parking space for the permit-holders in the zone.

On April 20, City Council, which has already approved the RPP mechanism in principal, votes to approve it as an option for the 'Varsity View' neighborhood, as it's called, south of College.

If it passes, the demand for on campus parking is bound to increase.

This being the case, the Board also approved the recommendation that the University administration again consider the possibility of the construction of a Parkade on campus, very possibly by a private company. A 1986 initiative for a Parkade on campus stalled when the USFA did not support it.

A 500-stall Parkade would cost about $5 million and entail an annual parking fee of more than $600 a year, on a user-pay basis. It would be located immediately east of the Education Building.

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