Citynow Developers push back on $40K parking stall ‘penalty’

LaurenVanderdeen lvanderdeen@burnabynow.com

Developers aren’t happy with a City of Burnaby proposal that would charge them $40,000 per parking stall they don’t have to build.

They say the cost will either be passed onto homebuyers or effectively shut down a project

The proposal is part of an interim plan to reduce parking requirements within 800 metres of a SkyTrain station

It specifically responds to an 80-storey development in Lougheed that currently has 14 floors of required parking

The proposal would reduce the parking requirement in the development by 45 per cent, from 1,612 residential parking spots (the minimum number currently required by the city’s bylaws) to 879 spots

The project by Pinnacle International at 9850 Austin Rd. and 9858/9898 Gatineau Pl. is direct- ly across the street from LougheedTown Centre SkyTrain station, a one-minute walk.

City staff and Pinnacle agreed building the current required minimum “would have significant impacts upon housing affordability” and the city’s climate goals, according to a staff report

The proposed policy would reduce the parking minimum from the current requirement of 1.1 parking spots per strata unit to 0.6 spaces per unit.

The interim policy would also require developers to pay $40,000 per stall in lieu of the reduced parking from the current 1.1 spaces per unit.

The money (called payment in lieu) would be funnelled into the city’s active transportation initiatives.

Current city policy charges a payment of $25,000 per commercial and industrial parking stall for up to 35 per cent of the required parking. But developers aren’t happy about the new payment.

It would mean, for example, Pinnacle would pay $40,000 for each of the 733 parking spots it doesn’t have to build under the new proposed policy. It would cost the developer more than $29 3 million

Jim Ralph, Pinnacle’s

director of design and development, wrote to city council “completely opposed” to the parking stall fee, which he said “was never discussed with Pinnacle International ”

He added that, along with rising interest rates, the fee for reduced parking would place a “significant financial burden on Pinnacle and will ultimately cause housing pric- es to go up and not down as suggested in the report ”

Ralph noted all the parking stalls in the development will be equipped with EV chargers, and the developer will offer transit passes, a car share program and an e-bike share program.

“While also costly, these are effective measures and incentives, unlike the $40,000 per stall penalty proposed,” he wrote.

The Pinnacle development, which would include the tallest tower in Western Canada at 259 1 metres/850 feet high, plans for 1,067 commercial parking spaces and a total of 3,374 spaces for bicycles

Canderel, which is developing two towers of condos and rentals at 3965 North Rd. right beside the Pinnacle development, said it is “very concerned” about the policy and asked for the city to remove the parking pay- ment in lieu.

Senior executives Ryan Jenkins and Bryce Margetts at Canderel said the policy would cost them more than $12 million in “unforeseen additional costs” that would either be passed onto the buyers or cause the development to become “economically unfeasible.”

They said the policy could result in developers choosing to build more parking and “attempt to sell or retain ownership of the additional stalls rather than paying a fee to the city”

The developers agreed that reducing parking minimums is “long overdue.”

Council on June 19 referred the proposal to the July 12 planning and development committee meeting, after press deadline Councillors hoped the proposal would returnfor council approval in August.

Continued from page 1 a police news release at the time.

Shortly before the crash, a MetroVancouverTransit Police officer had attempted to pull over the Altima when it took off “at a high rate of speed,” according to police

The officer then found the vehicle on fire at 10th Avenue and Sixth Street after it had collided with theYaris, police said

The driver and passenger of the Altima had fled on foot, according to police, but were quickly located and arrested Ytatek and Ali were rushed to hospital but died of their injuries.

“We all are heartbroken,” a neighbour and close friend of the Ali family said at a candlelight vigil for the young men last summer.

Charges have now been laid against Cory Robert Brown, 27

He was charged on July 4 with two counts of criminal negligence causing death, flight from police and driving while disqualified under the criminal code.

Brown has been charged with dangerous driving at least three times before, according to Court Services Online.

He was sentenced to one day in jail and a one-year driving ban for dangerous driving and obstructing a police officer in Burnaby in December 2020

He is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of dangerous driving and fleeing from police in Surrey on May 5, 2022 less than three months before Ytatek and Ali were killed And he was charged with dangerous driving in Burnaby on Aug 28, 2022 less than one month after Ytatek and Ali were killed Brown’s next court appearance on the charges related to the deadly Burnaby crash is set for July 19.

“The profound loss in this investigation was felt by all involved and our thoughts remain with the families and community, as we direct our focus on moving forward through the court process,”Transit Police Insp Chris Mul- lin said in a news release Monday

The Independent Investigations Office, which probes police incidents involving death or serious harm, is investigating the crash that killedYtatek and Ali. IIO media liaison RebeccaWhalen told the NOW the investigation is ongoing, but she couldn’t provide an update or an estimate for when it is expected to conclude