Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: Town
of
PREPARED BY:
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report entitled “Town of
And that staff continue the on-street permit parking programme in existing areas and consider expanding the program on a case by case basis.
And that a Committee of Council be established to make recommendations to Council on matters relating to the Town’s Parking Programme including the operations of municipally owned or operated surface parking lot(s) and structure(s).
And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This report provides an update on the status of the six
components of the Town of
1.
On-street
permit parking;
2.
Private
property paid parking;
3.
Town
Owned and Town Leased Parking Lots;
4.
Payment-In-Lieu
of Parking;
5.
Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) zones; and
6.
On-street
paid parking;
In addition, the report outlines three options for governance of a parking authority including a Municipal Service Board, a Municipal Corporation and a Committee of Council and recommends the Town establish a Committee of Council to oversee the Markham Parking Programme which includes continued implementation of the components listed above.
Until a
municipality has a significant inventory of municipally owned parking lots,
including structures, or until it is financially or for other reasons
appropriate to delegate this function to a municipal services board or
corporation, a committee of council is the preferred option.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable
1.
Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
5. Others (Environmental,
Accessibility, Engage 21st, Affected Units) 6. Attachment(s)
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to
provide Committee and Council with an update regarding parking initiatives in
the Town of
BACKGROUND:
In June
2002, Council endorsed the Markham Transportation Planning Study (MTPS) -2002,
the Town’s transportation action plan to address
- On-street permit parking;
- Private property paid parking;
- Town Owned and Town Leased
Parking Lots;
- Payment-In-Lieu of Parking;
- Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
zones; and
- On-street paid parking;
In October 2006, staff made a presentation to Development Services Committee providing an update on the Markham Parking Programme and next steps in delivering the programme.
This report provides a further
update on the components of the parking programme and makes recommendations
regarding the on-street paid parking and
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
There has
been discussion about the establishment of a Parking Authority for
A review was conducted to identify how other
municipalities within
Generally
speaking, the Parking Authority, as a separate and distinct for profit entity,
has not been formed in most
- Rarely profitable without
significant and mature inventory of paid parking spaces, therefore the
advantage of a separate corporation in terms of revenue distribution never
materialized
- A more complex governance
structure, not justified by the nominal assets controlled by the Authority
- No tax or similar benefits to a
corporate parking authority
- Loss of municipal Council
control with an appointed Board, typically comprised of community stakeholders
If a corporate parking authority model is
implemented, all decisions related to the management and operations of the Parking
Authority rest with the appointed Board.
Council input would be limited to the number of Councillors appointed to
the Board.
Parking
Authority Options
- Municipal Service Board (s. 194) – a municipality may
give control and management of such services as it considers appropriate
to a municipal service board, by delegating the powers and duties of the
municipality to the board:
- Minimum two members
- Maximum four year terms,
multiple terms permitted
- Services which may be
controlled by such a service board are now unrestricted under Bill
130.
- Municipal Corporation (s. 203) – a municipality may
establish a corporation to undertake a system, service or thing that the
municipality itself could provide.
A business case study is required before the corporation may be
established and public consultation is required:
- Revenues from such
corporations can be tax exempt as long as 90% of the shares are owned by
a municipality and 90% of the revenues are generated by activities
carried on within that municipality.
- Restriction on this kind of
corporation governing new facilities only has been removed by Bill 130.
- Can be for-profit (and pay
dividends to the municipality) or not-for-profit
·
Committee of Council – A Committee of Council would advise Council on the management of the
business and affairs of the parking operation in municipal parking areas. As
the Programme itself is comprised of a variety of initiatives including on-street
permit parking, private property paid parking, Town owned and leased lots, payment-in-lieu
of parking and on-street paid parking, the Committee structure provides the
greatest flexibility for a single entity to oversee the development of the
entire programme.
Until a municipality has a significant inventory of municipally owned
parking lots, including structures, or until it is financially or for other
reasons appropriate to delegate this function to a municipal services board or
corporation, a committee of council is the preferred option.
