Downtown properties appear to be acting as parking lots without council approval

Properties acting as parking lots without approval WATCH: A pair of properties in downtown Regina appear to be acting as parking lots without council approval. Allison Bamford explains.

A pair of properties in downtown Regina appear to be acting as a parking lot without the proper approval from city council.

An application has been submitted to rezone the lots, located at 2158 and 2160 Scarth Street, in order to develop a 13-paved stall parking lot with “vehicular access provided the rear alley and for the exclusive use of occupants of the office building located at 2161 Scarth Street," according to the city.

The bylaw amendment has yet to receive the official stamp of approval, yet one resident told council the parking lot appears to already be in use.

“The fact that the bylaw has been carried out before actually being read indicates a curiously pessimistic view of what legislation and public consultation are for. It seems to indicate reading a bylaw once, let alone three times is a formality,” said resident Anna Norris during the city council meeting.

“But the bylaw has not been passed and this is only a formality if we choose to make it one.”

City council voted on the bylaw amendment at Wednesday’s meeting. The motion needed unanimous approval from council in the third reading. However, it was lost with a vote of five to four in favour of the bylaw. Councillors Hawkins, Stevens, Stadnichuk and Zachidniak voted against the motion.

The bylaw will go to a final reading at a future council meeting where it will not require unanimous approval.

Norris spoke against surface parking lots in general, saying they contribute to safety concerns in the area.

“Downtown Regina is indeed an often frightening and unpleasant place to walk,” she said.

“The reason it is so frightening and unpleasant is in large part because of the parking lots, which turn the area into a wasteland that is convenient only for car storage and for crime.”

Mayor Sandra Masters said the parking lot is in violation with the current bylaw, adding bylaw officers will be following up with the landowner.

Masters, who voted in favour of the bylaw amendment, agreed there is “ample parking downtown,” and council along with administration are working together to figure out incentives for people to build.

“I think what you’re seeing in our downtown is a lack of investment that has gone on for the last number of years,” she said.

“We want everyone to feel safe, and so investments from the city, grand and small, are necessary to assist our downtown to continue to grow its vibrancy.”