By Joshua Finn
City councillors are hoping to revamp, later this year, the cash-in-lieu of parking policy that has been called “inconsistent” and “prohibitive” by Centretown business improvement area executives.
According to zoning bylaws, businesses must provide a specified number of parking spaces for customers based on location, size and type of establishment.
In some areas of the city, including Centretown, businesses that cannot provide parking can apply to pay the city instead.
If the application for what is known as “cash-in-lieu of parking” is accepted by city staff, businesses must pay a one-time fee to the city.
It is based on what it would cost the city to provide and operate each required space.
Businesses can then appeal to the city’s planning and environment committee to get the fee reduced, sometimes to as low as $1 per spot.
Grant Lindsay, the city’s manager of development approvals, says the planning committee approached city staff to review the policy. Staff are expected to present the committee with their recommendations by the end of the year.
Lindsay says when deciding whether to grant cash-in-lieu, the city looks at whether it will create excessive parking pressure in neighbouring residential areas.
“If we feel the neighbourhood can absorb the extra parking that is generated by a business, then usually the staff recommendation is in favour of granting cash-in-lieu of parking,” says Lindsay.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says the problem of cars taking over residential areas is a result of cash-in-lieu being approved too often. Another problem, Holmes says, is huge variations in fees businesses have to pay.
“Some people come and say ‘I’m just a small business, I can’t afford this money,’ and planning committee takes pity on them and agrees to reduce the cost,” says Holmes.
Gerry LePage, executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area, says some business owners pay almost nothing while others get stuck paying thousands of dollars.
“The policy has to be unified, it has to have continuity and should be applied with the same rules and regulations in every single case,” he says.
When Scott Hefferand opened Connor’s Gaelic Pub on Bank Street earlier this year, he had to pay $6,000 in-lieu of providing 4.5 parking spaces he had to provide under city bylaws.
“I think it should be scrapped . . . the fact I had to pay [cash-in-lieu] is atrocious” says Hefferand.
He says the city already receives an enormous revenue from taxes and sees cash-in-lieu as another unnecessary cost of starting a business.
Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA, describes the policy as “prohibitive” and says it may be a disincentive for businesses to locate in the city’s core.
“If you’re in the suburbs, everybody’s got big free parking lots which is competition for the downtown businesses,” says Mellor.
Mellor says she is looking forward to sitting down with the city to simplify the process so business owners know exactly what they will have to pay. She says uncertainty is a major problem since businesses don’t know if an appeal for lowered fees will be successful.
“If it’s $30,000 for cash-in-lieu in parking, that’s not viable for the business . . . $30,000 could be their net income for the year,” says Mellor.
Mellor says it often takes a year to get a small business open in Ottawa because of the lengthy process.
Holmes says one way to make the policy more equitable would be to leave the final cash-in-lieu decision to city staff, eliminating the chance to appeal to the planning committee.
“Staff should have the approval in their field . . . which means that people would be asked to pay and everybody would have to pay the same amount,” says Holmes.
She says whether fees would be lowered or not is something staff will have to consider.