Victoria businesses who use city property as their own private parking lots might have to start paying for the privilege.
At Mayor Dean Fortin’s suggestion, Victoria councillors have asked staff for a report on what resources would be need to undertake a review of city-owned land or rights-of-way that are being used by businesses for parking and storage.
“My intention is not to remove the commercial use of the space. This is an opportunity for revenue generation,” Fortin said.
Fortin cited examples in the 700 block of Pembroke Street and 2100 block of Beta Street.
“It’s my suggestion that the city review properties in this situation and look to either lease the property or convert to short-term or long-term public parking,” Fortin said in a report to city council.
Director of legislative services Rob Woodland said there could be several instances where city property is being used by commercial enterprises.
“It is not an isolated occurrence,” Woodland said.
“We have an old city and a new city laid over top of an old roadway and rights-of-way system. And there are many, many occasions where this will present as an opportunity to the city, but will also create community issues because of the historical use patterns.”
Coun. Shellie Gudgeon voted against the move, calling it “policy by convenience.”
While generally supportive of the idea, Gudgeon said she has tried to help a downtown business owner who was told by city staff that the commercial use of city-owned property for parking would have to stop.
Gudgeon said she spent months on the file, following what she believed to be the proper process and even took the issue to the city manager.
The business owner then spoke to the mayor — and now, suddenly, there’s a policy review, she said.
“This subverts the whole process. It’s really deeply concerning to me that so much time was expended on this discussion — working with transportation staff and the director of engineering. It took a lot of effort. ... What a waste of time.”
Coun. Ben Isitt said that while he understands Gudgeon’s frustration, it might be a case of “better late than never.” He said Gudgeon could take solace that “maybe an item that didn’t have a lot of uptake six months ago is now gaining traction.”
Isitt said he could support a limited review of areas that have become de facto private parking spaces on city-owned land. However, he doesn’t want to see a drive to lease out public space for parking.
“So [the review should be limited to] essentially things that anybody driving by would think is a private parking,” Isitt said.
Coun. Marianne Alto said it would make sense for the review to be included as part of the broader parking reassessment now underway.
