No parking at Capital Pointe site; Fougere calls decision ‘missed opportunity’

The City of Regina’s planning commission has put the brakes on a plan to set up a parking lot on the site of the former Capital Pointe development.

An application was made to the commission on Wednesday to rezone the empty lot at the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue. The space would have been turned into a parking lot for one year.

The applicant wanted to use the revenue generated from the 87 parking spots and eight stalls for motorcycles and bicycles to pay the property taxes on the lot while continuing its plans to develop the site.

The city administration suggested in its report to the commission that the application be granted, but the commission didn’t agree. It sent the proposal back to the administration to review the idea of surface parking lots downtown.

During an appearance on the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday, Mayor Michael Fougere said he disagreed with the commission’s stance.

“I think this is a missed opportunity for us to develop that land and it’s unfortunate,” Fougere said.

“(The parking lot) is just a good idea because we have not even a parking lot (there now),” he added. “It’s just a piece of dirt sitting there doing nothing (and) it’s a gateway to downtown.”

The former site of the Plains Hotel was to become the site of a 27-storey condo and hotel development, but that project fell through.

There wasn’t anything on the site for years other than a gigantic hole, which the city eventually had to fill. The lot was sold after numerous court hearings, but the new owner has yet to finalize plans for the site.

Utility payments

In a media release earlier this week, the City of Regina said overdue penalties for utility payments would resume Oct. 1.

The city has been allowing customers to defer their payments since March due to COVID-19, but may be on the verge of stopping that practice.

However, Fougere suggested that might not be the case.

“The administration is probably saying that, but I think council will say a few things about that too,” he said. “We need to be very careful with people and businesses who are still struggling.

“I know we have to have revenue to run the city, but at the same time, we’ve got to be helpful and not be an impediment to people who are trying to make ends meet and may have lost their business or their home or their job.”