There are no tax advantages to either the municipal services board or
corporation. This option does not
preclude consideration of an alternate governance structure, including either
of a municipal services board or corporation when an appropriate inventory of
such facilities is available, or when other reasons exist, for instance, a
public/private partnership opportunity.
The components of the Markham Parking Programme are outlined below:
1. On-Street
Permit Parking
There are four areas within the Town where overnight parking is permitted by permit: (1) Angus Glen Community; (2) Cornell Community; (3) Inverlochy Boulevard; and (4) Tamarack Drive/West Borough.
- The
Angus Glen Community on-street permit parking is a pilot project. One free permit is being granted to any
resident who can prove they have more vehicles than parking spaces on
their property.
- In
2007, Town wide, 133 permits have been issued and of those, 38 have been
issued at no charge.
- The total
revenue in 2007 from the permits is $5,495.00.
- The
average number of tickets issued nightly is 21.5.
- As the
Town proceeds to enforce the extended driveway by-law, the number of permitted
areas and the number of permits will likely increase.
Staff recommends that the program continue in each of the existing areas
and consider expanding the program to new areas on a case by case basis.
2. Private
Property Paid Parking
The Town has received requests by private property owners to amend the
parking by-law to permit the introduction of paid parking on their private
property.
Hilton Hotel
At the request of the Hilton Hotel, the Town amended the parking by-law
to permit the introduction of a paid parking programme on the hotel property. The Town authorized certain Hilton staff to
undertake the enforcement on the property.
Permit revenues belong to the hotel, but enforcement revenues are
returned to the Town.
At the request of
Staff will continue to monitor the impact of paid parking on adjoining
landowners and review and evaluate any new applications as they are submitted.
Other private property
in
There are over 80 private properties where external security officers
issue tickets to illegally parked vehicles.
All of the resulting fines come to the Town. Revenue varies from month to month on all of
the private properties. Average monthly
revenue is approximately $35,000.
Staff will continue to respond to expressions of interest of private
property owners who are interested in implementing a paid parking system on a
case by case basis.
3. Town
Owned and Town Leased Parking Lots
Currently there are a number of Town owned surface parking lots (
In Unionville, on the east side of Main Street the Town owns and
maintains approximately 21 parking spaces at the bottom of the stairs and approximately
65 spaces on both the east and west side of the concession laneway.
In Markham Village, the Town owns five parking lots and leases
additional land for two parking lots on both the east and west side of Main
Street for a total of 267 parking spaces.
Staff will be undertaking a review of these parking lots in 2007. The review will look at the number and
location of spaces, number of lots, and the parking demand in the area.
4. Payment-in-lieu
of parking
In the Fall 2002, the Town retained BA Consulting Group to assist staff
in developing a comprehensive parking strategy and plan for
·
supporting
the Urban
·
facilitating
the implementation of Transportation Demand Management and influencing commuter
choice through parking supply management and pricing; and,
·
fostering
Payment-in-lieu of on site parking is one of the components of the
parking strategy and will facilitate the construction of buildings at higher
densities from the outset, by enabling shared public parking in municipal
facilities, rather than each builder providing single use parking facilities,
often in a surface parking format.
Shared parking in municipal facilities helps to support higher transit
usage, mixed land use and intensification, serving a range of uses with
different peak parking characteristics at different times of the day and
night. Pooling of developer funds
through payment-in-lieu of parking, along with the use of Tax Increment
Financing (TIF), are means of financing and sharing the costs associated with
the design and construction of municipal parking structures.
The provision of municipal parking structures has proven to be a key
contributing factor in the development of successful urban growth nodes similar
in scale and character to Markham Centre.
Town staff will bring forward a report for Council’s consideration
regarding payment-in-lieu of parking in Markham Centre later in 2007.
5. Tax
Increment Financing (TIF)
For a number of years, the Town has been advocating that the Provincial
Government introduce Tax Increment Financing (TIF) legislation, specifically in
the Markham Centre area.
