As Bradford gets bigger, the homes being built are getting smaller, and the issue of parking has become a hot topic among residents, especially during the winter months with on-street parking restrictions in place.
So what can residents do to maximize their current driveway space in order to accommodate extra cars and guest parking?
In some cases, residents will park their cars on lawns, which goes against the current Zoning By-law 2010-50.
In the Committee of the Whole meeting at town council on Tuesday night, an off-street parking review report was received from town staff, asking for council’s direction on including off-street parking options in the planned updates of the Design Criteria Manual and the Urban Design Guidelines, and whether enforcement of Zoning By-law 2010-50 should be suspended while staff look into off-street parking options.
“Staff is aware parking demand in residential neighbourhoods is an ongoing concern among residents and council,” the report noted.
Residents, as Coun. Gary Baynes explained, are “getting creative” in their parking spaces, noting he has seen many paved front lawns to accommodate vehicle parking.
“We need something in place,” he said of a by-law update.
Back in 2017, council endorsed the staff report, ‘Neighbourhood Parking Standards,’ and a ‘50 percent rule’ was put in place to balance practical parking needs with the challenge of maintaining an attractive streetscape.
As noted in the report:
'Two-car garages would be permitted on all lot widths of 11.6 metres or greater, but for smaller lots they would be considered on a project-by-project basis. An exception to this rule has been included for single and semi-detached homes with single-car garages. Such driveways can be as wide as 5.5-metres, which is wide enough to accommodate vehicles parked side-by-side. Townhouse lots are limited to garage door width plus 1.5 metres where possible.'
In April 2018, there was a Driveway and Entrance Width Extension By-law put in place, limiting the "maximum allowable driveway curb cut to 5.5m to preserve on-street parking opportunities while balancing the desire for increased driveway parking.”
Deputy Mayor James Leduc noted that council is looking at all options to increase off-street parking, but opposed suspending enforcement of the existing by-law at this time.
“It’s going to take a while, so I would also say we should not suspend the actual zoning bylaw,” but instead “use enforcement to say we are reviewing it,” he suggested.
Councillor Gary Baynes agreed. “Rules are rules until there's a new bylaw,” said Baynes.
Director of Engineering and Development Peter Loukes suggested making changes to future new build home designs - moving sidewalks and pushing garages “a little farther, so that there is an equal amount of parking space on the side of the road.”
Councillors voted to recommend that staff continue enforcement of the existing rules, until the by-law has been updated to reflect new standards and solutions.
