City looks for place to park its policy on vehicles downtown

Take a drive to Regina’s downtown and, in theory, finding a place to park shouldn’t be incredibly difficult.

That’s because almost half of all private land there is dedicated to parking.

That’s what a city administration report highlights. Surface parking lots account for 33.8 per cent while parking structures add on another 12.9 per cent for a total of 46.7 per cent. That translates into 16,100 spaces.

Regina’s planning commission is to go over the report Wednesday afternoon. It’ll try and decide whether the number of temporary parking lots is appropriate and under which circumstances they may operate before council gets a look at the report.

Over the summer, the previous council asked administration to conduct a review of surface parking lot restrictions and prepare a report on a temporary parking lot policy.

Administration recommends changing a bylaw to accommodate these kinds of lots, but only if certain criteria are met.

In the past, different councils have approved short-term lots for longer-term benefits. But the report highlights how some lots are now just empty spaces taking up land downtown, including at 1755 Hamilton St.

Last month, Regina’s new council made one of its first big decisions by voting to allow a temporary parking lot to go in at the site of the stalled Capital Pointe project on the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue. The developer requested the short-term parking idea while a broader vision for the land was developed.

The fate of that lot is unclear, though, as council voted in mid-December against giving the developer a break on the lot’s property tax.