Newmarket residential parking review - millennials driving demand

NRU
Nov. 8, 2017
By Daniel Taylor

Millennials staying at home well into their 20s has sparked an increased demand for parking in Newmarket, with challenging built form impacts. However, the proposed on-street permit parking system has residents concerned.

A staff report to the Committee of the Whole concludes that an on-street permit parking system in residential neighbourhoods offers an inexpensive solution to providing more parking, while calming traffic and improving the pedestrian environment. On-street parking also supports the municipality's goal of transitioning to a more pedestrian-friendly community by creating streets that encourage slower traffic and active transportation options, and provide parking for short car trips within the municipality.

Ward 1 councillor Tom Vegh sees firsthand the effect that the increased demand for parking has on the built environment in his ward. Speaking with NRU, Vegh described how households have begun expanding their driveways, paving over lawns and even encompassing the sidewalks.

"Younger people are staying longer at home as a general trend. So people who bought their home with one or two parking spots all of a sudden find themselves needing three or four. ... Residents sometimes want to pave over their entire front yard [for parking]."

Vegh added that this increase in pavement has significant environmental implications, such as decreasing the amount of permeable land to absorb stormwater run-off.

Mayor Tony Van Bynen spoke with NRU about what the municipality is doing to transition from a car-centric community to one that encourages walking, cycling and other forms of active transportation.

"We're focused on becoming pedestrian-friendly and in our official plan we're focused on active transportation and I think the actual focus of this report is on what the impacts of that transition will be." said Van Bynen. "It will have different impacts on different parts of the town and our objective is to go out and find out what those solutions and impacts might be."

The proposed permit parking system only applies to residential streets and is similar to what exists in denser, more urbanized municipalities. Residents would be able to purchase street parking permits on their street of residence instead of expanding their driveways to accommodate additional vehicles.

But residents are concerned with the proposal to implement on-street parking in their communities. They are worried that the proposed regulations will result in an increase in visitor parking on their quiet residential streets.

Ward 3 councillor Jane Twinney told NRU that while each community in Newmarket is different, her residents are opposed to introducing street parking to their neighbourhood because they both don't want to additional vehicles on their streets, and they just don't see the need for more parking as their problem.

"Maybe in downtown areas people have limited parking on their own personal property. Residents don't want parking in front of their homes because of issues with people throwing garbage on their lawns or blocking their driveways or they feel it's hard to get out of their personal driveways because of parked cars."

Monday night, committee recommended that staff further review the issue by gathering best practices from other municipalities.