MARKHAM PARKING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

YORK ROOM, MARKHAM CIVIC CENTRE

MINUTES

____________________________________________________________________________

Attendance:

Members of Council

Deputy Mayor Heath

Regional Councillor Gord Landon

Regional Councillo Jim Jones

Councillor Joseph Virgilio

Staff

Alan Brown, Director of Engineering

Bill Wiles, Manager of By-Laws and Enforcement

Barb Cribbett, Town Treasurer

Meg West, Manager of Strategic Initiative

Lorenzo Mele, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator

Laura Gold, Committee Clerk

IBI Group

Dylan Passmore, IBI Group
Brian Hollingworth, IBI Group

Regrets

Councillor Alex Chiu

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. with Councillor Joseph Vigilio presiding as Chair.

1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 10, 2009
PARKING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Moved by Regional Councillor Landon

Seconded by Deputy Mayor Heath

That the minutes of the August 10, 2009 Parking Advisory Committee be approved.

CARRIED

2. INTRODUCTIONS

The Members welcomed Mr. B. Hollingworth, IBI Group, and Mr. Dylan Passmore, IBI Group, to the Markham Parking Advisory Committee meeting.

3. PAY AND DISPLAY PARKING STRATEGY – L. MELE

Mr. L. Mele, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, presented a proposal to expand pay and display parking to West Clegg Road. He advised that this proposal to implement pay and display parking on Clegg Road west of South Town Centre Blvd. was brought to the Committee’s attention to advance the Markham Centre pay and display parking program outlined in the Parking Business Plan and to support a request by Times Investment Development for on street parking adjacent to their at grade retail development along the west side of South Town Centre Blvd. Mr. Mele advised that implementing pay and display parking on West Clegg Road, would also help Times Investment Development resolve some of its retailers’ parking issues.

Mr. A. Brown, Director of Engineering, advised that implementing pay and display parking on West Clegg Road is in support of the Town’s Parking Business Plan. Mr. Mele explained that this would also create an opportunity to relocate four (4) underutilized parking meters.

The Committee noted that there is already a lot of cars parking on West Clegg Road. There was agreement that parking should be advanced to best serve the area, noting a pay for parking strategy should consider the amount of revenue that would be generated.

There was discussion about employees working in the South Town Centre Boulevard area parking their cars on the road for the full day, which in turn leaves retailers with limited customer parking. Mr. Mele explained that pay and display parking would better utilize the limited spots in the area by encouraging greater turnover of parking.

The Committee requested that the cost of parking in the area be reviewed to determine what to charge for parking, noting that there is a shortage of parking in the Markham Centre area, which Members felt may support implementing a pay for parking strategy in the area. There was also discussion about what the Town can do to improve parking on South Town Centre Boulevard. The possibility of adding (4-7) parking spots by creating indentations in the road was discussed, noting that perhaps the cost could be shared with the developer.

Mr. Mele displayed an aerial map of Clegg Road pointing out 75 proposed pay and display parking places. The Committee questioned if the Town had enough parking meters to oversee 75 parking spots. Mr. Mele advised that 5 parking meters were required to control the 75 spots, noting that the Town has 2 parking meters in storage, 2 under utilized parking meters, and money set aside to purchase an additional parking meter. The Committee noted the importance of upgrading its existing parking meters to have credit card readers.

Moved by Regional Councillor Landon

Seconded by Deputy Mayor Heath

That any further discussion on the proposed pay and display strategy for parking on West Clegg Road be deferred to the next meeting; and,

That Staff provide a refresher on the pay and display parking strategy indicated in the approved business plan at the next meeting.

4. DRAFT PARKING STRATEGY – B. HOLLINGWORTH – IBI GROUP

Mr. B. Hollingworth, IBI Group, provided a presentation entitled “Markham’s Parking Strategy Development”. The presentation focused on providing Members with a better understanding of Markham’s proposed Parking Strategy and outlined what the Town needs to do to meet the objectives of it’s Transportation Strategic Plan. Mr. Hollingworth noted that it is easy to promote pay parking, but it is difficult to implement. He believed that Markham was at the point in its development where it needs to start breaking the cycle of automobile parking dependency.

Discussion

Mr. Brown reported that it was important to establish a long term parking strategy for the Town. He believed this would provide both Members and Staff with a clearer vision of where parking in Markham is heading.