TIF’s are not new taxes but a redirection of a portion of the tax revenues
paid by owners resulting from the additional assessment that occurs on
development. The Town’s financial
strategy study assumed that tax revenues would continue to flow to the three
levels of government during the TIF period at a base level equivalent to the
level of development in a traditional suburban context. The TIF revenues capture above the base level
to the full urban development potential of the plan. In other words, TIF funding would be derived
from the “delta” increment above the base.
The Town’s financial study for Markham Centre identified TIF’s as one of
the most significant and powerful financial tools to provide the funds needed
to invest in large infrastructure projects including the provision of parking
structures.
The largest single benefit of a TIF strategy would be its ability to
fund parking structures in the earliest phases of the Markham Centre plan to
achieve compact urban form and appropriate development densities from the
outset and to offset the competitive disadvantages associated with encouraging
commercial development in emerging urban centres like Markham Centre as opposed
to traditional suburban sites with large land areas available for surface
parking.
The Tax Increment Financing Act,
2006 (part of Bill 151, Budget
Measures Act, 2006) received Royal Assent on
Staff will be developing by the end of 2007 the mandatory “feasibility
plan” required by the TIF Act, with
the goal of achieving status as an additional pilot project. There is a concern that unless the TIF Act is amended to result in a more
robust fiscal tool, it will be of limited assistance in the Town of
6. On-Street
Paid Parking Programme
In May 2005, Council endorsed in principal the paid parking programme. The control of parking and parking supply is
an integral component of promoting better land utilization and traffic
management, as well as promoting alternative forms of travel including public
transit, biking and walking.
A number of factors were taken into consideration to identify and assess
the feasibility of paid parking in certain areas of the Town. These included looking at areas where there
are or will be parking pressures as a result of supply shortfalls, areas where
there is or will be parking pressure as a result of parking policy impacts,
such as Markham Centre, and areas where there is a level of local area
acceptance.
Metered parking on selected streets offers many benefits. It provides a pragmatic and cost-effective
means to address parking impacts, it adds to our parking supply and it assures
that streets are cleared of cars to allow traffic to flow especially during
peak hours of the day.
The first phase of on-street pay and display parking was implemented in
October 2005 in specific areas of the Town to regulate parking use where there
are or will be parking pressures as a result of supply shortfalls and where
there is a general level of local area acceptance. Phase One included the placement of 11 pay
and display machines on
The final step of this phase of
the implementation is 3 additional pay and display machines on the north side
of
The Town selected Precise Parklink to provide ongoing operating, maintenance and replacement services for a flat fee. Staff receives monthly financial reports from Precise Parklink, vendor of the pay and display machines. These reports identify revenue received and the number of transactions by machine. To date over $12,000 in revenue has been collected from the pay and display machines. Town by-law enforcement staff have been monitoring the paid parking areas and ticketing as required.
Seneca introduced their paid
parking programme in May 2006 for the commencement of their spring
semester. Seneca charges $4.00 to park
for the entire day. The Town charges
$2.00 to park for the entire day on
Due to the success of the YMCA and
the service at the Unionville GO station, staff is investigating the
feasibility of introducing pay and display machines on
Where parking pressures are identified or can be reasonably predicted in other areas of the Town and where there is a readiness and general acceptance within the local community, staff will investigate the opportunity to extend on street paid parking to other street locations.
As development in Markham Centre
proceeds, the expansion of the road network will provide the opportunity for
continued expansion of on-street paid parking.
Growth and expansion opportunities will also arise in the Ferrier and
Allstate areas as the Coptic Church undertakes the first phase of its
comprehensive master plan and
Summary
The Town of
It is recommended that a Committee of Council be established to make
recommendations to Council on all of the matters discussed in this report relating
to the Town’s Parking Programme.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
This project aligns with the
following key Town of
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Discussions have involved staff from Community and Fire Services, Development Services, and Corporate Services.
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________ ________________________
Don Taylor John Livey
Director, Strategic Initiatives Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENTS:
Appendix 1