A parking lot in the 800-block of Broughton Street could soon be transformed into a car-free residential building.
On Thursday, Victoria council unanimously endorsed a rezoning application for the six-storey 42-unit rental building.
No on-site parking is proposed for the project put forward by Fort Properties. Current regulations call for 25 parking stalls.
Coun. Matt Dell suggested the project is perfect for people who want car-free living in the inner city.
“I think the building fits in well with the heritage district down there, particularly the Royal Theatre, and it’s going to kind of be a nice transition to the larger development next door,” he said.
A redevelopment is proposed for the YM-YWCA lot next door and the Christ Church Cathedral lands farther to the east.
Proposed “transportation demand management” measures for the building include 58 long-term bicycle stalls, 10 per cent of bike parking reserved for cargo bikes, a bike wash and repair station, a car-share membership and construction of a mid-block crosswalk.
“It’s a great use of a really isolated site,” said Coun. Dave Thompson, who called the proposed building a “better use of that land.”
Thompson said it was nice to see council getting behind a residential project with no parking, noting 40 per cent of downtown households are already car-free.
”This building is very walkable, it’s bikeable, it’s got the Fort and upcoming Blanshard protected bike lanes nearby, lots of frequent transit.”
Coun. Stephen Hammond said while he supported the project, he still feels approving residential buildings without parking is “bonkers.”
“I think it’ll lead to all kinds of problems in the future,” he said.
Coun. Chris Coleman noted that zero parking may not be appropriate everywhere, but it works in this instance.
“In this case, I think it actually does make sense. Here you have what is effectively now an orphaned lot that’s small in nature, that if you forced parking into it, you wouldn’t have a building.”
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