Mr. Hollingworth believed there may be an opportunity to extend Markham’s preferred parking program. He asked the Members to think about how much parking they want to provide at a park and ride terminal, advising if you provide too much parking the Town will be providing ample parking for commuters living outside of Markham. Mr. Hollingworth questioned if park and ride terminals fell under Markham’s jurisdiction.

Members noted that public stakeholders contradict themselves, by recognizing parking as an issue, and by resisting pay parking. They asked how to resolve issues such as businesses resisting pay parking, particularly in the Business Improvement Area’s. Members did not believe the solution was to build parking garages, but were not sure how to handle the issue of limited parking.

Mr. Hollingworth advised that part of the issue is that people seemed unwilling to walk any reasonable (500 meters) distance to their destination. He provided the example that the average parking utilization is only 40% in downtown Toronto (or 60% under utilized), but businesses and patrons in the area will continuously complain that there is not enough parking.

The Members asked what happens if parking standards do not work. Members wanted to be sure that businesses are positioned to succeed and not to fail. Members believed that parking standards should be sensitive to the different areas of Markham, agreeing that parking standards should not be cut in areas that do not yet have access to rapid transit. The decision to cut parking standards in Cornell where there is no rapid transit was discussed, noting that the parking standard was creating parking issues in an area where residents and businesses are dependent on having a vehicle, and that has limited access to transit. The Members agreed that if an area did not have access to rapid transit that Council should refrain from implementing strict parking policies. Members also discussed the possibility of phasing in new parking standards.

The Committee noted that Markham has various parking standards throughout the different areas of Markham, and was trying to work towards less parking and more transit. A Member questioned if the Town is providing too much physical space for cars to park. Mr. Hollingworth recommended allocating 10% of parking spaces to smaller cars.

The Members discussed if Markham is at the point in its development where it could support a Parking Authority, and asked if there were any risks in creating a Parking Authority. Mr. Hollingworth advised that some municipalities choose not to have a Parking Authority due to the risk that it would take on its own mandate related to for example revenue generation. There was also discussion regarding who would control a Parking Authority (Markham or York Region), and questions regarding what the next steps would be if the Town created a Parking Authority. There was a brief discussion whether Markham was still at the point in its development where a Parking Advisory Committee was appropriate.

Members requested to be advised of the relationship between the size and width of the street and the Town’s parking standard. Members were interested in acquiring more information with respect to how the Planning Department establishes the parking standard for different areas of Markham, and what type of consideration is given when determining the parking standard.

Members believed careful consideration should be given when identifying places to implement pay parking in Markham.

Mr. Hollingworth advised that research suggest that store patrons making a purchase will pay for parking, whereas, patrons who are not making a purchase may not pay for parking. He reported that pay parking encourages greater turnover in parking spaces. Members noted that businesses may also be able to provide their customers with some type of a parking voucher. They also discussed the possibility of controlling parking only during peak business periods.

The Committee requested that a formal parking strategy should be presented to the Committee in the next 4 months, as the Members would like to present the Plan to Council in January or February. The Members inquired if the public would need to be consulted. Mr. Brown believed that some consultation with stakeholders would be required.

It was agreed that meetings should be held on a monthly basis in order to reach its target of presenting the Plan to Council in January or February. Members also suggested the next meeting should be a longer meeting (an entire afternoon should be set aside). The Committee agreed that it should approve a preliminary draft parking strategy by December 1, 2009 in order to reach its targets.

Mr. Hollingworth advised that he could present recommendations at the next meeting, advising that the Committee can then decide what recommendations shall be included in the Plan. Members also requested that Staff provide the Committee with firm timelines with respect to finalizing the Plan and presenting it to Council. Members thought that the Plan should

be phased in along with advances made in expanding public transit. Members believed that this would also help perceptions change overtime with respect to pay parking.

There was a brief discussion with respect to the costs of purchasing parking meters. Mr. Mele advised that a new parking meter with a credit card reader costs approximately $17,000 per parking meter. He advised that in 2009 a capital request was made and approved to purchase approximately 22 new parking meters. Members directed Staff to only purchase parking meters with credit card readers, and thought that an additional capital request should possibly be made to upgrade the Town’s existing parking meters. Members directed that the most modern parking meters shall be placed in the Markham Centre area.

The Parking Advisory Committee adjourned at 4:30 p.m.